[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 148 (Friday, October 16, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12668-S12669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IDeA FUNDING

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President I would like to make a few brief comments 
about the IDeA program within this bill, a program that I think is 
imperative to our nation's biomedical research capability. I would also 
like to engage in a brief dialog with the Minority Leader, Senator 
Daschle, on this important issue.
  The National Institutes of Health Institutional Development Award 
program--known as the IDeA program--builds additional research capacity 
and is an important part of our effort to better treat, cure and 
prevent disease by addressing the undue geographic concentration of 
research funds. IDeA works to increase our nation's biomedical research 
capability by broadening our country's research base. IDeA funds 
biomedical research in states that have not participated substantially 
in NIH research programs.
  Mr. President, many scientists are concerned about the extreme 
geographic concentration of NIH research funds. In Fiscal Year 1995, 
for example, the NIH made $9.3 billion in extramural awards. Mr. 
President, the 24 states that participate in the IDeA program received 
just 5.2 percent of those funds. Let me repeat: in FY95, the last year 
for which we have complete figures, the NIH awarded funds across this 
nation totaling $9.3 billion. But all the researchers in the 24 IDeA 
states combined received only $487 million of that. On the other hand, 
one state alone received nearly three times the total amount of those 
24 states combined. The top 5 states received nearly one-half the NIH 
funds.
  Let me be clear, Mr. President, that the concern here is not one of a 
parochial nature. Nobody is saying that the NIH ought to distribute 
funding evenly by states. But at a time when we are seeing substantial 
increases in the NIH research budget, we need to increase the capacity 
of every region of the country--not just of a handful of states.
  IDeA has potential to be an important part of our efforts to build 
our biomedical research capacity, but it has not received the level of 
funding it needs to truly be effective. The FY99 NIH budget request was 
$14.76 billion. Of that amount--well over $14 billion--the NIH 
requested just $5.2 million for the IDeA program. The bill before us 
includes $10 million for IDeA, which is a start--but in my view not 
enough to accomplish the goal for which the program was intended. I 
thank the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Senator

[[Page S12669]]

Specter, for the support he has given IDeA thus far, but I believe we 
can and should do more next year.
  Mr. President, I would ask the Minority Leader, Senator Daschle, if 
he would like to add anything to what I have said.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank the Majority Leader for his 
comments, and I share the Senator's concern about the concentration of 
NIH funds. I, too, ask if next year we can't find more than $10 million 
for this program--$10 million that will be split among researchers in 
24 states.
  I would also like to explain briefly why I believe IDeA ought to be 
funded at a much higher level. Mr. President, IDeA funds only merit-
based, peer reviewed research that meets NIH research objectives. Let 
me state that another way: IDeA funds only good science, and it is in 
no way an earmarked program specific to a specific disease or disease-
related issue. Researchers from the 24 IDeA states can submit proposals 
to any one of a number of existing NIH funding mechanisms, and those 
proposals are then peer-reviewed and funding decisions are made based 
on merit.
  Mr. President, I think the statistics the Majority Leader mentioned 
regarding the extreme geographic concentration of NIH research funds 
are eye-opening. I think many members of the Senate would be surprised 
to learn that nearly one-half of NIH extramural funds go to just five 
states, and that 24 IDeA states combined received just over 5% of NIH 
extramural funding in FY95. In fact, the Majority leader and I were 
joined by 24 of our colleagues in the Senate in sending a letter to the 
Subcommittee Chairman, Senator Specter, supporting $100 million for 
IDeA in FY99.
  To put that request in perspective, Mr. President, the final FY99 
Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriation before us 
increases NIH funding by $2 billion. In other words, a $100 million 
IDeA program would have designated five percent of one year's increase 
for this program which funds competitive, peer-reviewed research in 24 
states. The conferees did include $10 million for IDeA--an increase 
from the FY98 funding level of $5 million--and I thank Senator Specter 
for his support. Because this program is so important, I will continue 
to encourage the Chairman to increase IDeA funding next year and in the 
years that follow.
  Mr. LOTT. I thank the Minority Leader for his remarks, and I look 
forward continuing to work with him to significantly increase IDeA 
funding next year.

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