American Justice for American Citizens Act

HR 5006/S 2810**HR 4818, “Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005”: worked on the following items: an increase of 10 percent to the National Institutes of Health budget; potential Toomey-type amendments in the FY 2005 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill, which stands to alter the funding of certain NIH grant review processes; the advocacy effort for increased funding for extramural facilities construction through the National Institutes of Health. Supported funding request of $1.5 million for “OR-1” a state-of-the-art operating suite for use in minimally invasive surgery. Also supported funding request for Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR), to prepare the healthcare enterprise for potential critical events. Worked on expanding a variety of student financial assistance programs such as Pell Grant appropriation to $14 billion, $115 million increase to the Supplemental Educational Opportunities Grant, $157 million increase to Federal Work-Study, $40.6 million increase to the Perkins Loan Program, and increase to the GAANN/Javits fellowships. Supported expansion of the Nursing Reinvestment Act funding health professions appropriations within Labor, HHS appropriations bill. HR 4118/S *HR 4818, Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2005”: Discussed maintenance of research funding at the National Science Foundation and at the Department of Energy with particular emphasis in investing in basic research. HR 5041/S. 2825**HR 4818 “Department of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005”: worked on AAU’s advocacy for a $7.7 billion increase in NASA Science, Aeronautics and Exploration activities; $34 million additional for the Office of Earth Science and an increase of $39 million for the Office of Biological and Physical Research; specifically worked on continued funding for the Solar Probe which provides for the next mission at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and for $2 million for 8 FTE for NASA Contract Office at APL, Space Department; the NSF budget of $6.4 billion with particular support for the graduate programs like the Graduate Research Fellowship and support for funding areas to support the Nanotechnology Consortium in Maryland; continued support from EPA for the Center for Urban Asthma Studies and $250 thousand to conduct a review of the Baltimore region air quality data. Supported funding requests made for East Baltimore Development Inc., funding requests for emergency preparedness, and funding request for operating room equipment. HR 4567/S 2537, “Homeland Security Act, 2005”: urged appropriations for a Science and Technology Directorate and new funding for science and technology as well as university-based research within the Homeland Security area. Bioterrorism – Homeland Security Act: expressed concern over the flow of funds designated for improvements to the medical emergency preparedness and response system. HR 4613/S 2559, “Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2005”: worked on continued growth in support for DOD Science, with particular emphasis on basic (6.1) and applied (6.2) research; the proposed “devolvement” of certain S&T programs and the transfer of the National Security Education Program to DOE. HR4818/S 2812, “Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and related programs Appropriation Act, 2005”: worked on report language in support of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights.