Subject: Re: Faseb Alert on Hatfield amendment to restore NIH funding From: William Yost <WYOST(at)WPO.IT.LUC.EDU> Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 12:35:05 -0500Received: from alsys1.aecom.yu.edu by apollo.it.luc.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA20791; Fri, 19 May 95 12:41:09 CDT Received: by alsys1.aecom.yu.edu id AA01965 (5.67b/IDA-1.5/AECOM-RIT for Bill Yost <wyost(at)luc.edu>); Fri, 19 May 1995 13:40:30 -0400 Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 13:39:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Robert Ruben <ruben(at)aecom.yu.edu> Subject: Re: Faseb Alert on Hatfield amendment to restore NIH funding To: ARO responders/940728 <antonelli(at)alsys1.aecom.yu.edu>, bberg <bberg(at)aris.ss.uci.edu>, Les Bernstein <LES(at)neuron.uchc.edu>, Laurie K Bornstein <laurieb(at)utdallas.edu>, bundelman <BUDELMANN(at)mbian.utmb.edu>, Helen Cohen <hcohen(at)bcm.tmc.edu>, "Roger L. CRUMLEY" <RCRUMLEY(at)uci.edu>, dantonio <dantonio(at)ccmail.llu.edu>, Harold Dengerink <facdenge(at)vancouver.wsu.edu>, Pierre Divenyi <marva4!pdivenyi(at)ucdavis.edu>, durrant <DURRANT(at)vms.cis.pitt.edu>, Garth Ehrlich <ehr(at)med.pitt.edu>, erway <ERWAY%AM%UCBEH(at)pmdf.uc.edu>, Larry Feth <feth(at)shs.ohio-state.edu>, Robert Fifer <rfifer(at)peds.med.miami.edu>, gerken <gerken(at)utdallas.edu>, golda <Golda.Leonard(at)utmb.edu>, gordon <SGORDON(at)bss1.umd.edu>, hind <HIND%MVE.DecNet(at)wigate.nic.wisc.edu>, Stewart Hulse <hulse(at)jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>, Ilsa Scharwtz <schwartzi(at)yalemed.bitnet>, "Herman A. Jenkins" <hjenkins(at)bcm.tmc.edu>, William Lippe <lippe(at)u.washington.edu>, "R. Bruce Masterton" <rbrucem(at)darwin.psy.fsu.edu>, "\"Douglas E. Mattox, M.D. N4W79, 85828\"" <DMATTOX(at)surgery1.ab.umd.edu>, "D. McFadden" <mcfadden(at)psyvax.psy.utexas.edu>, noffsinger <NOFFSINGER.DOUGLAS(at)forum.va.gov>, Dennis O'Leary <doleary(at)hsc.usc.edu>, "John F. Olsen" <jfolsen(at)helix.nih.gov>, Mary Osberger <osberger(at)indyvax.iupui.edu>, Gary Paige <gdp(at)cvs.rochester.edu>, Ellengene Peterson <PetersonE(at)mail.oucom.ohiou.edu>, popper(at)alsys1.aecom.yu.edu, "\"Potashner, Steven\"" <sjp(at)neuron.uchc.edu>, redfern <REDFERN(at)vms.cis.pitt.edu>, Dale Howard Rice <dhrice(at)hsc.usc.edu>, "\"Rubel, Ed\"" <rubel(at)otomail.u.washington.edu>, sfp <sfp(at)utdallas.edu>, Bob Shannon <shannon(at)hei.org>, "Hanna M. Sobkowicz" <hmsobkow(at)facstaff.wisc.edu>, "Don C. Teas" <dcteas(at)utxvm.cc.utexas.edu>, Malvin C Teich <mct2(at)columbia.edu>, turner <TURNER(at)suvm.acs.syr.EDU>, weislede <Weislede(at)utxvm.cc.utexas.edu>, Robert Wickesberg <rwickesb(at)s.psych.uiuc.edu>, Melodie Willihnganz <WILLIHNGANZ(at)Waisman.Wisc.Edu>, Bill Yost <wyost(at)luc.edu> Cc: arogac(at)alsys1.aecom.yu.edu In-Reply-To: <01HQOOQAMAZ6009P3R(at)BIOMED.MED.YALE.EDU> Message-Id: <Pine.3.07.9505191344.A788-e100000(at)alsys1> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Fri, 19 May 1995 SCHWARTZI(at)BIOMED.MED.YALE.EDU wrote: > From: IN%"faseb(at)ns1.faseb.org" "FASEB Information Services" 19-MAY-1995 01:18:40.36 > To: IN%"schwartzi(at)BIOMED.MED.YALE.EDU" > CC: > Subj: NIH Budget > > Return-path: <faseb(at)ns1.faseb.org> > Received: from ns1.faseb.org by BIOMED.MED.YALE.EDU (PMDF V4.3-7 #6235) > id <01HQO3PHUYXC009Z9I(at)BIOMED.MED.YALE.EDU>; Fri, 19 May 1995 01:18:35 EDT > Received: by ns1.faseb.org (1.37.109.4/16.2) id AA25837; Fri, > 19 May 95 01:16:18 -0400 > Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 01:16:18 -0400 > From: FASEB Information Services <faseb(at)ns1.faseb.org> > Subject: NIH Budget > To: schwartzi(at)BIOMED.MED.YALE.EDU (Ilsa R. Schwartz) > Message-id: <01HQO3PHX436009Z9I(at)BIOMED.MED.YALE.EDU> > Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT > > Dear Colleague: > > We urgently need your help to keep the U.S. Senate from making deep, > destructive cuts in the National Institutes of Health budget for the next > seven years to the Year 2002. You can help prevent this by asking your two > U. S. Senators to encourage Senator Mark Hatfield (R-OR) to proceed with his > amendment to restore NIH funds to the pending Senate Budget Resolution, and > also asking them to vote for the amendment when it