8 



Mr. Brown. That is correct. 



Mr. VOLKMER. And then I find another disturbing factor. 



How do medical schools do research supporting food, agriculture, 

 science, and naturcd resources? 



Mr. Brown. There are very few, to my knowledge. 



Mr. VoLKMER. Yes, but I understand that the Congress is now 

 approving medical schools as part of that research. In other words, 

 medical schools are getting into the agricultural fiinds. That 

 doesn't really make sense, does it? 



Mr. Brown. There is a common interest between agriculture and 

 the Institutes of Health under HHS in nutrition research because 

 there is little question but what the quality of the national food 

 supply has an impact on health. That is the only connection that 

 I can see between a medicgJ school and the kind of research you 

 are t£dking about. 



Mr. Volkmer. Wouldn't that be about as far-fetched, though, as 

 if I would be — and I am not saying that I would — if someone would 

 be able to persuade the Appropriations Committee to fiind a re- 

 search program for, say, forestry health through NIH money? 



Mr. Brown. That would be pretty ludicrous, yes. 



Mr. Volkmer. Isn't that a Uttle far-fetched? 



Mr. Brown. Yes. 



Mr. Volkmer. But you wouldn't expect to use NIH research 

 money for forestry health or, say, genetic engineering on new 

 strains of wheat or things like that. 



Mr. Brown. You are quite correct. I don't think that the Depart- 

 ment of Aigriculture or any of the Federal Departments would en- 

 courage that kind of irrationality. 



Mr. Volkmer. I know that. 



Mr. Brown. But it happens with earmarking sometimes. 



Mr. Volkmer. That is what I am saying is happening now with 

 the Congress doing it. That is the kind of thing that the Congress 

 is doing because luidoubtedly someone on the Appropriations Com- 

 mittee or somewhere is able to persuade the Appropriations Com- 

 mittee to take agricultural funds and use them for medical school 

 research. 



Mr. Brown. Well, this is exactly what happened last year in the 

 final days of the session when we had a conference report on the 

 energy and water biU which contained in it about $95 million in 

 grants to medical schools and other institutions around the country 

 which seemed to be little related to the function of the Department 

 of Energy. 



I pointed this out on the floor and offered an amendment to 

 strike this, which was passed overwhelmingly. Then some of you 

 will recall that a week later the same identical amendment was 

 brought back on the defense bill, to which it has no relation what- 

 soever, in the defense bill, the same language, taking the money 

 out of the Energy Department budget and applying it to hospitals 

 and other facilities around the country. 



That was the worst case of earmarking, the worst flouting of the 

 rules of the House that I have ever seen in my 30 years here. It 

 is the result of the succession of growth in this practice which I 

 think must be curtailed. 



Mr. Volkmer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



