U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) is encouraging the National Institute of Health (NIH) to implement reforms in an effort to rebuild for the agency by the American people.
Aderholt, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, made the remarks Tuesday at a Hearing On NIH.
The congressman told NIH director Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli that the agency needs to hold itself more accountable for the failures that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"For a large portion of the American public, trust in the institution is gone."
Watch @Robert_Aderholt encourage @NIHDirector to return to the agency’s core mission of "enhancing health, lengthening life, and reducing illness and disability" during today’s hearing. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/BJdjAzkCEi
— House Appropriations (@HouseAppropsGOP) November 19, 2024
“It is the high value placed on NIH discoveries, that makes me disappointed to say that the NIH is the only entity within HHS that has not released an assessment, or even made an acknowledgement, regarding some of the failures in response to the COVID pandemic,” Aderholt said. “For a large portion of the American public, trust in the institution is gone. And once lost, it will take great effort to restore. I encourage you to put as a top priority rebuilding the confidence in the NIH as a leader in unbiased, nonpartisan, objective basic science. It is that history of research that helped support medicines that have saved countless lives.”
Aderholt believes there’s too much foreign influence in the studies done by NIH.
“In the current global environment, concerns over foreign influence on U.S. biomedical research have intensified,” he explained. “This Committee’s appropriations bill prohibits certain foreign entities—including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and any lab owned or controlled by the governments of China, Iran, and Russia—from receiving funds for conducting research, due to the risks they pose to American safety and security. Despite increased efforts by NIH to combat foreign influence in biomedical research, failures related to foreign influence persist.”
Aderholt also criticized NIH for how it distributes its funding grants, pointing out how too much of it goes to elite institutions that have done nothing to combat the rise in antisemitism seen on their campuses.
The rising antisemitism on college campuses is extremely concerning.@HouseGOP and @Robert_Aderholt are holding government agencies accountable and demanding oversight of the institutions on the receiving end of your taxpayer dollars. pic.twitter.com/en6cM8uV3V
— House Appropriations (@HouseAppropsGOP) November 19, 2024
“Oversight of the grant funding given out by NIH is paramount. Another top concern is also the range of research institutions receiving funding. Ten percent of the institutions get 75% of NIH funding. This is unacceptable,” he argued. “These same elite institutions saw their campuses overrun by lawlessness, and antisemitism. Much of this funding is NOT supporting basic science and research, but instead supports an ever-growing higher education administrative state.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.