FY2008 APPROPRIATIONS BILLS

FY2008 Appropriations Bills INSIDE (The Beltway) SCOOP - Jon Retzlaff, Legislative Director Congressional Schedule FASEB Washington Update Archives

NIH: Senate Passes Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill

On Tuesday, October 23, 2007, the Senate passed H.R. 3043, the FY2008 Labor-HHS-Education (L/HHS) Appropriations Bill, by a vote of 75-19.  The bill provides NIH with the amount recommended by both the Senate L/HHS Subcommittee and full Appropriations Committee.  Specifically, NIH would receive $29.89 billion in FY2008, a $1 billion or 3.5% increase.  However, the actual increase for NIH-supported programs would amount to $799 million (a 2.8% increase) because the Senate would require NIH to transfer $201 million of its overall increase to the Global AIDS Fund. 

FASEB spent much of the past few weeks trying to generate momentum in the Senate to ensure strong support for the L/HHS Appropriations Bill.  As soon as debate began on the bill last Wednesday, FASEB sent an alert to society members asking them to tell their Senators to vote to sustain funding for NIH by backing the L/HHS bill.  We also issued a press release once the Senate began debating the L/HHS bill.  Our goal is to create enthusiasm and awareness on Capitol Hill for many of the important health programs included in the measure.  Such support is going to be necessary if we hope to convince two-thirds of the Senate and House to vote to override an expected veto of the L/HHS bill by the President.   

The Senate and House are expected to immediately begin conferencing the bill so that they can send it to the President as soon as possible.  Therefore, FASEB is also planning to issue additional alerts and continue its efforts to mobilize our society members for the upcoming votes in the two bodies of Congress (once the bill is conferenced/coordinated).   

Statements from Senate Members during Debate on the L/HHS Bill: 

L/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) commented that the spending that's included in the L/HHS bill is required to catch up for past neglects.  For example, he said that the increase for NIH would allow the agency to fund 400 additional grants.  He compared the bill to the President's proposal, which would cut NIH's budget by $279 million, and result in a budget for NIH that's 12% below (in inflation-adjusted dollars) where we were in 2003.  Senator Harkin stated that it is an exciting time for medical research and it is unconscionable to shortchange NIH.  He compared the additional $11 billion in annual spending for labor, health and education programs to the $12 billion that the Administration is currently spending per month on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

L/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-PA) commented that "health is our number one capital asset, and that without our health, we can't do anything."  He pointed out that the bill fairly addresses the needs of the country and is not excessive.  He specifically cited NIH as the crown jewel of the Federal Government and commented on the enormous strides that have been made to alleviate suffering.  He also said that the $1 billion increase for NIH does not even keep up with inflation and that many grants will not be funded as a result.

President’s Veto Threat:

The President is threatening to veto the L/HHS bill because it spends $10 billion more than he requested in his FY2008 budget request.  And as with the last week’s Senate vote on final passage of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill, the vote for final passage on the L/HHS bill exceeded the number that is required to override a veto by the President. 

However, in a similar strategy to the one employed during last week’s debate on the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill, Republicans offered an amendment prior to the vote for final passage that asked Senators to recommit the bill back to the subcommittee with instructions to spend what the President proposed.  Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV), Senate L/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senate L/HHS Appropriations Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-PA) spoke forcefully against the amendment to recommit.  They all pointed out that a vote in favor of recommitting the bill would result in draconian cuts to important programs.  For example, Senator Byrd said that it would amount to a $279 million dollar cut to NIH’s budget and result in the loss of 717 research grants.  Mr. Byrd asked, “Should we reduce funding for NIH.  Ask yourself before you vote.”  Senators Harkin and Specter echoed Mr. Byrd’s concerns and pointed out how much worse it is when factoring in the cost of inflation.  Unfortunately, forty Senators supported the amendment to recommit, which is an indication that the Democrats actually may not have the 67 votes necessary to overturn a Presidential veto. 

It also needs to be pointed out that the President requested only $141.3 billion for the bill, $3.5 billion below last year's (FY2007) level.  Senator Specter correctly calculated that the President is actually proposing a $7 billion cut to labor, health and education programs (in inflation-adjusted dollars) for FY2008.  Senator Harkin cited the fact that for each of the past five years (when Senator Specter was Chairman of the Subcommittee), the L/HHS bill exceeded the President's request and Mr. Bush never once threatened to veto the bill.  Senator Harkin asked the President to answer the question, "why now?"

The White House issued its formal statement of administration (SAP) policy on the bill (S. 1710/H.R. 3043, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008), just prior to the debate beginning on the L/HHS bill.  In the statement, the Administration declared that it “opposes the bill because, in combination with the other FY2008 appropriations bills, it includes an irresponsible and excessive level of spending and includes other objectionable provisions.” 

