2017

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ATS Joins Letter to Congress Supporting NIH Funding

February 2017

The ATS recently joined 260 patients, medical and research organizations of the Ad-Hoc Group for Medical Research on a letter to President Trump and the Congressional leadership urging the completion of fiscal year (FY) 2017 spending bill that includes $34.1 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health and ensure robust funding for NIH in FY2018.  The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the $34.1 billion for NIH in the draft FY2017 spending bill that the committee passed late last year. The current FY2017 spending measure funding government programs will expire on April 28, 2017. Congress and the administration must enact a spending measure to fund the government for the rest of the year by this date.

In the letter, the Ad-Hoc Group states, "Through NIH, the federal government plays an irreplaceable role in supporting biomedical research that is inherently inefficient for industry to conduct but is essential to inform our fundamental understanding of medicine." The coalition points out that stagnant funding in FY2017 threaten to undermine scientific research efforts. They said, "The budget ambiguity resulting from the current continuing resolution leaves the agency and researchers in limbo; worse, the prospect of a flat or reduced final budget not only would delay progress, but could also serve to discourage the next generation of researchers from careers in science."

The FY2018 spending process will begin when President Trump releases a proposed budget overview for the year in early February. This budget proposal will outline department and major agency funding but will not provide proposed funding levels for individual programs. A full FY2018 budget proposal will be released in April 2017. Proposed funding cuts to some programs that the ATS monitors– such as public health, global health and environmental health protection –  are expected and increased member advocacy in support of research and public health programs will be needed.

ACTION: ATS members can show support for NIH funding through Twitter using #FundNIH and tweeting at the following Twitter handles:

@POTUS, @Speaker Ryan, @GOPLeader, @NancyPelosi, @SenateMajLdr, @SenSchumer.

Tweets to copy and paste:

  • 260 organizations wrote to @POTUS, @Speaker Ryan @GOPLeader @NancyPelosi @SenateMajLdr @SenSchumer to #FundNIH http://bit.ly/NIHFY17.
  • Americans overwhelmingly support investments in medical research. [insert twitter handle above], #FundNIH http://bit.ly/NIHFY17.
  • @NIH yields life-changing benefits for every American. [insert twitter handle above], #FundNIH http://bit.ly/NIHFY17.
Last Reviewed: October 2017