Biden attacks Trump’s proposed cuts to medical research

Former vice president Joe Biden on Monday blasted as “draconian” President Trump's proposed cuts in funding for biomedical research, predicting that they would severely set back the budget of the National Institutes of Health, shutter labs across the United States and end promising scientific careers.

Biden, in a speech to the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, said the proposed spending reductions for fiscal 2018 are sending a message that the United States is willing to cede its leadership in scientific and technical affairs. That message, he said, was damaging because it could deter ambitious young people from choosing careers in science out of fear that they won't be able to get funding for their work.