ACTION ALERT
February 22, 2011

Contact Your Senator Today
Urge them to Vote NO for H.R. 1

Background Information:

On Saturday, February 19, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, a Continuing Resolution (CR) that will fund government agencies, including the NIH, for the remainder of FY 2011, by a vote of 235 to 189. All Democrats and three Republicans: Jeff Flake (R-6 th, AZ), John Campbell (R-48 th, CA) and Walter B. Jones (R-3 rd, NC) voted against it.

The CR includes a $1.6 billion (5.2 percent) cut in NIH funding from the FY 2010 level. This would reduce the NIH budget to the Fy 2008 funding level. Furthermore, if enacted, the entire cut would have to be absorbed in the remaining months of FY 2011, significantly intensifying the impact of the reduction.

The Senate is expected to take up the bill the week of February 28.

Impact of these Cuts on the National Library of Medicine:

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) and all of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are the source of free information resources used by health professionals, researchers, and the public across the country.
FY 2011 journal costs are 19 percent higher than FY 2008 costs.
Much of the information found in Google comes from NLM and NIH.
These cuts will impede public access to high quality, timely, relevant information, and have a significant impact on community-based outreach programs to all health professionals and the public, especially to those in underserved areas.
There will be significant delays in making results of previously funded researchers available to researchers, health professionals, and the public.
These cuts reduce the value of previously taxpayer investments, slows the pace of research discovery, and delays translation of new knowkedge into improved practice.

Throughout all of the NIH, the Continuing Resolution:

Eliminates the $300 million Global HIV/AIDS transfer;
Cuts $260 million for non-competing grants inflation, and includes an unprecedented statutory limit of $400,000 for competing research project grants (RPGs) [sec. 1812; pp. 290-1];
Includes a $639.5 million pro-rata reduction of all Institute/Center/OD budgets, described in an accompanying summary as "General Reduction to FY 2008 Levels," and includes a statutory mandate on the NIH Director to "ensure at least a total of 9,000 new competing research grants [sec. 1850; p. 305];
Cuts $48.5 million from the OD budget for the Common Fund, reducing it from $544.1 million in FY 2010 to $495.6 million [sec. 1849; p. 305];
Cuts $77.3 million from the intramural Buildings and Facilities account, reducing it to $22.7 million;
Eliminates the $304 million Project BioShield Special Reserve Fund Transfer to NIAID; and
Requires the NIH Director to transfer $256.6 million on a pro rata basis from the I/C/OD budgets to NIAID [sec. 1811; pp. 289-90].

What You Can Do Now:

Please contact your Senator immediately and urge them to oppose H.R. 1, which will cut the nation’s medical research effort and access to health information and resources. It is vitally important that they understand the benefits that NIH-funded research provides to their communities and to the nation, and the threats posed by this unprecedented cut in NIH funding.

The following resources are available to help you with this action alert:

To find your senators, go to http://www.senate.gov/. Phone numbers and email addresses for all congressional offices are also listed on the senate website. Calling works best, but you may also communicate via email.

Tips for communicating with congressional offices:

1. Identify yourself as a constituent and ask to speak with the senator’s Health Care Legislative Assistant.
2. Tell the aide that you are a health sciences librarian who understands and benefits from the programs and services of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
3. Ask the senator to oppose these cuts to the NIH budget.
4. Briefly explain why these issues are important to you. For example, if your library receives NIH and NLM funding describe these initiatives and the impact they make to support health care, education, and research in your institution and in your local community. You might explain that NLM, as the world’s largest biomedical library and part of the NIH, plays a pivotal role in translating the results of the $32 billion of NIH-funded biomedical research into practice and developing electronic information services that provide scientists, health professionals, and the public with access to the Library’s online information resources.
5. Give the aide your contact information and ask to be informed about the actions of the legislator on these key issues.

If you have questions or need additional information, contact Mary Langman at langman@mlahq.org.

ACTION ALERT February 22, 2011

Contact Your Senator TodayUrge them to Vote NO for H.R. 1

ACTION ALERT
February 22, 2011

Contact Your Senator Today
Urge them to Vote NO for H.R. 1