Testimony
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Statement by
Dr. Elias Zerhouni
Director, National Institutes of Health
on
Fiscal Year 2005 President's Budget Request for the National Institutes of Health Buildings and Facilities Program
before the
Senate Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
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April 1, 2004
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to present the President's budget request for the Buildings and Facilities (B&F;) Program for FY 2005, a sum of $99,500,000.
ROLE IN THE RESEARCH MISSION
State-of-the-science research and support facilities are a vital part of the research enterprise. The National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Buildings and Facilities (B&F;) program designs, constructs, repairs and improves the agency's portfolio of laboratory, clinical, animal, administrative and support facilities at its six installations in three states. These facilities house researchers from the NIH Institutes' and Centers'(ICs) intramural basic, translational, and clinical research programs; the NIH leadership, and various programs that support agency operations. The FY 2005 B&F; budget request supports critically needed and timely investments to keep the agency's facilities and supporting physical infrastructure healthy, safe, secure, and research ready.
The B&F budget request is the product of a comprehensive, corporate capital facilities planning process. This process begins with extensive consultation across the research community and the NIH's professional facilities staff. It works through the Facilities Working Group, an advisory committee to the NIH Steering Committee and the HHS Capital Investment Review Board. The budget request is the current year plan in a rolling five-year facilities plan. Through this process, the real and insistent program demand for more effective and efficient facilities designed to support current and emerging investigative techniques, technologies, and tools is integrated with, and balanced against, the need to repair, renovate, and improve the existing building stock to keep it in service and to optimize its utility.
The FY 2005 request provides the necessary funding support for the ongoing
safety, renovation and repair, and related projects that are vital to proper stewardship of the entire portfolio. It provides funds to continue the functional integration of the clinical research components of the existing Building 10 with the new Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center (CRC). Additionally, the request includes funds to: complete the design of the Animal Research Center (ARC) on the Bethesda campus; complete the creation of a security buffer around the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), in Hamilton, MT; and to add another chiller to the NIH=s Bethesda campus central utility system that is needed to meet current and anticipated cooling demands.
The FY 2005 B&F; budget request is organized among five broad Program Activities: Construction, Essential Safety and Regulatory Compliance, Repairs and Improvements, Renovations, and Equipment/Systems. The FY 2005 request provides funds for specific projects in each of the program areas. The projects and programs enumerated are the end result of the aforementioned NIH facilities planning process and are the NIH's capital facility priorities for FY 2005.
FY 2005 BUDGET SUMMARY
The FY 2005 budget request for Buildings and Facilities is $99.5 million. The B&F; request contains $16.5 million for Construction, including $5 million to complete the design of an Animal Research Center; $9.5 million to complete the creation of a security buffer around the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton, MT; and $2 million for concept development studies of projects proposed in the facilities plan. There is a total of $6 million for Essential Safety and Regulatory Compliance programs composed of $0.5 million for the phased removal of asbestos from NIH buildings; $2 million for the continuing upgrade of fire and life safety deficiencies of NIH buildings; $1 million to systematically remove existing barriers to persons with disabilities from the interior of NIH buildings; $0.5 million to address indoor air quality concerns and requirements at NIH facilities; and $2 million for the continued support of the rehabilitation of animal research facilities. In addition, the FY 2005 request includes $59.2 million in Repairs and Improvements for the continuing program of repairs, improvements, and maintenance that is the vital means of maintaining the complex research facilities infrastructure of the NIH. The request includes $10.8 million in Renovations to complete the Building 10 Transition Program. Finally, the request includes $7 million in Equipment/Systems for the Chiller 27 project.
My colleagues and I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have.
Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Budget
William R. Beldon
Mr. Beldon is currently serving as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget, HHS. He has been a Division Director in the Budget Office for 16 years, most recently as Director of the Division of Discretionary Programs. Mr. Beldon started in federal service as an auditor in the Health, Education and Welfare Financial Management Intern program. Over the course of 30 years in the Budget Office, Mr. Beldon has held Program Analyst, Branch Chief and Division Director positions. Mr. Beldon received a Bachelor's Degree in History and Political Science from Marshall University and attended the University of Pittsburgh where he studied Public Administration. He resides in Fort Washington, Maryland.
Last revised: April 12, 2004
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