America needs your help this morning.
Under the Bush Administration, science research funding in our country dropped or remained stagnant.
This had a crushing effect on science research, and jeopardizes Americans health as well as our Country's economic strength.
Under Bush, we spent as much in one month in Iraq as we spend in an entire year on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget ($29 billion).
With the Obama stimulus plan, we have a chance to make science funding in this country a national priority.
A pivotal vote for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) takes place today in the Senate Appropriations Committee on the economic recovery package.
Specifically, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) will offer an amendment to support $10 billion for NIH – This increase would help save and create new jobs now while investing in our nation’s long term health and economic strength.
Health research leads to new cures for devastating illnesses and helps optimize healthcare.
This Amendment is being proposed by a Republican, but the Science research and the health of our country is clearly a bipartisan issue.
Please contact your Senator this morning to ask them to vote in favor of the Specter amendment for NIH funding.
You can call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be directed to your Senator’s office.
Appropriations Committee Members:
* Daniel Inouye, Chairman, Hawaii
* Robert Byrd, West Virginia
* Patrick Leahy, Vermont
* Tom Harkin, Iowa
* Barbara Mikulski, Maryland
* Herb Kohl, Wisconsin
* Patty Murray, Washington
* Byron Dorgan, North Dakota
* Dianne Feinstein, California
* Richard Durbin, Illinois
* Tim Johnson, South Dakota
* Mary Landrieu, Louisiana
* Jack Reed, Rhode Island
* Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey
* Ben Nelson, Nebraska
* Mark Pryor, Arkansas
* Jon Tester, Montana
* Thad Cochran, Ranking Member, Mississippi
* Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania
* Kit Bond, Missouri
* Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
* Richard Shelby, Alabama
* Judd Gregg, New Hampshire
* Robert Bennett, Utah
* Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas
* Sam Brownback, Kansas
* Lamar Alexander, Tennessee
* George Voinovich, Ohio
* Susan Collins, Maine
* Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
UPDATE
I understand mistrust of Specter, but he has been a consistent friend to health science funding. In fact his 2003 Amendment with Senator Harkin helped the NIH tremendously and di not win any friends on the GOP side of the aisle. Even though every American benefits from investments in sceince through the NIH, Republicans called Specter's 2003 amendment "Pork".
Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) shocked his colleagues during an angry speech late last Thursday when he labeled the National Institutes of Health "pigs" and implied that a fellow Republican senator was doing the NIH’s bidding.
"I hate to say it, but the NIH is one of the best agencies in the world," an angry Domenici said as he spoke in opposition to an amendment by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) to boost NIH funding by $1.5 billion. "But they’ve turned into pigs. You know, pigs! They can’t keep their oinks closed. They send a senator down there [to] argue as if they’re broke."