comes to the Senate > floor. > > The Senate will begin voting on the FY 96 budget resolution in the next > few days. The resolution is the broad fiscal blueprint that controls > congressional spending and sets overall funding ceilings for the > appropriations process. If the ceilings are set too low, appropriators will > have difficulty providing NIH with the funding level it needs to maintain > research momentum. > > Thus, I regret to report the pending Senate budget resolution could > force as much as a $2.5 billion cut in current NIH funding and that level > would be frozen until the Year 2002. If the proposed cuts are permitted to > take place, it would damage NIH research at a time of unprecedented > productivity, drive talented scientists, both young and established, into > other careers, and cause the U.S.to lose its hard-won leadership in such > fields as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. > > Budget analysts say such a cut could plunge the NIH success rate for > competing proposals to 1% from the current low level of 15-20%. That's > right: 1%. > > However, we still have an opportunity to avoid a "devastating blow" to > biomedical research. > Senator Hatfield, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a > long-standing friend of NIH, is working on an amendment to restore NIH > funding. But Senator Hatfield cannot win this fight unless we all help him > and his colleagues. It's absolutely vital that you immediately call, wire, > or fax your state's two U.S. Senators and urge them to encourage Senator > Hatfield to proceed with his amendment and to enlist Sen. Nancy Kassebaum > (R-Kans.) and other Senate supporters of NIH as co-sponsors of the measure. > Also, please ask your Senators to vote for the amendment when it reaches > the Senate floor. > > Your message must emphasize the threat the resolution poses to the > public, to science, and to the economy. Make the points that NIH has been > a tremendous investment for the American people. The research supported by > NIH has saved lives, reduced suffering and led to lower medical costs. > Moreover, NIH research contributes significantly to the U.S. economy, > creating highly skilled jobs and maintaining U.S. competitiveness. > > I have appended a list of talking points to help you develop a brief > message for your Senators. Also attached are the names and the Washington > phone numbers (and fax numbers, if available) for your state's two > Senators. I hope you also will contact members of the Senate Budget > Committee. Their names and Washington phones numbers are attached. Don't > use the mail or mailgrams. There isn't time. > > I haven't forgotten about the House version of the budget resolution. > It also contains bad news for NIH and we presently are working to get it > changed. Right now, however, we have a chance to turn the Senate around on > the NIH budget by winning approval for a Hatfield amendment. You can make > the difference in this fight -- but you must act immediately. > > Thank you for your help and best wishes. > (Signed) > Samuel C. Silverstein > President, FASEB > > *** > > TALKING POINTS ON NIH FUNDING - FY 1996 > > The Benefits of NIH Research > > * The biomedical research supported by NIH makes vital contributions to > the nation's health, improving the quality of life, advancing science and > creating jobs and economic growth. > > * Because of the discoveries made by biomedical researchers over the > years, we live longer, healthier and more active lives. Today, an > American's life expectancy is 75.5 years, an increase of almost five years > since 1970. > > * Advances derived from NIH research save an estimated $69 billion in > medical care costs each year, according to a FASEB survey. > > * NIH support for biomedical science conducted at universities and > medical schools in all areas of the U.S. has made the U.S. the world's > leader in such fields as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Sales of > products developed through biotechnology totaled $7.7 billion in 1994. The > industry is projected to grow to a $50 billion enterprise by the turn of the > century. > > * Another FASEB survey shows that the estimated dollar value of 10 > selected biomedical