(Click here to download the letter and to see the current list of signatures)
Dear Research Advocate,
Copied below is a letter to House and Senate Leaders making the case for our nation’s investment — both through direct funding and incentives — in biomedical research, health research and basic public health functions. The goal, which reflects this joint campaign as a whole, is to position medical progress and public health as simply too important to place in the line of fire as the fiscal cliff is addressed. Note: This letter does not constitute a lobbying effort, but rather is an advocacy initiative intended to educate policy makers about the consequences of disinvesting from critical research.
Even if you are unable to participate in any other aspect of the week of advocacy, including your organization as a signatory on this letter is a truly meaningful contribution. We must demonstrate to policy makers that we are a large, diverse and determined constituency in order for our concerns to receive the attention they absolutely deserve. You and I know that by making across-the-board cuts to the budget or dismantling incentives for private sector and philanthropic giving, Congress could set our nation’s capacity to advance health back by decades. Now we need to get the message across to policy makers. In advocacy, the size, commitment and geographical and functional diversity of the stakeholder population matters. We need you to make this work.
Unfortunately, because of the number of organizations invested in this letter, we cannot accept edits. Please email Jordan Gates at jgates@researchamerica.org and indicate whether your organization is or is not willing to add its name to this effort. By responding with a yes or no, you will verify that you have in fact received this email.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Ellie Dehoney at edehoney@researchamerica.org or 571-482-2717.
Sincerely,
Mary Woolley
President and CEO, Research!America
Dear Research Advocate,
Copied below is a letter to House and Senate Leaders making the case for our nation’s investment — both through direct funding and incentives — in biomedical research, health research and basic public health functions. The goal, which reflects this joint campaign as a whole, is to position medical progress and public health as simply too important to place in the line of fire as the fiscal cliff is addressed. Note: This letter does not constitute a lobbying effort, but rather is an advocacy initiative intended to educate policy makers about the consequences of disinvesting from critical research.
Even if you are unable to participate in any other aspect of the week of advocacy, including your organization as a signatory on this letter is a truly meaningful contribution. We must demonstrate to policy makers that we are a large, diverse and determined constituency in order for our concerns to receive the attention they absolutely deserve. You and I know that by making across-the-board cuts to the budget or dismantling incentives for private sector and philanthropic giving, Congress could set our nation’s capacity to advance health back by decades. Now we need to get the message across to policy makers. In advocacy, the size, commitment and geographical and functional diversity of the stakeholder population matters. We need you to make this work.
Unfortunately, because of the number of organizations invested in this letter, we cannot accept edits. Please email Jordan Gates at jgates@researchamerica.org and indicate whether your organization is or is not willing to add its name to this effort. By responding with a yes or no, you will verify that you have in fact received this email.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Ellie Dehoney at edehoney@researchamerica.org or 571-482-2717.
Sincerely,
Mary Woolley
President and CEO, Research!America
|
The Honorable Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Mitch McConnell Senate Minority Leader United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 |
The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker of the House United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Minority Leader United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 |
Dear Mr. Reid, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Boehner, and Ms. Pelosi:
As advocates for biomedical and health research, we are writing to urge you to refrain from deploying deficit reduction strategies, like sequestration, that would slow medical progress.
Our nation leads the world in biomedical and health research, a function of public sector support and private sector ingenuity. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is unrivaled in spurring the basic discovery that lays the path for private sector innovation. Peer-reviewed NIH funding reaches all 50 states and congressional districts, spurring discovery at universities, hospitals, small businesses, and independent research institutes. In fact, NIH-supported research has:
But this is not just about NIH. The National Science Foundation (NSF), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) all provide a positive return on investment to our nation, protecting American lives and promoting American prosperity.
Disinvesting from biomedical and health research – and the infrastructure and expertise needed to conduct it – would contravene the goal of deficit reduction. This research is one of the fundamental underpinnings of our economy, a reality well understood by other nations, which are ramping up their investment and building out their research infrastructure. Research is a catalyst that creates businesses large and small, and generates jobs in research, manufacturing, distribution, exports, health care and a host of other sectors. Those businesses and jobs supply federal revenue needed to reduce the deficit.
In addition, research can help stem runaway federal healthcare spending, which is driving our deficit. While new treatments may require additional cost at the outset, research has shown the offsetting effects of reduced hospitalizations, fewer visits to providers, reduced home care, a reduction in the Social Security disability roles, and improved productivity. As you well know, the cost of treating diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases are exploding. There is no high-impact alternative to research as a means of addressing this crisis.
When it comes to the fiscal health of our nation, biomedical and health research are part of the solution, not part of the problem. Whether it is appropriations policy or entitlement and tax reform, we urge you to discard any proposal that cuts funding or mutes incentives for public- and private-sector supported medical innovation. Compassion and pragmatism intersect in the decision to do so.
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,
As advocates for biomedical and health research, we are writing to urge you to refrain from deploying deficit reduction strategies, like sequestration, that would slow medical progress.
Our nation leads the world in biomedical and health research, a function of public sector support and private sector ingenuity. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is unrivaled in spurring the basic discovery that lays the path for private sector innovation. Peer-reviewed NIH funding reaches all 50 states and congressional districts, spurring discovery at universities, hospitals, small businesses, and independent research institutes. In fact, NIH-supported research has:
- Supported nearly 500,000 jobs in 2011 in every state
- Generated $62 billion in economic activity in 2011
- Helped increase life expectancy from 47 years in 1900 to 78 years in 2009
But this is not just about NIH. The National Science Foundation (NSF), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) all provide a positive return on investment to our nation, protecting American lives and promoting American prosperity.
- NSF’s grant portfolio is designed to identify and pursue the best scientific opportunities across the spectrum of scientific disciplines, including biomedical research.
- FDA is a key conduit between medical discovery and medical progress, laying the path for safe and effective medical products to reach the marketplace.
- CDC conducts and supports the public health research needed to contain disease outbreaks, promote wellness, and in other ways provide basic supports for a safe and healthy society; and
- AHRQ combats entrenched and insidious problems in our nation’s health care system – like preventable medical errors and needless administrative red tape -- that take lives and inflate the cost of taxpayer funded health programs and private insurance alike.
Disinvesting from biomedical and health research – and the infrastructure and expertise needed to conduct it – would contravene the goal of deficit reduction. This research is one of the fundamental underpinnings of our economy, a reality well understood by other nations, which are ramping up their investment and building out their research infrastructure. Research is a catalyst that creates businesses large and small, and generates jobs in research, manufacturing, distribution, exports, health care and a host of other sectors. Those businesses and jobs supply federal revenue needed to reduce the deficit.
In addition, research can help stem runaway federal healthcare spending, which is driving our deficit. While new treatments may require additional cost at the outset, research has shown the offsetting effects of reduced hospitalizations, fewer visits to providers, reduced home care, a reduction in the Social Security disability roles, and improved productivity. As you well know, the cost of treating diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases are exploding. There is no high-impact alternative to research as a means of addressing this crisis.
When it comes to the fiscal health of our nation, biomedical and health research are part of the solution, not part of the problem. Whether it is appropriations policy or entitlement and tax reform, we urge you to discard any proposal that cuts funding or mutes incentives for public- and private-sector supported medical innovation. Compassion and pragmatism intersect in the decision to do so.
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,