APPROPRIATIONS BILLS:
NIH Leads Research Gains As Congress Picks Up Pace
Andrew Lawler, Eliot Marshall, Jeffrey Mervis, and Jocelyn Kaiser
Trying to make up for a slow start, Congress moved ahead last week on several 1998 spending bills in hopes of completing most of its budget work before a monthlong recess in August. Science programs fared relatively well in last week's votes, easing fears that the government's new plan to balance the budget by 2002 would spark a round of cuts to R&D programs.