Senate Marks Up Supplemental that Includes Funds for Science 

Yesterday, although the House failed to pass its $162.5 billion fiscal year (FY2008) emergency supplemental appropriations bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its $193 billion version of the FY2008 bill. Whereas the House version of the supplemental neither included science funding nor exceeded the President’s $180 billion request, the Senate bill contains about $10 billion in domestic funding over the President’s request. Of the $10 billion in discretionary funding in its bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee directed $1.2 billion toward its “Science Initiative.”

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Farm Bill Passes Without Language Harmful to Animal Research, Creates New Research Institute

The advocacy efforts of FASEB and the research community were apparent in the final Farm Bill, which passed both the House and the Senate this week. Legislators removed language eliminating the use of non-purpose bred dogs and cats purchased from Class B dealers, which could have disrupted ongoing research studies, from the final bill.

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House Holds Hearing on Stem Cell Research

A hearing that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health held on “Stem Cell Science: The Foundation for Future Cures,” proved to be popular among members of Congress, with more than a dozen in attendance to hear testimony on the current status of stem cell research. Witnesses included National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D., embryonic stem cell scientists George Daley, M.D., Ph.D., and John Gearhardt, Ph.D., and adult stem cell researchers and patient advocates.

The need for research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) took center stage at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, which focused on Alzheimer’s disease and counted former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor among its witnesses. Both Gingrich and O’Connor, who are members of a taskforce of national leaders called the Alzheimer’s Study Group, emphasized multiple times the need for more and better coordination of fundamental and clinical research at NIH.

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House Holds Hearing on Promoting Gender Equity in Science

On Thursday, May 8, the House Subcommittee on Research and Science Education held a hearing on a draft bill that aims to overcome gender bias in academic science and engineering. The Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Act of 2008 would require the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a program of national workshops to minimize gender bias in the evaluation of research grants and in hiring, tenure, promotion, and award decisions.

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Coalitions Request FY2009 Funding for NIH

The House and Senate are making progress toward finalizing a budget resolution for fiscal year 2009 (FY2009). On Wednesday, the House named its conferees, who are House Budget Chairman and Ranking Member John Spratt (D-SC) and Paul Ryan (R-WI), respectively, as well as Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chet Edwards (D-TX) and Gresham Barrett (R-SC). The Senate followed suit on Thursday by naming its conferees. The Democratic conferees will be Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). The Republican leaders chose Senate Budget Ranking Member Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM).

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INSIDE (The Beltway) SCOOP – Gretchen Opper

Notwithstanding our focus in the last few issues of this publication on the protracted progress of the fiscal year 2008 (FY2008) war supplemental, we have had some major victories on the Hill during the past month, which include the passage of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and the Farm Bill without the provisions we opposed, as well as the elimination of the Small Business Innovation Research increase proposal and the increasing likelihood that Congress will reach a budget resolution this year. These successes reflect both the effectiveness of FASEB advocacy and the strength of the coalitions of which FASEB and its societies are members.

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Congressional Schedule

The House and Senate are in session.

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