Washington, D.C., --Today the U.S. House of Representatives 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).
The bill, which was passed by the Senate last week, is now headed to the president for his signature.
A statement from Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows:
“Congress should be commended for recognizing the importance of increased medical research funding at the NIH and NCI. This $2 billion NIH increase is essential to keeping up the pace of progress in cancer prevention, detection and treatment. This kind of consistent, year-over-year funding increase ensures research started in one budget year can continue into the next and promising developments can move from the lab to the patient as quickly as possible.
“Additionally, cancer prevention and early detection programs—including 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 600,000 Americans this year. We’re pleased Congress recognized the important role of cancer prevention when funding programs at the CDC.
“ACS CAN appreciates the hard work and dedication of the Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) and Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT.) who have consistently worked together in a bipartisan manner to prioritize funding for cancer research and prevention.
“We urge the president to quickly sign this bill before the end of the fiscal year on September 30; lifesaving research taking place at NIH and across the country cannot wait.”
