Arlen Specter: “beyond the assurance as to where the money is going to go, there is money there, so that if there needs to be a…”

“beyond the assurance as to where the money is going to go, there is money there, so that if there needs to be a reallocation, there will be some funds that can be allocated. The subcommittee has the responsibility for job training, student aid, Pell grants, LIHEAP, the Center for Disease Control, child care, Social Security administrative costs, Medicare, and a long list of items which have very, very high priority. And when the Budget Committee returns to the health account less money than it had last year, obviously, there is no money for NIH because the other items have been cut to the bone as it is. The last 2 years Senator Harkin and I consolidated or eliminated 134 programs to save $1.5 billion to put into NIH and to put into education. And the additional funds here are on projected programs. So it is a very clear vote. It is a vote as to whether we want to put our money where we spoke so eloquently last night on $2 billion or whether we want to have NIH unable to have an inflation rise and, in fact, have a pro rata cut.”