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| Welcome to the July 2007
Friends of Cancer Research newsletter. To view the
entire edition online, please visit: http://www.focr.org/news/newsletter/recent.htm
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FY
2008
APPROPRIATIONS
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NIH Funding
Fails to Meet Expectations
The
appropriations process continues as the House and Senate
appropriations committees mark-up the fiscal year (FY)
2008 bills. In May, Congress passed a budget resolution
setting discretionary spending at $953.1 billion. In
June, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS)
received an allocation of $151.1 billion to divide among
its diverse programs, including the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute
(NCI).
Legislative
ActionThe House Appropriations
Labor-HHS Subcommittee passed its FY 2008 spending bill
on June 7. The bill includes a $750 million increase in
funding for the NIH over last year's funding level and
is $1.03 billion above the President's FY 2008 request.
However, the actual increase is less than implied
by the numeric increase because the bill amplifies the
NIH's transfer to the Global HIV/AIDS fund from $99
million to $300 million, essentially reducing the NIH
budget increase from 2.6% to 1.9%. The full House
Appropriations Committee was originally scheduled to
consider this bill on June 14 but is now delaying
consideration until the week of July 16. On June
21, the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved a
$152 billion spending bill for programs falling under
the jurisdiction of the Appropriations Labor-HHS
Subcommittee. The Senate Labor-HHS bill contains $29.9
billion for the NIH, an increase of $1 billion over FY
2007 and $1.3 billion more than the President's request.
This represents a 3.5% increase over last year's funding
level. Like the House bill, the Senate Labor-HHS
appropriations bill also increases the NIH's
contribution to the Global HIV/AIDS fund to $300
million, resulting in an increase in funding for NIH
research of only 2.8%. The Senate Appropriations
Committee included a provision in this bill that would
expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research,
increasing the probability of a Presidential veto.
Outcry
from the Cancer Community
With
biomedical inflation estimated at 3.7%, both the Senate
and House proposals for the NIH budget will effectively
reduce spending power in FY 2008. Friends of Cancer
Research, in addition to numerous other cancer and
biomedical research organizations, is calling for a
6.7%, or $1.9 billion, increase in funding in FY 2008
for the NIH. When adjusted for biomedical inflation, a
6.7% funding increase is necessary in each of the
next three years just to return to FY 2003 levels. The
budget proposals offered by Congress will continue to
constrain the NIH and jeopardize scientific innovation
needed by cancer patients as well as those suffering
from other chronic and life-threatening
conditions.
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DRUG
SAFETY
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House of Representatives
Set to
Consider FDA Legislation
On June 21, the House Energy and Commerce
Committee passed legislation designed to strengthen the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by a unanimous 39-0
vote. The vote of approval by the full committee came
just two days after the Subcommittee on Health held an
extensive mark-up of the draft legislation.
The bill
will reauthorize the FDA to collect user fees from
companies to offset the cost of the review process for
drugs and medical devices, renew legislation that offers
incentives for additional research in pediatric
populations, and provide greater authority to the agency
for safety monitoring and testing after products are
available to the
public.
As several of the funding provisions in
the existing bill will expire at the end of September,
House Leadership acknowledges the need for swift action
on this legislation and hopes to see the bill signed
into law before the August congressional recess.
The bill is expected to receive
consideration by the full House of Representatives on
July 11, and will likely be brought up under suspension,
therefore requiring a two-thirds vote for passage.
Due to the overwhelming bipartisan support
for the bill in committee, passage through the full
House is expected.
However, should Congress or the President
delay this legislation beyond the August recess, the FDA
would then be forced to take several precautionary
measures in expectation of a funding shortfall, such as
the issuance of warning letters to FDA employees
regarding a potential reduction in force.
The Senate passed a similar FDA bill in
May. Once the bill is approved by the full
House, representatives from both the House and the
Senate will meet in conference to reconcile the
differences between the two proposals and construct a
final bill that will be sent to the President for his
approval.
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IN CASE YOU
MISSED IT
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The
following appeared in the news within the past
month.
"Did your cancer risk just increase?"
VIDEO
By
Robert Bazell, MSNBC, July 7,
2007
"Congress Seeks to Balance Drug Safety,
Quick Approval"
By David Brown, Washington
Post, July 5, 2007
"House Committee Passes Drug Safety
Overhaul"
By Jennifer Corbett Dooren, Wall
Street Journal, June 22,
2007 |
| FOCR
UPDATES |
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New
Arrivals
Friends of Cancer Research is pleased to announce
the addition of two new staff members. Each will play an
important role as we expand our efforts to raise
awareness and provide public education on the importance
of cancer research.
Lorraine Kammerer joins
Friends as Senior Manager of Corporate Development.
Lorraine has over five years of experience in the
development field. She was most recently the Donor
Development Manager at the Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society.
Lauren Shapiro
joins Friends as Director of
Communications. She has over six years of experience in
political communications including a position as
communications director for Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
(D-CA).
Farewells
Friends of Cancer Research would like to thank
Communications Manager Alyse Garber for all of
her contributions, as her last day at Friends will be
Friday, July 13, 2007. We wish her the best of luck as
she moves to San Antonio, Texas, where she will be the
Associate Director of Marketing/Communications for the
YMCA of Greater San Antonio. If you have any
communications needs, please contact our new Director of
Communications, Lauren Shapiro at 703-302-1522 or lshapiro@focr.org.
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