107th Congress

House Committee on Appropriations -- Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education -- Member of Congress Hearing -- Session I -- March 27, 2001

Members Present

Representative Ralph Regula (R-OH), Chairman; Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA); Steny Hoyer (D-MD); and Don Sherwood (R-PA).

Testimony Highlights

Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) requested greater support in the field of rehabilitation medicine and research, particularly for Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corporation. Mr. Pascrell also stated his concern for Traumatic Brain Injury and noted that he is a member of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. Chairman Regula asked if Kessler is tied to NIH. Mr. Pascrell stated that much of its funding comes thru NIH.

Representative Michael Honda (D-CA), who was introduced by Representative Hoyer, requested increased funding for CDC to address the issue of sleep deprivation and fatigue. Chairman Regula asked if NIH is working on this issue.

Representative Sue Kelly (R-NY) spoke about Crohn's Disease and her daughter's struggle with the disease. Ms. Kelly requested strong report language for NIH to do more research in the area of Crohn's Disease. Ms. Kelly, Chairperson of the Lyme Disease Caucus, also requested funding for research on the vaccine for Lyme Disease.

Representative Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) spoke about H.R.663, legislation to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment of a National Center for Social Work Research at NIH. Mr. Hutchinson noted that presently there is limited funding available through NIH for the work of this center. Mr. Hutchinson stated the importance of a coordinating center, which would help government make better policy decisions by conducting research in the areas of youth violence, child abuse and societal pressures. Mr. Hutchinson requested funding at the authorization level.

Representative Carrie Meeks (D-FL) requested increased funding for research for lupus, specifically an additional 25 million dollars for NIAMS to expand their research portfolio. Ms. Meeks noted that her sister died of lupus. Ms. Meeks stated that NIAMS should mount a campaign against lupus and that more resources were need to do research.

Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ), a member of the Alzheimer's Caucus, requested a 200 million dollar increase in funding for Alzheimer's research.

Prepared by OLPA