Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Lilttle presented U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran with a national award for his support of science research at the Dole Institute of Politics on Monday April 14, 2014.

Although he belongs to a party lately focused on reducing government, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran has long pushed for government spending on scientific research, particularly in medical fields.

On Monday at the Dole Institute of Politics, Moran told an audience gathered to recognize his commitment to research, “There is great potential for research, and now is not the time, now is not the time, to waver on our country’s commitment to advancing scientific research.”

Moran was at the Dole Institute to accept the Champion of Science Award, given by the Science Coalition to honor U.S. lawmakers “whose actions and votes consistently reflect their belief that basic scientific research” is essential to public health, security, the environment and economy, according to the organization.

The Science Coalition is a nonprofit organization made up of private and public research universities that advocates for federal funding of basic scientific research.

Kansas University Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little presented the award to Moran. Moran and Gray-Little worked closely in trying to win a National Cancer Institute designation for the KU Cancer Center. The designation, which comes through the federal National Institutes of Health, went to the KU center in summer 2012.

“As chancellor, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Senator Moran on various initiatives over the past few years, and I can tell you from that experience he fully understands the importance of federal investment in research,” Gray-Little said.

Moran, who earlier in life wanted to go into the sciences but said a college physics class scared him off the path, said research is important to saving and improving lives, boosting the economy and saving on medical spending over the long run by providing better treatments.

Moran’s Republican Party has made shrinking the federal budget a priority. That includes spending on research, which has fallen dramatically since Republicans took over the House of Representatives.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Moran has introduced amendments to significantly increase NIH funding and has been vocal in advocating research in other areas.

“The last thing we would want to tell a person who wants to pursue that noble profession of scientific research is: ‘I’m sorry, we aren’t certain there will be the resources necessary for you to begin, to provide research and to find success in that research,'” Moran said.

Joining Moran at the Dole Institute Monday was NIH director Francis Collins. Collins called Moran “a real voice” for “the importance of medical research” and noted Moran’s efforts to keep the NIH functional during last year’s government shutdown.