Washington, D.C. ? The Food and Drug Administration recommended Thursday that Congress approve an $87.4 million increase in fees paid by drug companies so the agency can hire 82 employees to better monitor the safety of prescription medications already on the market.

The 29 percent increase would bring annual revenue from the prescription drug user-fee program to $392.8 million and could help quell criticism that the FDA is lax on drug safety issues.

The FDA intends to use the additional funds to beef up its review of television drug advertisements, modernize its operations and help keep pace with an increasing drug review workload.

The funding request follows strong criticism from health experts and lawmakers that the FDA’s safety reviews for previously approved drugs were inadequate and endangered public health.