Advocacy at a Glance

Advocacy at a Glance offers you the bullet point summary of current advocacy issues associated with the goals of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA.

• State of the Union Includes Precision Medicine Initiative.  In the SOTU, The President called for for greater investment in R&D, making specific reference to monies for precision medicine and other biomedical research. This created a buzz in the NIH/FDA community because SOTU “mentions” are hard to come by. This week’s Analysis and Commentary provides more background on the President’s call for more investment.

• Reconciliation: Certain or Iffy? A number of Republicans have talked about using budget reconciliation as a means to reduce deficits and circumvent Senate rules requiring a super-majority (60 votes). Given the increasing level of interest in this process, the Center for Budget and Policy Priority has put together a backgrounder of “Frequently Asked Questions About Reconciliation.” If Congress decides to undertake reconciliation, then the Alliance will provide more coverage and help people understand the potential impact on FDA.

• Seafood Exports at Record Levels. According to the USDA, U.S. seafood exports topped $5 billion in FY 2014, a new record. Increasing amounts of the seafood are being exported to China. Measured in value, FY2014 seafood exports beat out fresh fruit ($5 billion), cotton ($4.6 billion), and came in just under poultry ($5.5 billion).

• Alliance Members: Meeting and Briefing February 3 at 1 p.m. Our featured guests will be majority and minority staffers from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. They will be discussing the 21st Century Cures Initiative and its implications for the resource needs of FDA. Non-members who wish to attend should contact Tony Curry by e-mail. This meeting will be closed to the media. The Alliance quarterly member meeting will follow the presentations.