Last week, I implored you to urge your congressional members to Support Biomedical Research in the Economic Stimulus Package. The message was clearly received as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which President Obama signed today, includes $10 billion USD for biomedical research into cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease. The stimulus bill also includes significant support for updating U.S. healthcare systems and over a billion dollars for evidence-based medicine research.

This week, Congress is working to reconcile biomedical research funding differences in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to ProPublica, the Senate bill would spend substantially more on biomedical research than the House bill (10 billion vs. 900 million USD).

It is imperative that you urge your congressional members to support biomedical research as a critical driver of our economy. Here’s why: the biotechnology industry is a major driver of the U.S. economy and has been for the past 30 years [1]. Federal granting agencies have “shovel-ready” projects that will promote economic growth today — those research projects will help fight disease and improve the quality of life for everyone in America tomorrow.