WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), a leading advocate of expanding and enhancing the federal government’s commitment to biomedical research and public health initiatives, has led a successful effort to secure increased support for a variety of federal health projects in a bill that cleared the House Appropriations Committee.

Smith is the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of a number of Congressional health caucuses including the Bipartisan Task Force on Alzheimer’s disease, the Coalition for Autism Research and Education (CARE), and the Congressional Spina Bifida Caucus.

“I am very pleased that even during tight budget times, the House Appropriations Committee has realized the importance of adequately funding our research and public health agencies and has provided increases for a number of important projects,” Smith said. “These increases represent good news for healthcare initiatives that are helping to benefit millions of Americans.”

Specifically, the House version of the Fiscal Year 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bills provides an increase of more than $2 million for autism surveillance, epidemiological, and education programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If approved by the full House, this bill will increase total autism funding at the CDC to $18 million.

“This funding represents a significant increase from where we were just a decade ago, when the CDC was investing less than $300,000 into autism programs.  The money will help us continue to support a number of critical autism surveillance projects, including those in New Jersey,” Smith said.

“Additionally, the bill includes a more than $900,000 increase for the National Spina Bifida Program at the CDC, bringing the total to nearly $4 million.  The program, which I led the effort to launch two years ago, is working to expand knowledge about how spina bifida – the nation’s most common permanently disabling birth defect – can be prevented, and how life can be enhanced for people living with this condition,” he added.  Prevention efforts are being focused specifically on the Hispanic Community, which has a higher rate of spina bifida.

“The bill also contains important report language encouraging the CDC to establish an Alzheimer’s prevention program under the existing Healthy Aging Program.  The Alzheimer’s initiative would help educate both health professionals and the general public about ways in which people could reduce the possible onset of Alzheimer’s by maintaining a healthy lifestyle,” Smith added.

The bill also proposes to increase the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), our nation’s leading biomedical research agency, to $28.5 billion.  The bill is expected to be before the full House next week.