Status of FY08 Funding for NIH, NIDCR

Background
During the week of November 5, 2007, Congress passed the FY08 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill, which included funding for NIH and NIDCR.  President George W. Bush vetoed the bill on November 13 because the bill contained nearly $10 billion more in spending than he wanted. An attempt to override the bill in the House of Representatives failed by a vote of 277-141.

What Congress Passed for NIH, NIDCR
The FY08 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill was enrolled as part of a larger $555 billion omnibus spending bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2008, which Congress passed the week of December 17, 2007. 

In the bill, NIH received $29.7 billion in funding.  Overall, it is only an increase of less than one percent from pervious funding levels; woefully short of the 8.2 percent increase as authorized in the NIH Reform Act of 2006.

NIDCR received $396 million in the Consolidated Appropriations Act.  This amount is roughly $3.2 million less than the amount passed in the vetoed legislation of November, and significantly below the $420 million recommended by FNIDCR. 

President Bush signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2008 on December 26, 2007.

FNIDCR Letters about FY08 Funding for NIH, NIDCR

• FNIDCR Letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairman on NIH, NIDCR Funding (PDF)
  
  
• FNIDCR Letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman on NIH, NIDCR Funding (PDF)
  
  
• NIDCR Director Dr. Lawrence Tabak’s Congressional Statements

FNIDCR is dismayed at the inability of the Administration and certain members of Congress to properly fund medical research at NIH, and specifically NIDCR.  Despite our disappointment, we will remain steadfast in the effort to secure proper funding for innovative and groundbreaking medical research for FY09 and beyond.