The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) recently joined over 300 organizations on Capitol Hill in the Rally for Medical Research Hill Day on Sept. 22, urging leaders to raise funds for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The goal of the rally was to urge Congress to guarantee strong, sustained and predictable budget raises for the NIH, joining countless Americans in pushing for life-saving medical research to become a national priority.
At the rally, NORD encouraged Congress to guarantee $2 billion more in funds for the NIH during fiscal year 2017. To accomplish this, Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Patty Murray (D-WA) have proposed the fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill with a $2 billion raise.
As of today, the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the proposal; now Congress needs to approve it to lock in the funds.
“On behalf of the 30 million Americans with rare diseases, NORD is honored to participate in Rally for Medical Research Hill Day to advocate for increased funding for the NIH,” Paul Melmeyer, associate director of public policy at NORD, said. “There are 7,000 rare diseases, 95 percent of which still have no treatment. We are here to remind Congress that families with rare diseases are suffering -- and we need their support to fund critical medical research.”
