In 2009, after 17 years of government testing at a cost of $2.5 billion, almost no clearly proven efficacy of alternative therapies had been found. Senator Harkin complained, "One of the purposes of this center was to investigate and validate alternative approaches. Quite frankly, I must say publicly that it has fallen short. I think quite frankly that in this center and in the office previously before it, most of its focus has been on disproving things rather than seeking out and approving." Members of the scientific community criticized this comment as showing Senator Harkin did not understand the basics of scientific inquiry, which tests hypotheses, but never intentionally attempts to "validate approaches". In 2009, the NCCAM's yearly budget was increased to about $122 million. By 2009, Americans were spending $34 billion annually on CAM.