In addition, the Administration opposes two other provisions in the bill that affect NIH.  Specifically, the Administration is opposed to the provision that would overturn the President’s stem cell policy, as well as the directive to implement NIH's public access policy.  These two issues are explained below.

Stem Cell Provision:

During full-committee mark-up of the L/HHS bill, Senators Harkin and Specter included a provision that could advance scientific progress toward treatments and cures by greatly expanding the number of stem cell lines that are eligible for NIH-funded research.  The proposal moved the cut-off date for eligible stem cell lines from Aug. 9, 2001 (the President’s original executive order), to June 15, 2007. Therefore, any stem cell line derived before June 15, 2007, would be eligible for federally funded research; those stem cell lines derived after June 15, 2007, would be off-limits.

However, at the onset of the debate on the L/HHS bill, Chairman Harkin stated that he and Senator Specter, agreed to drop the stem cell provision.  Senator Harkin explained that this action was done in order to show willingness to compromise with the President, and he believes the President has a responsibility to meet them half-way.  Therefore, Senator Harkin plans to stand firm on the Senate’s overall spending level that’s been proposed. 

The removal of the stem cell provision reduces many of the potential complications associated with passing the bill, thus possibly limiting amendments and helping to convince additional Senators to vote for final passage.  Some Senators were troubled by the stem cell language and had planned to oppose it once the bill reached the Senate floor.  These Senators expressed concern that embryos would be created for destruction if Congress had decided to resolve the issue through the proposal introduced by Senators Harkin and Specter.

Open Access Policy Provision:

The Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill also included bill language requiring investigators who are funded by NIH to submit an electronic version of their final peer-reviewed manuscript to NLM upon acceptance for publication.  The language says that the manuscript should be made publicly available on PubMed Central ASAP, but no later than 12 months after publication. 

The actual language reads:  “SEC: 221:  The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law.”

The Bush Administration objects to this provision and outlined their specific concerns in the Statement of Administration Policy on the L/HHS bill.  Specifically, the SAP states:

"Public Access to Research Information. Provisions in the bill would require that manuscripts based on NIH-funded research be made available to the public within 12 months of publication. The Administration notes that NIH’s current policy requesting the voluntary submission of manuscripts has only been in effect for 2 years, and the Administration believes there is opportunity to work with Congress to study the current policy and consider ways to encourage better participation. The Administration believes that any policy should balance the benefit of public access to taxpayer supported research against the possible impact that grant conditions could have on scientific research publishing, scientific peer review and on the United States’ longstanding leadership in upholding strong standards of protection for intellectual property."

Senate’s FY2008 Proposed Funding Levels for NIH Institutes and Centers (and Common Fund and Children’s Health Study)                                                           

NSF: Senate Passes Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill

On Tuesday, October 16, 2007, the Senate passed H.R. 3093, the FY2008 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, by a vote of 75-19. The bill provides $6.553 billion for NSF, $636 million above FY2007 and $124 million above the President’s request. The momentum for the proposed increase comes from the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), a bi-partisan initiative to ensure that the U.S. remains the leader in science and technology. The goal of the ACI is to double the budgets of NSF and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science over ten years.

The President has threatened to veto the bill because the entire bill allocates $54.6 billion for the various departments and agencies, which is $3.4 billion more than the President requested in his FY2008 budget. The vote for final passage exceeded the number that is required to override a veto by the President.

However, prior to the vote for final passage, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) sponsored an amendment to re-commit H.R. 3093 back to the Appropriations Committee with instructions to cut $3.4 billion from the bill, reducing its overall cost to the level the President previously requested. Forty-five Senators supported that amendment, which is indication that the Senate may actually not be able to find the 67 votes that are necessary to overturn a Presidential veto. Senator Specter was among the motion’s toughest critics, saying the move would “constitute abandonment, a surrender of Congress’ authority to participate in the appropriations process.” Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) contrasted Bush’s opposition to the $3.4 billion extra with President Bush’s request for an additional $192 billion for the war in Iraq.

During the debate on the bill, Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) offered an amendment to provide an additional one billion dollars for NASA’s space shuttle. In the ensuing discussion, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) referred to an agreement two weeks prior between NIH and NASA, wherein NIH agreed to be a partner in the NASA lab, so it can, for example, research cancer in an environment without gravity. Hutchison also pointed out that cosmic rays are the most intense in space and that research on the space station may, therefore, facilitate our harnessing a new energy source. Senator Nelson (D-FL) pointed out that many modern medical techniques are a direct spin-off of the space system; he further noted that China currently is graduating five times the number of engineers than the US and that India currently is gradating three times the number. The Senate agreed to the Amendment by unanimous consent request.

The bill now moves to conference with the House, which passed a $53.5 billion version in July.
 

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