Two congressmen underscored the importance of filling budget gaps that have hindered modernization efforts at the National Center for Animal Health during a tour of the compound Friday.

The National Center for Animal Health in Ames is the sole mad cow disease testing facility in the country and didn’t receive an expected $58.8 million in government funding for renovations.

“This is a national priority,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa. “This isn’t a priority just in Ames or Iowa, for that matter. This is an international priority.”

The modernization of the National Center for Animal Health has four main phases. The process began in 2003 and is slated for completion at the end of 2007, center officials said.

The House of Representatives approved the requested allotment of $178 million in 2004.

The Senate approved only $122 million, leaving a low-containment large-animal housing facility unfunded.

“The shortfall was $56 million,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa.

“Now we’re at $58.8 million, and it’s going to get more expensive every day.”

The $178 million funding request was left only partially fulfilled because of a restricted national budget, he said. The reduced funding request has strained the project’s deadlines and disappointed some lawmakers.

“There was only one of the three branches [of government] that failed as far as giving what would have completed the project last year, and that was the Senate,” Latham said.

“That’s why we’re still having to come back this year and ask for additional funds.”

Randall Levings, director of the National Veterinary Services Lab, said the $58.8 million is to complete the next phase of the $460 million renovation project.

“When you ask us what we need, it really depends on what you want to get,” he said.

“Those buildings are 50 years old now.”

The inflated amount, Levings said, is a result of material price hikes, particularly in regard to stainless steel. The amount needed might also change once funds are approved.

“They have no reason to pay a contractor, to pay a designer to design something we don’t have the money to build,” he said. “That’s when you really get the bottom-line figure.”

Nussle, who recently started the formal process to take part in Iowa’s upcoming gubernatorial race, will be responsible for putting the request in the budget.

“We promised a long time ago to get this world-class facility with $460 million,” Levings said. “We’ve got a plan to do that.”