Arlen Specter: “I was pleased to support yesterday as an original cosponsor Senate Resolution 15 which proposes to double appropriations…”

“I was pleased to support yesterday as an original cosponsor Senate Resolution 15 which proposes to double appropriations for medical research over the next 5 years. That is a lofty goal. I subscribe to that goal. During my tenure in the U.S. Senate I have served on the Appropriations Committee and on the subcommittee which has jurisdiction over the Department of Health and Human Services and the funding responsibility for the National Institutes of Health. I am pleased to note that, notwithstanding very severe budget constraints over the years, the subcommittee has consistently raised the funding... When the resolution calls for doubling NIH spending within 5 years, that is a very, very tough goal and a very, very tough objective to me. That would really call for an increase of expenditures of about $2.5 billion a year. My own view is that it would be a priority worth meeting to reach the goal of $2.5 billion a year if the allocation to the subcommittee did permit that. But I have grave doubts that will be possible, although it is as I say a lofty goal.”