Mike Enzi: “Today the Senate has once again affirmed its commitment to strengthen the National Institutes of Health and its…”

“Today the Senate has once again affirmed its commitment to strengthen the National Institutes of Health and its important research to find better treatments and cures for all diseases. Today, the Senate passed H.R. 6164, the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006. This important piece of legislation provides needed reforms to the crown jewel of the Nation's biomedical research enterprise, the National Institutes of Health. This reauthorization builds upon the great initiatives and vision of Dr. Zerhouni, the Director of NIH, by creating a common fund to support cross-cutting trans-NIH research initiatives, such as those initiated as part of Dr. Zerhouni's 'roadmap initiative'. This reform bill also brings more transparency to the spending of this important agency. As we recently doubled the NIH budget, it is important that the NIH and Congress can plan and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of that spending. NIH is the steward of this Nation's biomedical research enterprise and it is important we reevaluate the inner-workings of the agency to ensure they are meeting this responsibility. The legislation passed today is a fulfillment of our critical obligation to evaluate, strengthen, and improve the NIH so that they can shoulder this burden.”