LATEST NEWS
June 9, 2025
Bipartisan Letters Push to Increase Defense Medical Research
The Defense Health Research Consortium (DHRC), managed by CRD Associates, was proud to work on two recent bipartisan letters sent to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, calling for significant increases in funding for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense (DoD).
Spearheaded by Representatives Andre’ Carson (D-IN) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and signed by 103 Republican and Democratic Representatives, the House letter calls for increases in funding for CDMRP through the fiscal year (FY) 2026 Defense Appropriations Act. The letter states that “the highly innovative research portfolio supported by the CDMRP focuses first and foremost on the health and well-being of the men and women in the U.S. Armed Services.”
The Senate letter, led by Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) and signed by 29 Republican and Democratic Senators, focuses more broadly on the overall DoD-wide Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) accounts that fund medical research, including CDMRP. The letter calls for five percent real growth for these accounts above the FY 2024 baseline level. The letter states, “CDMRP funding alone has contributed to 56 U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments over the years, including 11 cancer drugs, a rapid blood test for traumatic brain injury, and more than 600 clinical trials exploring breakthrough therapies and vaccines.”
The Full-Year Continuing Resolution for FY25 unfortunately slashed CDMRP by 57 percent, cuts which DHRC believes must be restored. Broad support for the congressional sign-on letter complements a similar letter signed by 157 organizations calling on Congress to increase CDMRP funding by at least five percent plus inflation and work to restore through supplemental appropriations the $859 million in FY 2025 funding that was cut from CDMRP. The letter also points out that, because these cuts were not evenly distributed across the program, many programs vital to warfighter health — such as traumatic brain injury/psychological health; vision and hearing, orthotics, prosthetics and spinal cord; and pancreatic, kidney and lung cancer – received no funding for research grants in FY 2025. While the House version of the FY26 Defense Appropriations bill failed to increase CDMRP funding sufficiently, DHRC will continue working through the Appropriations process to increase research funding vital to the health of servicemembers and all Americans.
The DHRC is a coalition of 70 patient advocacy groups, medical societies, foundations and veterans’ organizations who advocate collectively to protect and grow CDMRP funding. For more information about DHRC, please contact Mark Vieth.
May 19, 2025
157 Organizations Call on Congress to Increase Funding for CDMRP
Today, 157 members of the Defense Health Research Consortium (DHRC) and affiliated organizations sent a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, calling on Congress to increase funding for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense (DoD) by at least 5 percent plus inflation in fiscal year 2026.
The letter also calls on Congress to “work expeditiously to restore through supplemental appropriations the $859 million in FY 2025 funding that was cut from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) through the enactment of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act”. The Continuing Resolution cut funding for CDMRP by 57 percent, and because these cuts were not evenly distributed across the program, many programs vital to warfighter health — such as traumatic brain injury/psychological health; vision and hearing, orthotics, prosthetics and spinal cord; and pancreatic, kidney and lung cancer – received no funding for research grants in FY 2025.
The DHRC is a coalition of 70 patient advocacy groups, medical societies, foundations and veterans’ organizations who advocate collectively to protect and grow CDMRP funding. The DHRC is administered by CRD Associates.
April 28, 2025
The DHRC recently submitted testimony for the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing titled “Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation.” Read it here.
March 14, 2025
Statement by Mark Vieth, Senior Vice President, CRD Associates
The Defense Health Research Consortium (DHRC), created and managed by CRD Associates, is a coalition of scientific research and patient advocacy organizations dedicated to protecting and growing the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). CDMRP is a longstanding bipartisan priority that provides critical grant funding to researchers studying diseases and disorders prevalent among service members, veterans, and their families.
CDMRP has not been immune from recent turbulence that has affected the entire federal scientific research enterprise. Buried in the continuing resolution passed by the House of Representatives (p.30, lines 6-7) was a clause included at the request of the Pentagon reducing CDMRP funding to $650 million from the 2024 level of $1.5 billion (a 57 percent cut). As DHRC has pointed out, this cut could have drastic and negative impacts on researchers’ ability to improve therapies for deadly and debilitating diseases and injuries. Additionally, the CR includes no direction to DoD about how money should be spent.
This week, DHRC and its members have met personally with dozens of congressional offices, and individual advocates have flooded phone lines and inboxes urging Congress not to make this short-sighted budget cut. The work of DHRC and its member organizations was highlighted in this CQ/Roll Call article.
If Congress ultimately reduces CDMRP, which is one of the wisest and most efficient federal investments, DHRC will work feverishly to restore and grow funding in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget and appropriations cycle. Service members, veterans, and their families – and the entire American public – deserve nothing less.
Mark Vieth, Senior Vice President, CRD Associates Highlighted in Roll Call Article
Mark Vieth was recently featured in a Roll Call article where he emphasized the significant impact of proposed cuts to the Defense Health Program and Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).
Read the article here.
