With long time NIH Champion Arlen Specter (R) of Pennsylvania departing the Senate at the end of this session, NIH advocates have been wondering who might join Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) as a fellow champion for NIH in the coming years. It appears the community didn't have to search too far - fellow Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey (D) is currently circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter around the Senate, asking fellow Senators to sign on and endorse funding NIH at $35B in FY 2011. $35B represents half of the funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the economic stimulus package, and would be an 11% increase for NIH over the previous year. AADR advocates recently carried this same request to Capitol Hill during the AADR-Research!America Advocacy Day earlier in the year. Please use this opportunity to write your Senator and ask that they sign on to the Casey letter in support of NIH!
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