President Donald J. Trump signed into law today a fiscal 2019 spending package that includes more than $14 million in new funding specifically for lupus research and education. The House of Representatives and Senate already approved the spending bill, which also provides a significant funding boost to a record $39.1 billion for biomedical research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The spending package combines the Fiscal Year 2019 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations bill with the Fiscal Year 2019 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations bill. For more details on how this spending bill impacts lupus research and education, please read our earlier post, House Sends Lupus Research Funding to President’s Desk.

This funding victory would not have been possible without the efforts of our lupus advocates from across the country, the Congressional Lupus Caucus Co-Chairs (Rep. Thomas J. Rooney [R-FL], Rep. William Keating [D-MA], Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL], Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson [D-TX]), House Appropriations Committee Chair Rodney Frelinghuysen [R-NJ] and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby [R-AL] who championed the funding for these critical programs.

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