ASBMB Statement on President Joe Biden's Fiscal 2022 Budget Request

The following is a statement from Benjamin Corb, public affairs director for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: 

“It is a refreshing change of pace to see a presidential budget request that values the importance of science and proposes sizeable increases in the budgets of federal agencies that support the American scientific enterprise.  We at the ASBMB applaud President Biden for submitting a budget that provides increases that will fund research projects intended to improve the quality of life and well-being of Americans.   

President Biden proposes increases to the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which will support scientists and create jobs from coast to coast and will one day lead to treatments and cures for diseases that affect the lives of our family members, friends and neighbors. 

An important lesson learned from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the need for robust investments in scientific research — both targeted and investigator-initiated basic science research.  While the world is benefiting from the targeted research over the past year to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine development would not have been possible without decades of research in mRNA and other viruses that gave researchers a jump-start on understanding this particular coronavirus. 

We look forward to working with the president and Congress to ensure increases like those proposed become a reality.”