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Note: While the
actual bill provides NIH with an FY2008
appropriations level of $29.229 billion (which
would amount to a $329 million
increase), NIH is being asked to transfer an
additional $196 million in FY2008 to the Global
AIDS fund (on top of the $99 million it
transferred in FY2007).
NSF’s FY2008 budget:
$6.065
billion (+$148 million, a 2.5% increase)
DOE’s Office of
Science FY2008 budget:
$4.055
billion (+255 million, a 6.7% increase)
VA Medical and
Prosthetics Research
$480
million (+68 million, a 16.5% increase)
U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s National Research Initiative (NRI)
$190.88 million (+0.88 million, a 0.46%
increase)
The text of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY 2008
can be found on the House Rules Committee web
site:
http://www.rules.house.gov/110_fy08_omni.htm.
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TIMELINE OF ACTIONS RE: THE
CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR FY2008
The following is a review of the actions that
led up to the passage of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for FY2008 (beginning with
the recent action):
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
On a 272-142 vote, the House accepted Senate
language adding $70 billion in emergency defense
funds for U.S. operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and the underlying Consolidated
Appropriations Act for FY2008 was sent to
President Bush for his signature.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Senate passed the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for 2008 after adding $70
billion for the military efforts in Iraq and
Afghanistan and applying a 1.747%
across-the-board cut across all programs.
President Bush had indicated that he would sign
the bill if the money for the wars was added
without restrictions and Democrats agreed to not
exceed the President’s top line number for
domestic discretionary programs. The bill passed
by a vote of 76-17.
Prior to the vote in the Senate, Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-NV) remarked that while no one is
happy with the result, the appropriations
process would be completed for FY2008. It’s
very easy to be disappointed with this omnibus
bill, especially when you compare it to what the
House and Senate agreed to in the FY2008
Labor-HHS-Education (L/HHS) Conference Report
(which was vetoed by the President). The omnibus
bill reduced NIH’s budget by $771 million
(translating to a 2.6% decline), as compared to
the FY2008 L/HHS Conference Report. In addition,
NSF and DOE’s Office of Science were to have
received significant increases as part of the
Administration’s American Competitiveness
Initiative and the Democratic leadership’s
Innovation Agenda, but their FY2008 budget
numbers fell far short of expectations.
During the debate, Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin
(D-IA) commented that while the omnibus bill
largely yields to the President’s top-line
budget numbers, it also addresses some of the
bottom-line priorities of the American people.
He also stated, “the Grinch tried to steal
Christmas, but we didn’t let him get all of it.”
Chairman Harkin may have been referring to the
fact that the outcome could have been a lot
worse had the President’s budget been adopted.
Specifically, the increase for NIH that’s
included in the omnibus bill is actually $607
million more than the President initially
proposed for NIH in his FY2008 budget request.
Monday, December 17, 2007
The House passed the Consolidated Appropriations
Act for 2008. During the debate on the bill,
Republicans complained that they were given one
day to review a 3,500 page, thirty-four pound
bill. Numerous Republicans also expressed
concern with the tremendous number of earmarks
that are included in the bill. Ranking
Appropriations Member Jerry Lewis (R-CA) said
that he would oppose the bill because it did not
provide money for the troops (note that the
Senate did add money for the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, which required the House to vote
again on the revised measure). However, Mr.
Lewis said that he was encouraged that the
spending in the bill did not exceed the
President’s top-line number and applauded the
Democrats’ decision to drop provisions that
would lead to a Presidential veto.
House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI)
said that the bill is inadequate to meet our
country’s long-term investment requirements and
placed the blame on the President’s
unwillingness to compromise. However, Mr. Obey
was able to point out that the bill provides NIH
with $600 million more than the President
requested. In addition, Mr. Obey remarked that
had Democrats adopted President Bush’s budget,
800 NIH grants would have been cut in FY2008.
Chairman Obey also said that Democrats reduced
the number of earmarks in the bill by 43% (from
the $16 billion that Republicans spent on them
two years ago). House Majority Leader Steny
Hoyer (D-MD) urged the House to support the bill
even though “it’s not the best we could do.” He
said it shortchanges support for basic
biomedical research (due to the President’s
unwillingness to negotiate).
Of course, these numbers are extremely
disappointing, especially when considering that
Congress voted to provide NIH with a $1.1
billion increase in FY2008 (before the bill was
vetoed by the President), as well as recommended
that NSF receive a 10 percent increase in FY2008
and that the budget for the Office of Science
within the Department of Energy grow by fifteen
percent. As you will see below, many of the NIH
Institutes and Centers are projected to receive
tiny increases in FY2008.
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