Not New, Not a Foundation, Not Great: White House Budget Proposal

Statement from the Public Health Institute

“The President’s proposed FY2018 Budget “A New Foundation for American Greatness” is not new, not a foundation, and is far from great. The Public Health Institute opposes this budget and urges members of congress to reject it.

“By gutting the National Institutes of Health including the National Cancer Institute, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department/USAID, USDA nutrition programs and others, this budget divests from the public health and safety net infrastructure that keeps our country strong, healthy and secure. Slashing SNAP funding by almost 30% will take food out of the mouths of our most vulnerable communities. Proposed cuts to USAID put health and wellness around the globe at risk, and raise the chance that emerging diseases abroad have greater impacts here at home.

“This budget would set spending for these programs at below 2004 levels, rolling back the clock on progress that has been made to improve health and wellness, and to quell emerging diseases. At the end of the decade, the U.S. would spend almost twice as much on military than other domestic programs.

“This isn’t the America we see around us. We see a country that extends a hand to those who need it, and understands that a great America is one in which every American has equal access to health and wellbeing. We call on congress to support a budget that invests in that vision.”