Letters

I believe that the shutdown of the federal government is needed to correct the severe impact of the “Big, Beautiful Bill” and Donald Trump’s proposed budget will have on the health of all Americans.

Our congressman, Nick LaLota, identified some of the short-term shutdown impact, including air traffic controllers, federal workers and troops risk missing paychecks, potential interruptions at VA medical centers, and the fact that local nutrition programs for seniors and oversight of nursing homes “could” be weakened [“Striking Hypocrisy,” Letters, October 2]. Brookhaven National Lab scientists and engineers could see their work disrupted.

However, Congressman LaLota does not appear to be concerned about the much larger and long-term impacts of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which substantially impacts the health of all Americans.

Per the National Institute of Health, cuts to specific programs in the “Big, Beautiful Bill” include $193 billion over 10 years to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) and $5.8 billion to the Children’s Health Insurance Program over two years; $333 million to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention programs to fight infectious diseases; $136 million to CDC Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response; $76.3 million to CDC Center for Global Health; $3.7 billion to NIH funding for researchers; $874 million to the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The president’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year calls for a more than 37 percent cut to the National Cancer Institute — the NIH agency that leads most of the nation’s cancer research — reducing it to $4.5 billion from $7.2 billion.

Amy Sullivan

Quogue