Research!America Statement on FY24 NIH Budget
Research!America is releasing the following statement from President and CEO Mary Woolley following the release today of FY24 appropriations that included a roughly .8% cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget with essentially flat funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health agencies.
“We are grateful for the hard work leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have expended to protect funding for the NIH and other crucial research and public health agencies, and for their determination to prevent the across-the-board budget cuts written into the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act,” Woolley said. “Unfortunately, the constraints these leaders contended with are reflected in funding levels for these agencies that lag inflation, need, and opportunity. Compared to previous years, we are taking a step back at a time in our history when the need for U.S. research and public health leadership has never been more apparent or urgent.
Fentanyl is taking 200 lives a day; mental health issues are derailing young lives; the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s has surpassed 6.5 million; the next pandemic could be far more deadly than the last; and our economic strength, security, and self-sufficiency as a nation are being threatened by competitors out-investing us in the science and technology arena. Progress-stifling budget caps must be reconsidered against the future of our nation and the threats confronting the American people. It would be tragic if we looked back at this time in our history as the tipping point toward decline.
Americans agree. According to a survey Research!America commissioned in January of 2024, a majority of Americans (61%) across party lines (54% of Republicans, 75% of Democrats, and 52% of Independents) believe that Congress should invest more tax dollars to advance science and technology. Our nation can, and must, step up, not back, in the face of the challenges confronting us.”