As the battle over federal spending continues, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) writes an op-ed in The Hill – appropriately timed with today’s Senate Appropriations Committee markup that concluded with $190 million in proposed cuts to NIH - that presents a compelling case for why this funding is even more crucial during a gloomy economic climate.

DeLauro wrote:

We know that cutting medical research will cause job losses, even as we struggle with a full-blown jobs crisis. Every research grant awarded results in seven new jobs. And every single dollar of NIH funding is estimated to result in an additional two dollars of business activity and economic impact. This means that research has a nearly twofold return on our federal investment.

But beyond dollars and cents, there’s a human component as well. She continued:

The economic losses aside, I am the survivor of a disease that kills most women inside of five years. And the prospect of seeing grant applicants having to put their remarkable, lifesaving research on hold because we cut funding is unconscionable to me.

We at UMR applaud Rep. DeLauro’s staunch support for NIH, and we encourage every member of Congress to follow her lead.