This evening, the House of Representatives paid tribute to outgoing House Appropriations Chairman David Obey. The spontaneous tribute from his fellow appropriators was made during debate on the last appropriations bill Chairman Obey will oversee.
The bill passed the Senate earlier in the day, and House passage by a vote of 193-165 sends the measure to the President for his review and signature.
The short-term continuing resolution funds the federal government through March 4, 2011. It funds most programs including the Department of Defense cancer research programs, the National Institutes of Health cancer research programs, and the cancer control programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at fiscal year 2010 levels.
When the new Congress convenes, they will need to deal with funding the remainder of fiscal year 2011 (from March 5 until September 30), and we expect that the new Congress will reduce funding levels. House and Senate Republican leaders say they want to implement a cut of about 22 percent to bring non-security discretionary spending back to fiscal year 2008 levels. What Congressional leaders haven’t said is which programs should be cut, and by how much.
In today’s budget climate, it will be difficult to secure any funding increases for cancer research – even for investments with the proven long-term impact of biomedical research.
The only way we will get the members of the 112th Congress to make the fight against cancer a top legislative priority and continue to fund innovative and life-saving colorecal cancer research programs is if we tell them why it should be a priority. Come climb the steps of the Capitol with us – http://link.fightcrc.org/TakeAction. Taking the time to bring your cancer story to the halls of Congress will make a difference!
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