Political Quotes

“Doubling funding for the National Institutes of Health over the next five years. Is this a reasonable goal? Can we and should we obtain this goal? What is the current budget situation for the NIH? The Congress has a history of doubling the NIH budget over ten years, so we are suggesting that we accelerate the pace of discovery by increasing health research from the usual 7% or 8% increase to a 15% increase per year for five years. This is a reasonable and obtainable goal given our past funding experience and the future potential for health discoveries. We are suggesting that the NIH FY'2000 budget contain a $2 billion increase rather than the $1 billion increase the Congress would usually provide. The result is that NIH will go from a funding level of $15.6 billion in FY'99 to $17.6 billion in FY'2000. This would be the second step toward doubling because we added $2 billion increase to the NIH budget last year. The second step should be easier than the first. We would take the NIH from a $14 billion budget to a $28 billion budget.”