Luján Bill to Advance Public Health Missions of FDA and NIH Clears HELP Committee

Washington, D.C. – During a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) led the passage of his bipartisan legislation to advance the public health missions of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by increasing the transfer authority for funding the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH). The Supporting the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration Act was introduced alongside U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

The FNIH and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration are independent, non-profit organizations that perform critical work to support the public health missions of NIH and FDA. Under current law, NIH and FDA may transfer funding to their respective foundations, within statutory limits, but these limits have not increased since 2007. The increases in transfer authority will help advance collaborative innovation with the FNIH and Reagan-Udall Foundation to address cutting-edge regulatory science challenges.

VIDEO: Luján Urges Colleagues to Support Bipartisan Legislation

“As we continue to fight COVID-19, it’s crucial that we take the lessons learned from this pandemic to strengthen our response to future health threats. I’m proud to have worked with Senator Romney and Senator Collins to introduce this bipartisan legislation to better support the FDA and the NIH, and help facilitate groundbreaking research to better the lives of Americans,” said Luján. “This funding has supported research at the University of New Mexico and other institutions that help us understand how to better serve the needs of rural and underserved communities. I’m grateful for the support of my HELP Committee colleagues, and I’ll fight to get this legislation to the Senate floor.”

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