Skip to main content

Congressman Cohen Becomes Co-Chair of Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus

January 23, 2015

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that he is the newest co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, which was founded in 1989 and aims to broaden support and knowledge of biomedical research issues throughout Congress. Congressman Cohen is a leading voice in the U.S. House of Representatives for supporting our nation’s research institutions and has long fought to reverse the devastating effects sequestration has had on biomedical research in America, especially on research funded and conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“The National Institutes of Health is another department of defense that protects us from deadly diseases and illnesses,” said Congressman Cohen. “And while we more than adequately fund the Department of Defense, we have significantly cut funding for the NIH, preventing critically important research for cures and treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, stroke, cancer, and Parkinson’s. The likelihood of any one of us dying from a terrorist attack or weapon fired by a rogue nation is very slim, but the odds of suffering from a disease is much more likely. We need to fight those diseases, and we can successfully come up with treatments and cures if we fund the NIH. I am proud to serve as a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus and look forward to reaching across the aisle to support the NIH and our nation’s best research facilities like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the 114th Congress.”

Congressman Cohen has a strong track record of fighting for stronger federal funding of biomedical research, and in the 113th Congress led a coalition of nearly 50 U.S. Representatives in urging the reversal of a decade-long slide in support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that has left our nation less prepared to stop the spread of viral diseases and without cures or vaccines for some of the most deadly illnesses. The Congressman also introduced the Research First Act to increase NIH funding for research by more than $1.5 billion, after that funding had been cut by sequestration.

Congressman Cohen joins Reps. Jackie Speier (CA-14), Steve Stivers (OH-15), and Charlie Dent (PA-15) as leaders of the bipartisan caucus.