Research!America Commends Senate Appropriations Committee for Bipartisan Labor-HHS Funding Bill That Reflects Strong Public Support for Lifesaving Research
Research!America applauds the Senate Appropriations Committee for passing bipartisan legislation today that provides robust funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other public health agencies.
The Senate Labor-HHS legislation, passed out of committee earlier today, provides the NIH with $50.351 billion in discretionary funding inclusive of 21st Century Cures funding, leading to an overall increase of $1.77 billion for the Institutes.
“With the robust research and public health funding in the Senate bill, our nation can fight harder and faster against threats like Alzheimer’s, mental illness, emerging infectious diseases, and the opioid crisis,” said Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley.
“We’ve made astounding progress. We need to make more. There is no national objective more compelling than stopping these and other scourges in their tracks, and we are profoundly grateful for the bipartisanship that produced this important bill,” Woolley said.
The Senate bill includes $1.5 billion, or flat funding, for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The House bill would cut ARPA-H funding by $1 billion. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), funding for which would be eliminated under the House Labor-HHS bill, would receive an increase under the Senate bill. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would receive an increase of $173 million in contrast to a cut of $1.8 billion in the House bill. The House and Senate bills provide comparable funding increases for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) (an increase of $55 million in the Senate and $85 million in the House).
“We commend the Senate for empowering ARPA-H to continue aiming high in pursuit of multi-sector, multi-disciplinary health innovations, and for bolstering funding for the CDC at a time when the complexity and sheer number of major public health threats demand rock-solid public health capabilities across our nation,” Woolley said. “The decision to not only sustain but grow funding for the AHRQ is also immensely significant.”
The annual public opinion surveys Research!America routinely commissions reveal strong support across the political spectrum for government investment in lifesaving R&D. Our most recent survey, commissioned in January 2024, found that a majority of Americans across the political spectrum (75% of Democrats, 54% of Republicans, and 52% of Independents) believe Congress should invest more taxpayer dollars to advance U.S. science and technology.
“The American people recognize the significance of U.S. research investment, as does the Senate Labor-HHS bill,” Woolley said. “We hope that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, in both chambers of Congress unify behind the funding levels included in the Senate bill. Our nation has an opportunity to re-exert our strategically critical R&D leadership globally and recommit to shattering the boundaries of medical progress. For the sake of the American people today and tomorrow, let’s do it.”
Research!America thanks our champions for this legislation, specifically Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice-Chair Susan Collins (R-ME), Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
Contact Glenn O’Neal, Senior Director of Communications, at 571-482-2737 or [email protected] with press inquiries.