May 15, 2015
In advance of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health markup of 21st Century Cures, United for Medical Research sent the following letter of support to Chairman Upton. The other sponsors also received their own letters of support.
The Honorable Fred Upton
Chairman
Energy and Commerce Committee
2183 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Upton,
United for Medical Research offers our strong support for the National Institutes of Health funding provisions included in the proposed 21st Century Cures legislation. As a coalition of leading research institutions, patient and health advocates, and private industry, we endorse the bold move to increase NIH’s annual authorization and create a new mandatory Innovation Fund of $2 billion per year to further boost biomedical research above discretionary levels. This increase is in-line with our long-held priority of increasing funding for NIH in a manner that provides certainty and a path for growth.
We are profoundly grateful for your leadership and for the tremendous effort you and the House Energy and Commerce Committee made to develop meaningful and truly bipartisan legislation on NIH funding and policy. The funding boost will ensure the United States remains the world’s medical innovation leader.
The scientific breakthroughs that take place across this nation with funding from NIH have raised life expectancy, improved the quality of life and lowered overall health care costs. And they amount to an economic engine that sustains American international competitiveness. Recently, as a result of flat NIH budgets, only one of every seven research grants proposed is funded, and the odds are even lower for promising young scientists. Each worthy-yet-unfunded grant represents a lost opportunity.
The great work you and your staff have done to address these critical national needs is inspiring, and the members of UMR are deeply appreciative. We look forward to continuing to work with you, the committee and others in Congress on this initiative to ensure that funding is broadly applied to the full scope of NIH research activities and that the strongest possible 21st Century Cures bill is enacted into law.
Sincerely,
Tim Fenton
Senior Director
Global Government Relations
Thermo Fisher Scientific
United for Medical Research co-President
Jennifer Poulakidas
Vice President
Government and Congressional Affairs
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
United for Medical Research co-President
David Pugach
Director, Federal Relations
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc.
United for Medical Research co-President
Cc: The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Members of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health
United for Medical Research is a coalition of leading research institutions, patient advocates, medical professional organizations, and biomedical companies united in support of robust funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Learn more at www.unitedformedicalresearch.com.