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The Senate today recognized the important work of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when it passed a “minibus” package of 2012 appropriations bills, said the leader of the nation’s largest independent federal employees union.

“At FDA, dedicated employees work hard to protect their fellow Americans,” said Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). “The Senate funding would be a step in the right direction toward providing them the resources they need to assure that our food supply is protected and that drugs, vaccines and medical devices are safe and effective.”

The Senate bill included an increase to the 2012 FDA budget of about $50 million over a 2011 level of $2.447 billion. That is approximately $335 million above the 2012 levels proposed by the House of Representatives. Most of the additional funds proposed by the Senate would be to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act, adopted by Congress in December. The “minibus” included FDA funds under spending for the Department of Agriculture.

“Now, the House must step up and recognize that the FDA is a national priority,” Kelley said. “Even though the agency is on the frontlines, protecting the American people, the FDA has faced years of chronic underfunding, while at the same time has seen more and more duties added to its mission. This continuing lack of resources only weakens the food and drug protections that the American people count on.”

In its proposed budget, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies offered a $285 million cut to the FDA budget. President Kelley said this would severely cut into critically important reviews of medical devices and drugs, and domestic and international inspections of food supplies. She noted that hard-working FDA employees already work on insufficient budgets in keeping watch over the ever-growing amount of imported food.

NTEU represents more than 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including more than 5,000 in the FDA.