At least 100 lawmakers have sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee to call for annual funding of more than $32 billion to support the National Institutes of Health‘s biomedical research.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) and Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) spearheaded the bipartisan effort, according to a post Wednesday on Van Hollen’s website.
“Insufficient funding for NIH has a serious, wide-ranging impact on our nation’s health and our capacity for medical innovation in the 21st century,” the House members said in the letter addressed to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), chairman and ranking member of the appropriations committee.
The proposed NIH budget for fiscal year 2016 by the Senate and House appropriations committees have yet to receive a floor vote.
Several medical and research organizations have backed the group’s effort for the NIH funding increase, the website post indicated.
