The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would receive a $2 billion increase in funding in an omnibus appropriations bill that would fund government operations through fiscal year 2017, resources that congressional leaders said would help the agency continue finding cures for chronic diseases.
U.S Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Fred Upton (R-MI), a member of the Health Subcommittee, said in a joint statement that compromise on the bill demonstrated that “both parties and both chambers of Congress can come together and work in good faith to find common ground.”
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS), and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), LHHS subcommittee member, also praised the funding increase as critical to continuing investments in innovative research that will improve health for all Americans and help save lives in the future.
NIH, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is considered one of the world’s preeminent medical research centers and is a major source of medical research funding.
Blunt said the $34.1 billion in NIH funding included in the omnibus appropriations bill marks the second year in a row the agency would receive a $2 billion funding boost.
“The investments we make in NIH research will not only save lives, they’ll lead to new frontiers in drug and device development that are critical for reducing health care costs, growing our economy and maintaining America’s competitive edge in innovation,” Blunt said. “The funding provided in this bill reflects the priorities of the American people, and puts us on track to maintain a robust, sustained federal commitment to medical research.”
Praising the increase in NIH funding, Moran called it essential to investing in the next generation of Americans.
“This $2 billion increase assists our nation’s top researchers in finding ground-breaking discoveries, including new treatments and cures for diseases, which makes our health care system more effective and efficient while also lowering overall health care costs,” Moran said.
The omnibus appropriations bill outlines $1.39 billion in funding for Alzheimer’s research, $5.7 billion for the National Cancer Institute, $320 million for the Precision Medicine Initiative, $260 million for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, $463 million to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, $12.6 million for the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, and $162 million to expand the NIH Clinical Center.
Congress is expected to vote on the FY 2017 omnibus appropriations bill this week.
Walden and Upton noted that funding for the NIH has been a priority for the Energy and Commerce Committee, and that the increased funds will help implement the landmark 21st Century Cures Act that was signed into law in 2016. That legislation aims to speed up the discovery, development and delivery of new treatments and cures.
“Years of bipartisan cooperation fueled the 21st Century Cures Act, and it is only appropriate that the bill’s legacy is an integral part of this compromise,” the lawmakers said.