Press Releases

Warns of Impact to Western New York’s Economy and Nation’s Public Health

BUFFALO, NY — Congressman Tim Kennedy (NY-26) released the following statement after the Trump Administration proposed steep budget cuts, hiring freezes, and research-grant reviews for the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

“The scourge of cancer has touched everyone in our community. While researchers and scientists in Western New York are working every day to find a cure, the Trump Administration is defunding cancer research and other critical health programs. And they are doing so illegally. 

“For decades, Buffalo has been the epicenter for groundbreaking medical and scientific research. Whether it’s treating aggressive forms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with medication made possible by Roswell Park research, or improving maternal health in WNY through the joint efforts of the University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network, among many other examples, NIH funding is saving lives, improving outcomes, and in the process, creating good-paying jobs.

“The administration’s planned cuts to the NIH would decimate the ability of our universities and research institutions to operate, presenting another manufactured crisis that threatens healthcare in our country as well as our region’s economy and wellbeing. The ramifications of such deep and arbitrary cuts would be devastating—progress toward medical and scientific breakthroughs would slow, if not halt, and Western New York would be hit particularly hard. These cuts threaten to take away the extra year a grandparent may have kept cancer at bay, to cut short the life of a newborn who would have benefited from lifesaving research, along with the countless heartbreaking scenarios playing out across the country.

“However, the administration cannot implement these cuts without Congressional approval. As the Member of Congress representing the world’s first institution dedicated to cancer research as well as New York State’s largest public research university, I will continue to fight tirelessly to defend and protect the resources that institutions across our region rely on to carry out life-saving research.” 

Several Western New York institutions stand to lose millions of dollars in federal funding as a result of these proposed cuts, including the University at Buffalo, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Hauptman-Woodward Research Institute and Gates Vascular Institute. The Trump Administration, led by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has proposed billions of dollars in across the board cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These arbitrary cuts slash funding for vital scientific research, regardless of topic or the size of the institution receiving funding. 

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