Federal Priority Agenda
 Every
year, the AIRI Government Affairs Committee (GAC) establishes Congressional
and Executive priorities. The AIRI Washington Office advocates for these
priorities through meetings with Members of Congress, Executive Branch
Officials, Action Alerts to the AIRI membership, and collaborative efforts
with patient advocacy groups as well as the research and scientific
communities. Below are summaries of the current Congressional and Executive
Branch priorities.
Congressional Priorities
(+ click titles for details)
+ Increase NIH Funding
AIRI supports increased funding for the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). AIRI institutions play an important role in the U.S. biomedical
research community, receiving about 11 percent of the extramural funds
awarded by NIH each year. AIRI joins its colleagues in the biomedical
research community in calling for a $1.9 billion (6.6 percent) increase in
NIH’s total discretionary budget for FY 2009.
AIRI Written Testimony Submitted to the House Labor, HHS, Education
Appropriations Subcommittee for FY 2009
AIRI Written Testimony Submitted to the Senate Labor, HHS, Education
Appropriations Subcommittee for FY 2009
+ Support NIH Funding for Equipment and Infrastructure
AIRI supports maintaining and enhancing NIH-funded equipment and infrastructure programs. As the investment in medical research and the national biomedical research agenda has expanded, the need for acquisition and modernization of laboratory equipment and infrastructure has become even more critical. NIH equipment and infrastructure grants meet the specific needs of research institutions to maximize productivity of their research grants.
+ Foster a Skilled Biomedical Research Workforce
AIRI supports policies that promote the United States’ ability to maintain a
competitive edge in biomedical science. The biomedical research community is
dependent upon a knowledgeable and skilled workforce to address current and
future critical health research questions. The cultivation and preservation of
this workforce is dependent upon several factors
- The ability to recruit scientists and students globally is essential to maintaining a strong workforce;
- Training programs both in basic and clinical biomedical research, and initiatives focusing on career development, are important to recruiting and retaining researchers at critical stages
- Support for new and young investigators is critical to replacing the current population of aging researchers; and
- Maintaining the NIH extramural investigator salary cap (the salary level that extramural researchers may apply toward their NIH grants) at Executive Level I is critical to creating a level playing field amongst NIH intramural and extramural investigators.
+ Increase NSF Funding
AIRI supports increased funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF-funded biological research
provides important fundamental building blocks for the basic research funded by NIH.
+ Expand Federal Human Embryonic Stem Cell Policy
The AIRI Washington Office works with House and
Senate stem cell research advocates to promote the exploration of
reasonable possibilities for curing and preventing disease by
expanding the current federal policy on stem cell research.
+ Intellectual Property
AIRI closely monitors patent reform legistation to ensure that
favorable provisions within the Bayh-Dole Act are not
challenged.
Executive Branch Priorities
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+ Monitor Cost Policy Issues
AIRI continues to meet with White House Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), Health and Human Services (HHS) and NIH to discuss
cost policy issues. By maintaining an open relationship with OMB,
HHS and NIH, AIRI can provide advice on cost policy issues to those
agencies as they arise.
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NIH Revised Grants Policy Statement on licensing and patent costs
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