Arlen Specter: “I believe the amendment offered by the distinguished Senator from North Dakota is a meritorious amendment on…”

“I believe the amendment offered by the distinguished Senator from North Dakota is a meritorious amendment on institutional development within the National Institutes of Health. We have a figure of $60 million there as part of $2.7 billion. The subcommittee and the full committee have been very--aggressive, is the right word--to increase NIH funding. We did it at $2.7 billion in this bill. We had $2.2 billion last year, $2 billion the year before, a billion before that. I agree totally with the thrust of what the Senator wants to accomplish. When we sit down with the House in conference, there is always a lot of give-and-take with a bill that is at $104.5 billion. It would be my intention to do what we can to reach the figure of $100 million, which is what the Senator wants, because I think that is the right figure. What I suggest is that the Senator give Senator Harkin and me and the other conferees the flexibility to negotiate.”