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June 26, 2023
House Appropriations Committee approves FY24 Defense Appropriations Act
On June 22, the House Committee on Appropriations approved its version of the fiscal year 2024 Defense Appropriations Act. Approved 34 to 24 along party lines, the bill would provide $826.45 billion for defense spending in the fiscal year starting October 1, staying within spending caps negotiated in the debt ceiling agreement.
The House Committee mark largely includes funding for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRPs) at existing fiscal year 2023 levels. The bill provides $10 million to create a new arthritis research program. Arthritis is currently an eligible condition in the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP).
The House version of the bill will likely be brought to the House floor for consideration in July. The House may choose to first consider the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act when it reconvenes on July 11.
In a related development, on June 22, the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved allocations for its versions of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills, including $823.3 billion for defense spending.
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November 22, 2022
The Defense Health Research Consortium and dozens of its affiliated members today sent a letter to House and Senate leadership, calling on them to “work toward the enactment of the fiscal year 2023 Defense Appropriations Act, to ensure full funding levels for the Defense Health Research Programs, including the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).”
November 16, 2022
Rep. Ken Calvert has survived his re-election and will serve as chair of HAC-D
End-of-Year Outlook: What’s Left on the Congressional Agenda
Congress returns to Washington next week with a full agenda before adjourning for the year. Here is a look at what issues they may consider:
FY 2023 Appropriations
One benefit of the close elections is the path to finishing fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations may have gotten easier as Republicans will not have the leverage to punt the spending package into the new Congress. The current CR expires on December 16th and Democrats in the House and Senate intend to negotiate and enact an omnibus spending package by then, or by the end of the calendar year. An omnibus would likely include supplemental Ukraine funding, disaster relief, mental health authorizations, and other priorities.
Debt Limit
The $31.4 trillion debt limit will need to be raised by before the end of 2023. Influential Republicans have described the debt limit as a tool they will use to extract major spending cuts, despite the risk of crashing the economy. Therefore, Democrats and moderate Republicans are discussing the possibility of including a debt limit increase, or abolishing the debt limit, during the lame duck. President Biden opposes the abolishment of the debt limit, claiming it would be “irresponsible.” It is unclear there will be enough votes attached to this proposal to the omnibus. However, it would protect the economy under President Biden while solving the issue for the next Congress by taking it out of their hands.
Congress Passes Another Continuing Resolution to Extend Fiscal Deadline Through December 18
December 11, 2020
The Senate passed a one-week continuing resolution (CR) late Friday afternoon via voice vote, sending it to President Trump for his signature just hours before the midnight deadline. The President signed the bill Friday evening to keep the government open for another week while lawmakers work to reach an agreement on a spending package before the new December 18 deadline.
Lawmakers and staff worked over the weekend to finalize and file an omnibus package by COB today, but sources tell us lawmakers are still uncertain whether it is possible. Rumors are circulating that House Appropriations Committee staff have drafted a three-month CR that they could rely on if a final spending package isn’t ready by early this week. However, appropriators in both chambers are outwardly optimistic, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who told reporters he is hopeful that progress on these items will produce a final bill this week.
Senate Passes FY 21 NDAA Conference Report
December 11, 2020
The Senate this afternoon passed H.R. 6395, the $740.5 billion FY 21 NDAA conference report, by a vote of 84 to 13.
President Trump had threatened to veto the bill because it excluded language repealing a legal shield to tech companies and included bill language that calls for renaming military bases named after confederate soldiers. The House passed the bill earlier this week by a strong vote of 335-78.
Congress Passes Continuing Resolution, Extending Fiscal Deadline
September 30, 2020
Today, Congress passed the continuing resolution (CR) to extend the fiscal deadline through December 11. According to a person familiar with the planning, President Trump will sign the CR on Thursday, but there won’t be a lapse in appropriations because of his intent to sign the measure, which the Senate cleared Wednesday on an 84-10 vote, several days after the House voted 359 to 57 to approve the bipartisan bill.
House Democrats Unveil a Short-term Spending Bill
September 22, 2020
House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY) introduced a short-term CR to extend Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 funding beyond the September 30 fiscal deadline until December 11.
The Democrats reportedly introduced the bill on their own without support of the White House or House or Senate Republicans.
The Latest on the CR Negotiations
September 15, 2020
We are hearing the House is planning on filing a continuing resolution on Friday, and plan to take it up on the floor next week. How long the CR will last is still unknown, but it seems that Speaker Pelosi is in favor of February or March. Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin unsurprising prefer the CR expire in December.
House Approves Fiscal Year 2021 Defense Appropriations Act
July 31, 2020
The House has approved the Fiscal Year 2021 Defense Appropriations Act, as part of a larger minibus package. There were no amendments that would have adversely impacted the CDMRPs. Now on to the Senate, which may not act on this until after the election.
The House has sent its members home for August but will call them back with a 24 hour notice if there is a deal on the next COVID-19 relief package.
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