LETTER TO SENATORS SPECTER AND HARKIN
IN SUPPORT OF BUDGET AMENDMENT
TO INCREASE THE ALLOTMENT FOR HEALTH PROGRAMS
(April 5, 2000)

April 5, 2000

The Honorable Arlen Specter, Chair
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
Senate Appropriations Committee
711 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Tom Harkin
Ranking Democrat
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
Senate Appropriations Committee
731 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senators Specter and Harkin:

The undersigned organizations, representing individuals with cancer and their caregivers, lend their enthusiastic support to your amendment to increase domestic discretionary spending by $1.6 billion in order to facilitate a $2.7 billion boost in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. We commend you for your leadership on NIH appropriations, and we will strongly urge your colleagues to vote for the amendment.

Biomedical research holds the key to improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. For those who are diagnosed with cancer and their families, research is our lifeline. Our nation's investment in research is yielding impressive results; important basic science discoveries are answering fundamental questions about human disease and being translated into improved treatments. Unless NIH funding is increased, research progress will slow and promising research endeavors may be abandoned. Even with the recent boosts in NIH appropriations, strong research proposals are going unfunded.

We appreciate the strong commitment Congress has made to NIH, but we do not want to see the movement toward doubling the NIH budget halt now. Therefore, we will send a strong message to the Senate to support the Specter-Harkin amendment.

Cancer Leadership Council

American Cancer Society
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Association of American Cancer Institutes
Cancer Care, Inc.
Cancer Research Foundation of America
The Children's Cause, Inc.
Colorectal Cancer Network
Cure For Lymphoma Foundation
Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups, Inc.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
National Prostate Cancer Coalition
North American Brain Tumor Coalition
Oncology Nursing Society
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
US-TOO International, Inc.

Contact:
Ellen Stovall
Executive Director
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
1010 Wayne Avenue - 5th Floor
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
Phone: 301/650-9127
Fax: 301/565-9670

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