Cohen Blasts House GOP Effort to Distract From Cuts to Medical Research That Are Preventing New Cures For Fatal Illnesses

[WASHINGTON, DC] – One of the most outspoken advocates in Congress for medical research programs and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to lambast a Republican proposal meant to distract from sequestration’s very real and crippling effects on the NIH’s efforts to find cures for debilitating diseases like cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and AIDS. Video of the Congressman’s remarks on the House Floor is available here.

“The NIH is our nation’s true Department of Defense—it defends us from cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, AIDS and diabetes,” said Congressman Cohen. “And their budget for research into new cures is being decimated by sequestration. The $13 million in research funding this bill proposes doesn’t replace even 1% of sequestration’s cuts. Memphis, the city I live in, is home to the world’s best pediatric cancer center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. They deserve to be protected from these cuts, as do the countless kids who will be stricken with diseases and illnesses that research projects could cure if adequately funded. They need more than the window-dressing that this bill provides. I urge my colleagues to support full funding for the NIH, not just smoke and mirrors.”

The Congressman was speaking out about the Kids First Research Act which was debated by the House today. Supporters of the legislation claim the bill will redirect the spending of the tax dollars that fund political conventions—which amount to a mere $13 million dollars, or less than 1% of the $1.5 billion cut from the NIH this year through sequestration—to raise funding for pediatric research, but the bill does not guarantee that funding will be used for such research.