APPROPRIATIONS BILL WOULD INCREASE NIH FUNDING BY $620 MILLION

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wisc.), the respective leaders of Senate and House appropriations committees, announced Jan. 29 an agreement on the final federal funding package for the current fiscal year. The legislation provides $28.9 billion in funding for the NIH, an increase of $620 million, for medical research, according to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

The House is expected to debate and vote on the legislation this week.

The House Appropriations Committee was to consider a joint funding resolution Jan. 31 to fund the federal government through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The Senate is expected to consider the resolution once the House passes it.

The text of the joint funding resolution can be viewed at www.rules.house.gov/110/text/110th_hjres20.pdf (http://www.rules.house.gov/110/text/110th_hjres20.pdf).