NAEVR praises champions for $10 billion funding boon

Key Points

Washington, DC-With the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1) in Denver, the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) praised Congress and biomedical research champions that facilitated the $10 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

James Jorkasky, executive director of NAEVR, said, "NAEVR was pleased to support the efforts of Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in the Senate, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-WI) in the House, to include $10 billion in funding for the NIH. We thank them for their commitment to biomedical research and its power to create and sustain jobs through this economic stimulus bill. We also owe a great deal to Maine's Republican Sens. Nancy Collins and Olympia Snowe, who joined with Sen. Specter in demonstrating independence and leadership in ensuring that this measure passed in the Senate."

Jorkasky pointed out that the funding will create 70,000 jobs in the near term and will have an economic impact in every state, as NIH funding trickles down by supporting research at academic institutions nationwide.