discoveries adopted by industry for purposes other than > health service is almost $92 billion. These include such commonly used > items as freeze-drying for food preservation and use of fiber optics for > telecommunications. > > Destructive Effects of Cutting NIH Funding > > * NIH officials say quite correctly Budget Committee proposals to cut the > agency's funding "would be a devastating blow to biomedical research." It > would be the kind of action that would undermine our enormous progress in > preventing, diagnosing and curing disease. > > * Even without Budget Committee cuts, NIH is able to support only about > 19 percent of new investigator-initiated research grant applications > submitted by extramural scientists. This means that fewer than 1 in 5 new > applications are supported, but that other excellent science is not. We > should ask ourselves: what advances against the killing and crippling > diseases are we willing to forego? > > * The Senate Budget Committee proposes to make a bad situation worse by > actions that could force up to $2.5 billion in NIH cuts in one year alone > (fiscal 1995 to fiscal 1996) and then freezing that "adjusted" level until > the Year 2002. > > * Authoritative estimates show this could lead to a 1% success rate for > NIH competing grants. That's right: 1%. > > * The NIH cut being discussed would be a disaster for the agency and for > biomedical research. It would be enormously harmful to research at a time > of unprecedented opportunity, drive talented scientists, both young and > established, into other careers and cause the U.S. to lose its hard-won > leadership in such fields as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. > > * Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR) may offer an amendment to restore NIH > funding. It is vital for the Senate to pass such an amendment and then see > that it prevails in its forthcoming budget resolution conference with the > House. > > > -------------------- > Senators from CT > > Senator Joe Lieberman > Rm. 316, Hart Senate Office Building > Washington, D.C. 20510-0703 > Phone: (202) 224-4041 > FAX: (202) 224-9750 > > Senator Christopher J. Dodd > Rm. 444, Russell Senate Office Building > Washington, D.C. 20510-0702 > Phone: (202) 224-2823 > FAX: > > > > -------------------- > United States Senate Committee on the Budget > > Senator Pete V. Domenici, (R-NM) > Chairman > (202) 224-6621 (phone) > (202) 224-7371 (fax) > > Senator Charles E. Grassley, (R-IA) > (202) 224-3744 (phone) > (202) 224-6020 (fax) > > Senator Don Nickles, (R-OK) > (202) 224-5754 (phone) > (202) 224-6008 (fax) > > Senator Phil Gramm, (R-TX) > (202) 224-2934 (phone) > (202) 228-2856 (fax) > > Senator Christopher S. Bond, (R-MO) > (202) 224-5721 (phone) > (202) 224-8149 (fax) > > Senator Trent Lott, (R-MS) > (202) 224-6253 (phone) > (202) 224-2262 (fax) > > Senator Hank Brown, (R-CO) > (202) 224-5941 (phone) > (202) 224-6471 (fax) > > Senator Slade Gorton, (R-WA) > (202) 224-3441 (phone) > (202) 224-9393 (fax) > > Senator Judd Gregg, (R-NH) > (202) 224-3324 (phone) > (202) 224-4952 (fax) > > Senator Olympia J. Snowe, (R-ME) > (202) 224-5344 (phone) > (202) 224-1946 (fax) > > Senator Spencer Abraham, (R-MI) > (202) 224-4822 (phone) > (202) 224-8834 (fax) > > Senator Bill Frist, (R-TN) > (202) 224-3344 (phone) > (202) 228-1264 (fax) > > Senator J. James Exon, (D-NE) > (202) 224-4224 (phone) > (202) 224-5213 (fax) > > Senator Ernest F. Hollings, (D-SC) > (202) 224-6121 (phone) > (202) 224-4293 (fax) > > Senator J. Bennett Johnston, (D-LA) > (202) 224-5824 (phone) > (202) 224-2952 (fax) > > Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, (D-NJ) > (202) 224-4744 (phone) > (202) 224-9707 (fax) > > Senator Paul Simon, (D-IL) > (202) 224-2152 (phone) > (202) 224-0868 (fax) > > Senator Kent Conrad, (D-ND) > (202) 224-2043 (phone) > (202) 224-7776 (fax) > > Senator Christopher J. Dodd, (D-CT) > (202) 224-2823 (phone) > (202) 224-1083 (fax) > > Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, (D-MD) > (202) 224-4524 (phone) > (202) 224-1651 (fax) > > Senator Barbara Boxer, (D-CA) > (202) 224-3553 (phone) > (202) 226-6701 (fax) > > Senator Patty Murray, (D-WA) > (202) 224-2621 (phone) > (202) 224-0238 (fax) >