The Senate Committee on Appropriations is scheduled to take up the FY 2008 supplemental appropriations bill this Thursday afternoon, May 15th. The committee intends to include $400 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in this spending package. If successful, the committee would provide the National Cancer Institute with up to an additional $65 million on top of the $4.8 billion already appropriated in FY 2008. The inclusion of these funds in a supplemental funding bill is extremely rare and illustrates the strength of support that cancer research has in Congress.
The funds for NIH are being added as part of a larger spending package for key domestic priorities. The full Senate is expected to consider the bill sometime the week of May 19th. Because the President is opposed to the domestic spending, it is likely that the bill will be challenged by his supporters in the Senate requiring a 60 vote majority to pass the Senate.
I have provided a list of 15 Senators whose votes will be critical to increase funding for NIH. These Senators should be asked to support the domestic spending package and the NIH funding within it.
Because of the short amount of time it is vital that we ACT FAST. Make your calls today!
List of Senators:
Talking Points:
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