President Vetoed Bill to Fund the NIH.

As expected, the President vetoed the FY 2008 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (Labor-H) appropriations bill that contains $30 billion in funding for the NIH.

The President vetoed the Labor-H bill because it exceeds his budget proposal by $10 billion. The Congress will now attempt to override this veto. When the House voted to adopt the Labor-HHS-Education conference report Nov. 8, it fell three votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed for an override.

Democrats are hoping they can persuade a few GOP moderates to join them in voting for an override. It is critical that you contact your Member of Congress now. Congress needs to know that their constituents feel strongly about the importance of properly funding the NIH.

To contact your Member of Congress, go to http://capwiz.com/jscpp/home/ where you will find a prewritten letter that you can easily email to your legislators or use as talking points for a phone call to your Member of Congress.