During a House Commerce Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA) spoke about the Trump Administration's cuts to the NIH.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Madam Ranking Member, and thank you to all of our
00:04witnesses.
00:05I've enjoyed listening to your testimony.
00:08I really appreciate this discussion about compensating young athletes for their performance,
00:14especially as a mom of a 16-year-old basketball player and a pediatrician who's taking care
00:20of a lot of the athletes that play for you.
00:23I also want to make sure that these athletes continue to grow and thrive, and so I just
00:29want to really drive home the point that athletes need to have universities to play
00:35for.
00:36The United States is the gold standard in scientific research for a reason.
00:42It has always been a bipartisan priority for us in this committee and in the Congress to
00:48fund the National Institutes of Health in order to support brilliant scientists and
00:54researchers across the country who are doing cutting-edge research, who live and work
01:00in both Democratic and Republican districts.
01:03This research benefits the entire world, and our nation takes such pride in their accomplishments.
01:10I'm a pediatrician, as I mentioned, and I've seen firsthand the kids who I've taken care
01:14of who have cancer, and most children, people don't know this, most children who are being
01:20treated for cancer are participating in clinical trials that are funded by the National Institutes
01:27of Health, and that's how they get access to groundbreaking new treatments that can
01:33help them do better and give them the best chance for survival.
01:38And when this administration takes away NIH funding, we're putting those kids' lives at risk.
01:46In Washington State, we are blessed with amazing research institutions, University
01:51of Washington, Washington State University, we have Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and
01:57we have Seattle Children's Hospital.
02:02Fred Hutchinson, that researches cancer cures, would lose an estimated $125 million annually
02:08if the Trump administration's 15% indirect cost caps go into effect.
02:14And this phrase, indirect cost, is so misleading.
02:18The reality is that indirect funding just means anything other than funding for the
02:25scientist's salaries, the materials, and the equipment that are specific for that study.
02:30So if you have shared equipment, like labs or infusion centers, an MRI machine, refrigerators,
02:37computers, grant writers, all of that is considered indirect.
02:42And so it is really indispensable for the research that your universities do.
02:50This is not insignificant.
02:51For some of the research institutions in my state, we're talking about 50% indirect cost.
02:57So for every dollar that goes specifically to the project, another 50 cents goes to all
03:02of the support equipment.
03:05So this isn't cutting fat when they go from 50% to 15%.
03:11This is kneecapping research, and it will shut down our greatest research institutions
03:16and our medical schools.
03:17And I'm hearing from people in the middle of trials right now, scheduled to get their
03:23next dose of trial chemotherapy, and they can't get it because it's delayed.
03:28That messes up, of course, not just their health, putting it at risk, but it messes
03:33up the study because now a dose has been given late, and how do you evaluate those results?
03:37This is already happening.
03:41So I just want to emphasize that it is threatening the universities where you play and you coach.
03:48It makes our brightest young scientists think about not pursuing research, even though they
03:54could.
03:55And it makes our bright young scientist athletes reconsider whether they want to go into sports
04:00medicine research or sports medicine.
04:02So I have no specific questions for all of you.
04:05I do have gratitude to all of you.
04:07And I just want to ask that as we consider these programs to benefit our student-athletes,
04:14that we also consider the well-being of the universities that they play for, and restoring
04:20that National Institutes of Health funding keeps our universities strong and keeps us
04:25all at the cutting edge.
04:27Thank you, and I yield back.