A new bipartisan Senate caucus, dedicated to supporting the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was formally launched May 20 by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "The Senate NIH Caucus addresses the critical need to find a bipartisan strategy for increased and sustained funding for the NIH," said ACC President Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD, FACC. "Funding for groundbreaking research in the United States – which has helped dramatically advance treatments for everything from heart disease to cancer – has stagnated over the last decade... The ACC looks forward to working with, and expanding, the caucus." Aside from the co-chairs, the Senate NIH Caucus includes Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) , Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Al Franken (D-MN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS). The ACC and many other organizations also signed on to a letter commending the House Energy and Commerce Committee for including an additional $10 billion in funding for the NIH over five years in the latest 21st Century Cures proposal.