 Legislative
Action Alert
OCTOBER
24, 2007
*ACTION
ALERT* *ACTION ALERT *
FUNDING FOR THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES
OF HEALTH
URGE YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO SUPPORT THE SENATE-PASSED
INCREASE OF $1 BILLION FOR THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES
OF HEALTH IN THE FINAL FISCAL YEAR 2008 LABOR-HEALTH
AND HUMAN SERVICES-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS BILL.
| Funding Level for NIH
in
FY 2007 |
President’s FY 2008 Budget
Request for NIH |
House-passed FY 2008
Funding Level for NIH |
House-passed
Funding Increase Over
FY 2007 |
Senate-passed
FY
2008 Funding Level for NIH |
Senate-passed
Funding
Increase Over FY 2007 |
| $28.9 billion |
$28.62 billion |
$29.65 billion |
$750 million (+ 2.6%) |
$29.9 billion |
$1 billion (+3.5%) |
On Tuesday, October 23rdthe Senate passed
their fiscal year (FY) 2008 Labor-Health and Human
Services (HHS)-Education Appropriations bill. This
bill includes a substantial reinvestment in federal
health and education programs, including a $1 billion
funding increase for the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). In FY 2007, NIH was funded $28.89 billion;
the Senate-passed funding level of $29.9 billion provides
a much needed 3.5% funding increase.
Previous years of near level funding have created
serious budgetary difficulties at NIH. The Senate-passed
funding increase is a critical first step towards
restoring the NIH’s ability to attract talented researchers
and stimulate innovative study into promising areas.
On July 19th of this year the House or
Representatives passed their FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill. The House-passed bill also increased
federal support for NIH, but provided only $750 million
in new funding. While the leadership of the House
should be commended for providing NIH with a 2.6%
funding increase in their FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill, the chronic underfunding of NIH
means that present budgetary needs greatly outweigh
the House allocation.
Given the different funding levels for NIH and other
variations between the Senate-passed and House-passed
bills, the members of the Senate and House Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations Subcommittees will now begin to negotiate
a final compromised FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
bill. In order to ensure that the final FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill includes the higher Senate allocation
of an extra $1 billion for NIH you are urged to:
-
Contact your members of Congress
and ask for them to support the higher Senate allocation
of $1 billion in additional funding for NIH in the
final FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
bill.
-
Ask your Congressman/Senators
to contact their colleagues on the House/Senate
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee
and urge them to support the higher Senate allocation
of $1 billion in additional funding for NIH as they
negotiate the final FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill.
-
Contact
the members of the House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations Subcommittees yourself and urge them
to support the higher Senate allocation of $1 billion
in additional funding for NIH as they negotiate
the final FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
bill. (Please see list of Subcommittee members below.)
To locate your members of Congress, simply go to
www.congress.org
and enter your zip code. You will notice that you
have two Senators and one Representative. Additionally,
the memberships of the Senate and House Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations Subcommittees are listed below.
When calling congressional offices, you should
ask for the Health Legislative Assistant. It is important
to remain persistent and follow-up, these offices
receive numerous calls everyday and they may not respond
to your initial call. If you contact them frequently,
they will make it a priority to get back to you.
TALKING POINTS FOR CONTACTING
A CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE:
- Introduce yourself and explain
your interest in supporting the mission of NIH.
-
Ask the Senator/Representative
to join you in supporting the higher Senate-passed
allocation of $1 billion for NIH in the final FY
2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill.
-
Ask the Senator/Representative
to contact their colleagues on the Senate/House
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee
and urge them to support the higher Senate allocation
of $1 billion in additional funding for NIH as they
negotiate the final FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill.
-
Thank the staff member for their
time and ask them to thank the Senator/Representative
for their continued leadership on health care issues.
WHEN SPEAKING TO CONGRESSIONAL STAFF IT IS
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT:
-
You should always be honest;
there is no need to exaggerate problems or results.
- You should make sure the conversation stays polite
and respectful. Listen to what they have to say and
engage in constructive dialogue, even if it’s agreeing
to disagree.
-
You should never get frustrated
and engage in an argument. Irreparable harm can
be done by unnecessarily
upsetting a legislator’s staff member.
-
You should always begin or end
the conversation by thanking them for taking time
out of their busy schedule
to discuss these issues with you.
MEMBERS OF THE SENATE LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION
APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
| Senator |
Phone # |
| Chairman, Tom Harkin (D-IA) |
(202)
224-3254 |
| Daniel Inouye (D-HI) |
(202)
224-3934 |
| Herb Kohl (D-WI) |
(202)
224-5653 |
| Patty Murray (D-WA) |
(202)
224-2621 |
| Mary Landrieu (D-LA) |
(202)
224-5824 |
| Richard Durbin (D-IL) |
(202)
224-2152 |
| Jack Reed (D-RI) |
(202)
224-4642 |
| Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) |
(202)
224-3224 |
| Ranking Member, Arlen Specter (R-PA) |
(202)
224-4254 |
| Thad Cochran (R-MS) |
(202)
224-5054 |
| Judd Gregg (R-NH) |
(202)
224-3324 |
| Larry Craig (R-ID) |
(202)
224-2752 |
| Kay Bailey Hutchison
(R-TX) |
(202)
224-5922 |
| Ted Stevens (R-AK) |
(202)
224-3004 |
| Richard Shelby (R-AL) |
(202)
224-5744 |
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION
APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
| Congressman |
Phone # |
| Chairman, David R. Obey (D-WI) |
(202)
225-3365 |
| Nita
M. Lowey (D-NY) |
(202)
225-6506 |
| Rosa
DeLauro (D-CT) |
(202)
225-3661 |
| Jesse
L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) |
(202)
225-0773 |
| Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) |
(202)
225-4911 |
| Lucille
Roybal-Allard (D-CA) |
(202)
225-1766 |
| Barbara
Lee (D-CA) |
(202)
225-2661 |
| Tom
Udall (D-NM) |
(202)
225-6190 |
| Michael
Honda (D-CA) |
(202)
225-2631 |
| Betty
McCollum (D-MN) |
(202)
225-6631 |
| Tim
Ryan (D-OH) |
(202)
225-5261 |
| Ranking Member, James Walsh (R-NY) |
(202)
225-3701 |
| Ralph
Regula (R-OH) |
(202)
225-3876 |
| John
E. Peterson (R-PA) |
(202)
225-5121 |
| Dave
Weldon (R-FL) |
(202)
225-3671 |
| Michael
K. Simpson (R-ID) |
(202)
225-5531 |
| Dennis
Rehberg (R-MT) |
(202)
225-3211 |
|
