NAEVR COMMENDS SENATE FOR $2 B FY2019 NIH FUNDING INCREASE, GREATER-THAN-INFLATION NEI FUNDING INCREASE

(Washington, D.C.) Today, the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research's (NAEVR) Executive Director James Jorkasky issued a statement after the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee spending bill, which had been approved by the Subcommittee on June 26. The bill funds the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at $39.08 billion, a $2 billion or 5.4 percent increase over enacted FY2018, and the National Eye Institute (NEI) at $796.9 million, a $24.6 million or 3.2 percent increase over enacted FY2018. In its May 24 written testimony to the Subcommittee, NAEVR requested a $2 billion NIH increase and a $28 million NEI increase.

"NAEVR commends Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) for the Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee's continued strong bipartisan support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a $2 billion increase in its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 spending bill. As Chairman Blunt noted, since FY2016 the Subcommittee has increased NIH funding by $9 billion or 30 percent.

NAEVR recognizes the Subcommittee's efforts to continue to grow the base budgets of the Institutes and Centers and is pleased that the National Eye Institute (NEI) receives a greater-than-inflation increase. Support for our nation's vision commitment is especially important in this year in which the NEI celebrates the 50th anniversary of its creation by Congress to lead efforts in sight-saving and vision-restoring research.

NAEVR looks forward to continuing to work on a bipartisan basis with legislators in both chambers who have demonstrated ongoing support for increased biomedical research funding."”

The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) is a 501(c)4 non-profit advocacy coalition comprised of 55 professional, consumer, and industry organizations involved in eye and vision research. Visit the Web site at www.eyeresearch.org.