Supporting Scientific & Medical Research in Congress

Congressman John Culberson Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Earlier this week I participated in a panel alongside health and medical professionals from University of Texas (UT) Health Texas A&M Medical Center UT MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston Methodist Hospital and Memorial Hermann Health System. We discussed the importance of robust funding for basic science and space related projects for the cutting-edge research being conducted at these institutions. As Chairman of the Commerce Justice and Science (CJS) Subcommittee on Appropriations I am responsible for funding the National Science Foundation NASA and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). I have always been a zealous advocate to increase funding for scientific and medical research and space exploration. I understand that these agencies will develop new technologies which will improve our quality of life. Every year that it has been my privilege to represent you in Congress I have worked to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This year NIH received a $3 billion increase the largest funding increase to date. I have been lucky enough to meet with doctors and scientists from NIH and through these meetings Ive learned about programs like theBRAIN initiative and the Kidney-X program  programs that have made real progress over the years and will be changing lives for the better very soon. I have always been very passionate about finding cures for medical conditions including: Juvenile Diabetes childhood cancer Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Autism ALS Lupus breast cancer epilepsy kidney cancer and alcohol and substance abuse disorders. Im pleased to share that this year Congress approved an extra $414 million for Alzheimers disease research as well as $100 million to develop a universal flu vaccine. We also invested $1.63 billion for Community Health Centers and $1.97 billion for diabetes research. The importance of basic science should never be underestimated. I will continue to work with my colleagues across the aisle to ensure that these important programs and institutions are routinely funded at levels that will set up them up for success.