This vote was on an amendment by Bobby Jindal, R-La., that would increase funding for nursing retention and education by $37 million, and then immediately decrease it by the same amount.   The amendment was offered to the bill that funds the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in fiscal 2008.

Jindal said because his amendment would boost funding and then immediately rescind it, it would have no net effect. “It’s more to indicate an intent,” he said.

Jindal said that today the average age for a nurse is nearly 47, and that once those nurses begin retiring, the nursing shortage America already experiences will only increase.  “The number of full-time nursing faculty required to fill this nursing gap is approximately 40,000. Currently, however, there are less than 17,000 full-time nursing faculty in the system,” Jindal said.

David Obey, D-Wis., said the amendment “doesn’t do nothing to nobody, and it doesn’t do nothing for somebody.”

“The fact is that it pretends to move $37 million out of this account, and then it puts $37 million back into this account and pretends that something has been accomplished.  There is no congressional direction that I know of that’s being accomplished by this amendment. There is no consensus about what it does. It makes no changes in either the bill or the report. As a practical matter, it doesn’t do anything except let somebody pretend that they have just done something for nurses’ education,” Obey said.

The amendment was rejected by a vote of 207-217.  All but nine Republicans present voted for the amendment.  Of Democrats present, 18 voted for the amendment and 208 voted against it.  The end result is that the measure went forward without an amendment that would have increased nursing funding and immediately decreased funding by the same amount.