Comstock bill redirects campaign fund balance to tackle childhood diseases

Legislation introduced recently by U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) would ramp up federal funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pediatric Research Initiative Fund to support cancer and pediatric disease research.

The Kids First Research Act 2.0 would redirect money from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to support research of childhood cancers, which impact an estimated 10,270 children in the United States, and other pediatric disorders.

“This bill is simple,” Comstock said. “It will transfer approximately $320 million in funds that are sitting idle in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, and redirect it to the Pediatric Research Initiative Fund at the NIH to be used for childhood cancer research and other pediatric diseases. NIH is already engaged in a multitude of promising research efforts and this funding will advance this important vision.”

Most major presidential candidates have declined to take part in public financing dating back to 2008, and no major candidate accepted public funds in 2012 or 2016, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Comstock noted that three years ago, Congress passed, and the president signed into law the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, which provided funding for research into pediatric cancer through the NIH.

“This funding was provided by diverting money from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, which was earmarked for party conventions, to instead go to life saving research for diseases that strike our children. This legislation is merely a continuation of this effort of redirecting unused funds to a lifesaving and urgent cause,” she said.

Under Comstock’s bill, the campaign fund would be terminated and its remaining balance, $320 million, would be carried over to the NIH Pediatric Research Initiative Fund.

Although pediatric cancer death rates have declined by nearly 70 percent over the past four decades, cancer remains the leading cause of death from disease among children, according to the NIH.