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------------------- NIHLETTE follows --------------------
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
May 25, 1995
The Honorable John E. Porter
Chairman
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services And Education
Committee on Appropriations
2358 House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Porter:
We are writing to urge you to reject proposed reductions to the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. As you know, the House
Budget Resolution calls for a 5% reduction in NIH funding below the
FY 1995 level and freezes funding at that level, resulting in a loss of
approximately $2.8 billion over 5 years.
We believe that reductions in NIH biomedical research funding will threaten
the health of our citizens, impede medical advances and related cost savings,
and jeopardize our nation's competitiveness. At the very minimum, we believe
that NIH funding should be increased to keep pace with biomedical inflation.
NIH, the world's leading biomedical research institution, is one of the great
success stories of the federal government. Its current
$11.3 billion investment in biomedical research is a real "bang for the buck"
- saving lives and reducing health care costs while improving the quality of
health care, and creating jobs and economic growth.
NIH has led the attack on human disease through its support of the vital work
of over 50,000 scientists at 1,700 universities and research institutes across
the United States. In recent years this research has produced major advances
in the treatment of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and
mental illness that have helped save lives, Advances derived from NIH
research save $69 billion annually in medical care cost. Cuts in funding will
jeopardize imminent breakthroughs in treating diseases like
Alzheimer's and cystic fibrosis.
In 1993 alone, NIH contributed nearly $45 billion to the U.S. economy and
over 726,000 jobs. In fact, NIH research has spawned the
U.S. biotechnology revolution. Biotechnology-derived products are a
$6 billion industry today, and are projected to grow to $50 billion by the
turn of the century. Currently, the United States leads the
European Community and Japan in pharmaceutical and biotechnology patents. Our
economic leadership has been secured, in large part by our ability to
translate scientific discoveries into new product development.
In the last several years, NIH funding has not kept pace with the enormous
growth in meritorious research opportunities. Today, only 1 out of 5 approved
grant applications is funded. Further underfunding will cause important
scientific leads to be delayed or lost. A decline in NIH funding will also
deter young, talented scientists from careers in biomedical research. The
resulting loss in scientists and new ideas could endanger U.S.
competitiveness.
Funding of biomedical research is today's investment in America's future. We
must not imperil the future health and economy of our nation, even as we
pursue the important goal of deficit reduction. While we understand the
difficult decisions ahead in allocating scarce resources in the 1996 Labor/HHS
appropriations bill, we urge you to reject any cuts to the NIH budget and to
make every possible effort to promote biomedical innovation by increasing
resources to the NIH.
Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
______________________ __________________ ___________________
Joseph P. Kennedy, II Carolyn B. Maloney Constance A. Morella
MEMBER OF CONGRESS MEMBER OF CONGRESS MEMBER OF CONGRESS
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