Washington, D.C., —Today the U.S. Senate passed a combined Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) bill that includes a $2 billion increase for medical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a total of $6.1 billion for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The bill also increases funding for cancer prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while maintaining funding for the Office of Smoking and Health (OSH).
A statement from Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows:
“We commend the Senate for passing this critical piece of legislation that recognizes the importance of continued increases in medical research funding at the NIH and NCI. The $2 billion NIH increase represents the kind of consistent investments needed to keep up the momentum in cancer prevention, detection and treatment.
“Additionally, cancer prevention and early detection programs and those that prevent kids from starting and help adults to quit smoking, are also critical to reducing death and suffering from a disease that will kill more then 600,00 Americans this year. We’re pleased the Senate prioritized funding for these programs at the CDC.
“Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Patti Murray (D-Wash.) have consistently worked together in a bipartisan manner to prioritize funding for cancer research and prevention. We applaud their continued commitment to making cancer research a national priority.
“We urge the House to take quick action to pass this bill before the end of the fiscal year on September 30 and send it to the president for his signature. There are very few legislative days left between now and then, but the lifesaving research taking place at NIH and across the country cannot wait.”
