As the 110^th Congress gets underway, appropriations bills to fund federal agencies in 2007 remain unfinished despite the fact that we are already four months into the fiscal year. Democratic leaders have indicated that rather than revisiting the unfinished bills they are likely to extend current funding levels for the remainder of FY 2007. This would result in flat funding for research agencies including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, VA and NASA. However, by eliminating earmarks in the appropriations bills, a small amount of money is expected to be available for redistribution to priority programs. Advocates for biomedical research hope that some of those dollars can go to provide increases for research programs in FY 07.

Roll Call ad urges increased NIH funding

An effort coordinated by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) resulted in a full page ad in Roll Call on January 9, 2007 (see attached). The text of the ad calls for Congress to support the NIH at the authorized level of $30.3 billion set by the recently passed NIH Reform Act of 2006, and signatories include prominent researchers, among them many members of the APS leadership.

FASEB sends letter to Congress

In a letter to Congressional leadership in both parties, FASEB calls for increased funding for the NIH, NSF and DOE science programs in fiscal year 2007. To read the letter, go to: http://opa.faseb.org/pdf/DemoLeadersFY2007Appropriations.pdf

Action alert advocates increased funding for NIH in FY 2007

In addition to the letter above, FASEB has also issued an action alert that will be sent to much of FASEB’s membership, including all APS members. The alert asks scientists to contact their Members of Congress and urge them to increase the NIH budget for FY 2007. You can take action by going to: http://capwiz.com/faseb/issues/alert/?alertid=9222176&type=CO