Dear President Trump, Speaker Ryan, Leader McConnell, Leader Pelosi, and Leader Schumer:
As the new Administration and 115th Congress begin, the 260 undersigned members of the Ad
Hoc Group for Medical Research urge you to enact without further delay a final fiscal year (FY)
2017 spending package that includes the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved $34.1
billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to ensure that NIH remains a priority in
FY 2018 and beyond. The Ad Hoc Group is a coalition of patient and voluntary health groups,
medical and scientific societies, academic and research organizations, and industry, dedicated to
enhancing the federal investment in biomedical, behavioral, social, and population-based
research supported by NIH.
As you know, a robust, reliable investment in scientific discovery is crucial to improve patients’
health, strengthen the economy in the near- and long-term, and maintain the U.S.’s global
preeminence in medical innovation. Through NIH, the federal government plays an irreplaceable
role in supporting biomedical research that is inherently inefficient for industry to conduct but is
essential to inform our fundamental understanding of medicine. More than 80 percent of the
NIH’s budget supports research in all 50 states and D.C., as well as U.S. territories, at medical
schools, teaching hospitals, universities, and research institutes, which often are among the
largest employers in their respective communities. The attached fact sheet details the return on
investment of NIH funding, as well as polling data demonstrating the public’s strong support for
sustaining this investment.
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