As your constituent and as an American Heart Association You’re the Cure advocate, I urge you to significantly increase the investment in the National Institutes of Health in the Continuing Resolution. This will allow the NIH to move closer to a cure for heart disease, stroke and other forms of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease remains the No. 1 killer in our State and the most costly disease in our nation.

Enhanced funding for the NIH makes good economic sense. In addition to finding new ways to prevent and cure disease, NIH generates economic growth in communities across our nation and helps preserve and create new jobs. The NIH invests more than 80 percent of its resources in facilities in every state and in most congressional districts. Please click here to see the NIH investment in your state http://cmapp.heart.org/presenter.jhtml?preview=yes&identifier=3057161.

Since 2003, NIH funding has not kept pace with medical research inflation. These funding cuts have forced the NIH to stall or abandon promising research in many areas. I am particularly concerned about their affect on research related to heart disease and stroke. NIH-supported medical research is the best hope to discover better ways to prevent, treat, and even cure heart disease and stroke.

Please do your part to save lives, improve the quality of life of the people in our State and to protect Congress’ investment in NIH by significantly increasing funding for the NIH in the Continuing Resolution. Thank you.