Alert

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, today held a hearing on the National Institutes of Health’s FY2019 budget request. In his opening remarks, Blunt discussed the numerous ways in which NIH funding increases have paved the way for medical advances, and underscored the need to continue a sustained federal commitment to medical research.

Following are Excerpts From Blunt’s Opening Remarks:

“During the three years that Senator Murray and I have worked together on this committee, we’ve increased funding for the National Institutes of Health by 23 percent, seven billion dollars above where we were just three years ago. We’ve nearly tripled the Alzheimer’s research amount, started the Precision Medicine Initiative, and targeted resources, really, to such revolutionary projects as the BRAIN Initiative, the universal flu vaccine, and efforts to combat antibiotic resistance. A renewed investment in NIH has provided, and can provide millions of Americans and their families with hope that they wouldn’t otherwise have. NIH funded research has raised life expectancy, vastly improved the quality of life for all Americans, and in addition, I’m hopeful that we can see ways to lower health costs and healthcare costs, and to create economic growth by supporting the jobs, the research, and the innovation, that are such an important part of dealing with healthcare issues now. …

“Earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health launched enrollment in the All of Us study, which will collect health information from one million Americans, an idea that Dr. Collins, mentioned I think two years ago for the first time, as an NIH goal. All of Us has the potential of course, to unlock precision medicine for the majority of diseases that we suffer from today. This initiative has the potential to change our health system from a one-size-fits-all to, really, understanding more about personalized medicine.”