Durbin, Wicker Request Strong FY22 DOD Medical Research Funding
In a bipartisan letter, the Senators urge Senate Appropriations Committee to advance DOD’s medical research efforts
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), are urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to uphold its commitment to our nation’s service members by providing at least $2.89 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations for the Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Health Program’s Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) account.
“Such an allocation will build upon an exemplary record of success and allow the DOD to keep pace with inflation, sustain existing research and development commitments, pursue critical new initiatives, and foster a health care system for our service members that is innovative and effective,” the Senators wrote.
DOD’s medical research efforts advance collaborative, innovative medical research and development that improves the military community’s health and saves lives both on and off the battlefield. These efforts utilize nationwide partnerships and leverage federal investments to achieve the best outcomes with limited dollars. DOD researchers study treatments for conditions that commonly afflict our service members while also developing new technologies that benefit the wider American public.
Additionally, DOD has leveraged its unique assets and capabilities to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, DOD helped fund early efforts to test for COVID-19 symptoms, military medical centers and treatment facilities participated in clinical vaccine trials, and the Department continues to study the long-term health effects of COVID-19.
Durbin has supported increased scientific and biomedical research funding over the past six years in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
June 3, 2021
Dear Chairman Tester and Vice Chairman Shelby:
We respectfully urge the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to uphold its commitment to our nation’s service members by providing at least $2.89 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations for the Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Health Program’s Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) account.
DoD’s medical research efforts advance collaborative, innovative medical research and development that improves the military community’s health and saves lives both on and off the battlefield. These efforts utilize nationwide partnerships and leverage federal investments to achieve the best outcomes with limited dollars. DoD researchers study treatments for conditions that commonly afflict our service members while also developing new technologies that benefit the wider American public. These initiatives also target critical research gaps by funding projects that more risk-averse agencies may not fund, and by supporting the full pipeline of research development that includes basic, translational, and clinical research.
With a more than 200-year history of groundbreaking innovations, DoD medical research efforts are uniquely positioned to advance excellence in research and patient care. Indeed, many medical innovations that grew out of U.S. military research have been widely adopted in civilian medicine, including the use of penicillin to treat infections, hemostatic dressings to control bleeding, and vaccines to prevent malaria. More recently, DoD has leveraged its unique assets and capabilities to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, DoD helped fund early efforts to test for COVID-19 symptoms, military medical centers and treatment facilities participated in clinical vaccine trials, and the Department continues to study the long-term health effects of COVID-19.
We ask that you appropriate at least $2.89 billion for the DoD Defense Health Program’s RDT&E account for FY 2022, an amount that reflects five percent real growth over FY 2021. Such an allocation will build upon an exemplary record of success and allow the DoD to keep pace with inflation, sustain existing research and development commitments, pursue critical new initiatives, and foster a health care system for our service members that is innovative and effective.
Thank you for your consideration of this important request.
Sincerely,
-30-
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