President Bush has vetoed the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill (Labor-HHS) that includes $30 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Lyn Marquis, National Coordinator for the Joint Steering Committee for Public Policy, explained the passage of this bill as follows: “On November 6, the House passed a conference report on the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill. In an effort to make the bill more attractive to the President, the House combined the Labor-HHS bill with the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs spending measure. The House adopted that combined conference report, 269-142, on November 6 (22 Members of Congress not voting). When the two-part conference report reached the Senate, Republicans won the vote to split the two bills. The Senate then passed an amended version of the bill that contained only the compromise Labor-HHS provisions, voting 56-37 on November 7. The House cleared the amended bill, 274-141, the next day, with 17 Members of Congress not voting. So, on November 13, the President vetoed the Labor-HHS bill, sending it back to Congress for their attempt to override. On November 15, the House (who by law is required to vote first in an override situation), failed to override the President’s veto by a vote of 277-141, with 15 Members not voting.”

The impact of no increase in NIH funding for the fifth year in a row will be felt in the laboratories of new investigators as well as established scientists who are dedicated to research advances and medical breakthroughs.

Scientific citizenship encompasses education of the public through programs such as the Rockefeller Science and Society Lecture series. It is also rewarding when we can make an impact on lawmakers’ opinions. Against this backdrop, it is important to remember that an override vote is political and often has nothing to do with the quality of the bill. We can enhance the understanding of the impact of our research among our non-scientist friends and lawmakers by communicating with them. For a list of Members of Congress, visit http://capwiz.com/jscpp/home.