House Subcommittee Passes Labor-HHS Bill
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education yesterday approved the $123.1 billion FY 2002 Labor-HHS appropriations bill by voice vote, including "big increases" for fighting bioterrorism, the Baltimore Sun reports (Baltimore Sun, 10/4). The NIH, CDC and HHS Office of Emergency Preparedness would receive $393 million -- up $100 million from last year -- to prepare for a possible bioterrorist attack. The bill would also provide:
- $23 billion for NIH, $2.5 billion more than last year;
- $4.1 billion for the CDC, up $200 million from last year;
- $1.9 billion in Ryan White CARE Act funds, an increase of $112 million;
- $1.3 billion for community health centers, $150 million more than last year;
- $740 million for the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, $25 million more than last year;
- $1.725 billion for the Substance Abuse Block Grant, $60 million more than last year;
- $440 million for the Mental Health Block Grant, up $20 million from last year (House Appropriations Committee release, 10/3).
In addition, the subcommittee "dodged a potentially divisive" debate over embryonic stem cell research. The bill includes language that would prohibit federal funding of research that uses human embryos, but the subcommittee agreed to include language "saying that President Bush's policy allowing funding of research on stem cells derived from human embryos obtained before Aug. 9" would not violate the ban (Rovner, CongressDaily/AM, 10/4).
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