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McDermott Legislation Aims to Protect NIH from Sequestration

Yesterday, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) introduced a bill to protect National Institutes of Health (NIH) from impending automatic federal budget cuts. The automatic budget cuts, or “sequester,” will cancel $85 billion in federal spending between March 1 and September 30, including roughly $2 billion from the NIH budget. McDermott’s bill would ensure that NIH’s budget is protected for the balance of this fiscal year.

McDermott’s press release goes on to say that Seattle’s economy relies on federal funding for biomedical research, and that Washington State’s third largest employer, the University of Washington, receives more federal funding than any other public university in the nation.

We applaud Mr. McDermott for his efforts to protect NIH from devastating cuts.