The letter below will be sent to U.S. Congressman Guy Reschenthaler and Congresswoman Madeleine Dean on behalf of the Pennsylvania Ad Hoc NIH Funding Advocacy Coalition. A PDF version can be found here.
To : Congressman Guy Reschenthaler 2209 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Congresswoman Madeleine Dean 150 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representatives Reschenthaler and Dean:
We write today, representing an ad hoc coalition of institutions across Pennsylvania in the healthcare, medical research and biotechnology sectors, to ask both of you to support the Senate mark for appropriations to the NIH for fiscal year 2026 when the House resumes its appropriations work in September.
We are certain you understand the role of our institutions and many others across the Commonwealth in the contemporary Pennsylvania economy. The “eds and meds,“ as we have been colloquially described, are on the cutting edge of lifescience technology development and delivery — paving the way in economic growth, job creation and a much healthier population in Pennsylvania and beyond. Our world class research yields treatments and cures for all Americans and indeed throughout the world.
We are also certain you know that the 21st century is being defined by competition in science and technology between the United States and China, and that Pennsylvanians and other Americans do not wish to have their healthcare controlled by developments and capabilities in the hands of others.
For decades, support of substantial funding for the NIH – though still an extremely small percentage of discretionary federal spending – has been a bipartisan consensus in Congress, in both Houses, most certainly including among the Pennsylvania delegation, with national leadership on this matter frequently coming from Pennsylvania’s elected representatives to Washington, including Senators Arlen Specter and John Heinz, and Congressman Jack Murtha.
As the bipartisan representatives of the Commonwealth on the House Appropriations Committee, we urge you to maintain this important tradition as your Committee considers NIH appropriations for fiscal 2026.
The Senators, with their 26 to 3 vote on this matter, have spoken with clarity and conviction. The House is, of course, in no way bound by the decision in the Senate, but we write with an urgent plea on behalf of the vast majority of Pennsylvanians who support American leadership in medical technology, and the large segment of Pennsylvania’s workforce dependent on that continued leadership for their livelihoods, to urge you to reach the same conclusion as did the Senators who considered this vital question of the NIH budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Thanks for your consideration of this request. University of Pennsylvania Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center University City Science Center The Wistar Institute Hepatitis B Foundation American Association of Cancer Research National Council on Severe Autism Autism Science Foundation SynGAP Research Fund Baruch S. Blumberg Institute
The letter below will be sent to U.S. Congressman Guy Reschenthaler and Congresswoman Madeleine Dean on behalf of the Pennsylvania Ad Hoc NIH Funding Advocacy Coalition. A PDF version can be found here.
To : Congressman Guy Reschenthaler 2209 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Congresswoman Madeleine Dean 150 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representatives Reschenthaler and Dean:
We write today, representing an ad hoc coalition of institutions across Pennsylvania in the healthcare, medical research and biotechnology sectors, to ask both of you to support the Senate mark for appropriations to the NIH for fiscal year 2026 when the House resumes its appropriations work in September.
We are certain you understand the role of our institutions and many others across the Commonwealth in the contemporary Pennsylvania economy. The “eds and meds,“ as we have been colloquially described, are on the cutting edge of lifescience technology development and delivery — paving the way in economic growth, job creation and a much healthier population in Pennsylvania and beyond. Our world class research yields treatments and cures for all Americans and indeed throughout the world.
We are also certain you know that the 21st century is being defined by competition in science and technology between the United States and China, and that Pennsylvanians and other Americans do not wish to have their healthcare controlled by developments and capabilities in the hands of others.
For decades, support of substantial funding for the NIH – though still an extremely small percentage of discretionary federal spending – has been a bipartisan consensus in Congress, in both Houses, most certainly including among the Pennsylvania delegation, with national leadership on this matter frequently coming from Pennsylvania’s elected representatives to Washington, including Senators Arlen Specter and John Heinz, and Congressman Jack Murtha.
As the bipartisan representatives of the Commonwealth on the House Appropriations Committee, we urge you to maintain this important tradition as your Committee considers NIH appropriations for fiscal 2026.
The Senators, with their 26 to 3 vote on this matter, have spoken with clarity and conviction. The House is, of course, in no way bound by the decision in the Senate, but we write with an urgent plea on behalf of the vast majority of Pennsylvanians who support American leadership in medical technology, and the large segment of Pennsylvania’s workforce dependent on that continued leadership for their livelihoods, to urge you to reach the same conclusion as did the Senators who considered this vital question of the NIH budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Thanks for your consideration of this request.
University of Pennsylvania
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center
University City Science Center
The Wistar Institute
Hepatitis B Foundation
American Association of Cancer Research
National Council on Severe Autism
Autism Science Foundation
SynGAP Research Fund
Baruch S. Blumberg Institute