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Senate Appropriations Committee leaders joined the House on Thursday in calling for another year of increases for the $39.3 billion National Institutes of Health budget, even as concerns persist about sexual harassment among NIH grantees and foreign government influence on researchers. Since the Trump administration proposed a roughly $5 billion decrease to the NIH in its fiscal 2020 budget plan, lawmakers have made clear that they won't accept a reduction, despite tight budgets and a broader dispute over how much nondefense discretionary spending can increase over the current fiscal year. (Siddons, 4/11)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should establish a three-digit hotline for suicide prevention and mental health crises “as soon as possible,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Wednesday. Wyden cited statistics on suicides in Oregon released recently under the state’s “Breaking the Silence” reporting project, telling FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (R) that the Beaver State has seen rates above the national average for the past three decades and that more than 800 Oregonians take their own lives annually. (Budryk, 4/11)