Republicans AGAIN Reject Durbin's Unanimous Consent Request To Pass Resolution In Support Of Medical Research At NIH As Elon Musk, President Trump Continue To Slash Funding
Durbin: We cannot stay silent in the face of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s assault on medical research
WASHINGTON – Today, in a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) again asked for unanimous consent (UC) to pass a resolution he introduced with U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), as well as 21 other Senators, that would support the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as President Trump and Elon Musk continue to illegally cut funding and resources for researchers discovering cures at NIH. The resolution simply states that the work of NIH should not be subject to interruption, delay, or funding disruptions in violation of the law, and it reaffirms that the NIH workforce is essential to sustaining medical progress. Last month, Durbin asked UC to pass this resolution and Senator Barrasso (R-WY) rejected.
Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) rejected Durbin’s UC request without an explanation despite the fact that Oklahoma receives approximately $160 million in NIH funding annually—which supports nearly 2,500 jobs and produces $450 million in economic activity. The top NIH-funded institute in Mullin’s state, the University of Oklahoma, receives $80 million a year to conduct breakthrough medical research, support the next generation of researchers, and help find new cures and treatments for patients in need.
“For the second time over the past few weeks, I come to the Senate Floor to talk about the importance of medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. Last week, during his address to Congress, President Trump unveiled a new member of the U.S. Secret Service: a 13-year old named DJ, who had always dreamed of becoming a police officer. It was a touching moment because DJ wasn’t supposed to be alive today. You see, in 2018, he was diagnosed with brain cancer and given just months to live. But because of advances in science and medicine, because of medical researchers conducting life-saving work, because of new treatments and cures—thank goodness this young man is alive today. And he is alive because of the work of the National Institutes of Health,” said Durbin.
“You know all the miracle drugs you see on TV? Ninety-nine percent of drugs approved in the last ten years benefitted from NIH research. NIH funding is why kids like DJ are beating cancer, why babies are being spared from preventable illnesses, why HIV is no longer a death sentence, why progress is being made on ALS, and so many neurological diseases,” said Durbin.
Since the start of this Administration, the White House has unleashed a lawless, chaotic attack on everything from funding for farmers to biomedical research. President Trump and Elon Musk ordered a freeze of most federal grant funding, including medical research funding. NIH awards approximately $38 billion a year in funding to the best and brightest medical researchers at universities in all 50 states. To this day, President Trump and Elon Musk are taking actions to prevent medical research funding from going out to scientists in labs with breakthrough ideas. As a result, NIH has delayed awarding approximately $1 billion in grant funding to institutions nationwide.
“What alarms me is that NIH funding has not historically been a partisan issue—over the past decade, bipartisan members of Congress [including former Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN)] worked with me to increase NIH funding. We increased funding over the last 10 years by 60 percent. We did this because we know that sickness does not respect partisan lines. We need cures on a bipartisan basis. And NIH funding leads to new breakthroughs for all patients in need, supports good-paying jobs in red and blue states, and cements our global leadership,”Durbin continued.
Illinois universities and hospitals receive approximately $1.3 billion in NIH funding annually—which supports 164,000 jobs in the state and $3.6 billion in economic activity. Reports indicate that 1,200 NIH employees have been fired so far under President Trump and Musk’s direction—from experienced vaccine researchers to the next generation of scientists, to the Acting Director of the NIH’s Alzheimer’s and dementia program. Further, President Trump and Musk have reportedly ended a popular trainee program that brought 1,600 young scientists just out of college to the NIH’s world-renowned campus in Maryland to help run labs.
“NIH research leads to the new cures and treatments that extend, improve, and save lives, which is why I am once again trying to pass a resolution pledging basic bipartisan support for NIH. This resolution is straight-forward—it says that the work of NIH should not be subject to interruption, delay, or funding disruptions in violation of the law. And it reaffirms that the workforce of NIH is essential to sustaining medical progress. For kids like DJ, for people like my friend Brian Wallach, who is fighting ALS, for every family out there dealing with a life-threatening diagnosis. We cannot—we must not—stay silent in the face of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s assault on medical research. I will never stop fighting to protect NIH and the medical research it supports,” said Durbin.
Van Hollen and Alsobrooks—whose state is home to NIH’s campus—helped lead the resolution with Durbin. Along with Durbin, Van Hollen, and Alsobrooks, today’s resolution was cosponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Peter Welch (D-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Angus King (I-VT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Jack Reed (D-RI).
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here for TV Stations.
Text of the resolution can be found here
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