Passed 8/3/2013
WHEREAS, the Founding Fathers expressed the desire in the Constitution to “provide for the general welfare” and to “promote the progress of science and useful arts;” and strong funding of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is critical to continue our nation’s investment in biomedical research and to support a program of sustained growth that will keep pace with the increasing scientific opportunities, continue our progress in improved health, and create high-quality jobs and foster economic competitiveness in an increasingly high-tech world; and
WHEREAS, the broad range of research supported by NIH is essential for improving our understanding of diseases and is a primary source of new innovations in health care, yet this research requires the kind of investment that no individual company or private entity could afford to undertake on its own; and
WHEREAS, funding cuts have had an adverse effect on vital research in progress and will stifle future research necessary to maintain a healthy populace, and this has been due to the failure to provide adequate funding in spite of the rising costs of research, the increasing complexity of the scientific enterprise, the loss of purchasing power at NIH due to budgets that have not kept up with inflation and the $1.6 billion in sequestration cuts, new grant applications that are funded at the lowest rate in NIH history leading to multiple negative impacts on biomedical research in the US, including the closure of research labs, increased unemployment in technology fields and loss of our competitive edge to biotech research in other countries;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley calls on Congress to authorize a minimum NIH appropriation in FY 2014 that is the FY 2012 level adjusted for inflation (about $32 billion), which will help prevent further erosion of the nation’s capacity for biomedical research and ensure the stability of the research enterprise which will improve the health of all Americans and ensure our leadership in this crucial area of science and technology;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley will distribute this resolution to California’s Democratic members of Congress and to President Obama.