Durbin Continues To Push For Increased Medical Research Funding
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today thanked Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for his leadership in working with Congress to secure increased funding for medical research over the past four years. Durbin has worked with Dr. Collins—as well as Labor-HHS Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA)—to help provide the NIH with at least five percent real growth each year, for a total of $9 billion in increased funding—a 30 percent increase—over four years.
President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request would devastate funding for medical research conducted at the NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), by proposing to cut NIH funding by $5 billion (or 12 percent) and CDC funding by $750 million (or more than 10 percent) from FY19 funding levels.
“Dr. Collins, it was about five years ago when I visited the NIH and you and I had a conversation which informed and inspired me about five percent real growth a year in funding on medical research,” Durbin said. “And since Fiscal Year 2014, we have seen a 30.6 percent increase in NIH funding, a 40.6 percent increase in Department of Defense medical research, and a 33 percent increase in VA medical research.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks in Committee is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks in Committee is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks in Committee is available here for TV Stations.
Durbin plans to reintroduce the American Cures Act with U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) next month, which would provide five percent real growth to medical research conducted at NIH, CDC, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.