If the Department of Education is funded merely at last year's levels under a CR, hundreds of college students will lose Pell grants and school districts will be deprived of anticipated aid in financing special education, technology upgrades and coping with the impact of closing military installations. Last year, NIH was able to support 8,900 new research grants at universities across the nation. With a 15 percent increase, it anticipated supporting up to 9,500. If the budget doesn't go up, however, only 5,000 new grants will be given out. No one can be sure which projects will lose out, but they are likely to include initiatives in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's, and clinical trials for new treatments for childhood cancer and diabetes.
Several options exist for avoiding devastating cuts.
Another is for Porter to carve out the funding increases for NIH and CDC, as he did amid a budget impasse in 1995. If it's necessary, it would be a fitting farewell tribute to him and Mack. He's a lame duck, but he'd have the upper hand one last time. JWR contributor Morton Kondracke is executive editor of Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill. Send your comments to him by clicking here.