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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
August 2005
| Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Appropriations |
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| NHLBI Programs |
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| NIH Activities or Structure |
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| Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research or Human Cloning |
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| New DHHS Program |
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| Biotechnology |
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| Resolutions |
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Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Appropriations
On June 24, 2005, the House of Representatives passed its version of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education 2005 appropriations act (H.R. 3010). As requested in the President's budget, the bill includes $2,951,270 for the NHLBI. This is an increase of 0.3 percent over the $2,941,201 that the NHLBI received in FY 2005.
The Senate version, which the appropriations committee approved on July 14, includes $3,023,381 for the NHLBI.
Both the House (House Report 109-143) and Senate (Senate Report 109-103) reports mention NHLBI activities related to:
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Both chambers encourage the NHLBI to develop education and awareness campaigns about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and about sleep.
The House report includes a provision encouraging the NHLBI to develop a diagnostic test for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies that would be suitable for screening the blood supply.
Other Senate language encourages the NHLBI to conduct more research on:
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NHLBI Programs
Pulmonary Hypertension Research Act of 2005
Number: H.R. 3005Sponsor: Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX)
Referred to: House Committee on Energy and Commerce (June 21)
Highlights: Would require the NHLBI to develop
- centers of excellence dedicated to research on pulmonary hypertension and education of scientists, health professionals, and public members interested in pulmonary hypertension.
- a clearinghouse to disseminate information about pulmonary hypertension to health professionals, patients, industry, and the public.
- a system for collection, storage, analysis, retrieval, and dissemination of data derived from patient populations with pulmonary hypertension.
Family Asthma Act
Number: S. 1489Sponsor: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Referred to: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (July 26)
Highlights: Would require the
- National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) to catalog all asthma prevention, management, and surveillance activities conducted by organizations or agencies that participate in the NAEPP and to make recommendations to the Congress for strengthening and better coordinating federal asthma activities.
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), in collaboration with the NHLBI and other Institutes, to support additional research on gene-environment interactions that contribute to the development or exacerbation of asthma.
NIH Activities or Structure
Fair Access to Clinical Trials Act
Number: H.R. 3196Sponsor: Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Referred to: House Committee on Energy and Commerce (June 30)
Highlights: Would expand the scope of ClinicalTrials.gov and establish a database of clinical trial results. It is similar, but not identical, to S. 470, the Fair Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2005 or the FACT Act, which was introduced February 28.
Lupus Research, Education, Awareness, Communication, and Healthcare Amendments of 2005
Number: H.R. 3307Sponsor: Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Referred to: House Committee on Energy and Commerce (July 14)
Highlights: Like the companion measure S. 756, which was introduced on April 11, H.R. 3307 would require the
- NIH to expand its research portfolio to improve understanding and treatment of lupus.
- Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Women's Health, in collaboration with the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc., and the NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, to develop a national campaign to raise awareness about lupus.
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Improvement Act
Number: S. 302Sponsor: Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Referred to: House Committee on Energy and Commerce (July 28) after passage in the Senate.
Highlights: Would require the NIH Director to transfer $500,000 yearly to the Foundation (a non-profit organization that supports a broad portfolio of public-private partnerships to complement and enhance NIH priorities and activities).
Restore Scientific Integrity to Federal Research and Policymaking Act
Number: S. 1358Sponsor: Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Referred to: Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (June 30)
Highlights: Would prohibit
- political interference with scientific research by federal employees.
- use of "litmus tests" for the appointment of members to federal scientific advisory committees.
Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced a similar bill, H.R. 839, on February 16.
Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research or Human Cloning
Respect for Life Pluripotent Stem Cell Act of 2005
Numbers: H.R. 3144 and S. 1557Sponsors: Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Referred to: House Committee on Energy and Commerce (June 30) and Senate HELP Committee (July 29)
Highlights: Would require the NIH to conduct and support research on ways to derive human pluripotent stem cells without harming human embryos.
Cures Can Be Found Act of 2005
Number: H.R. 3444Sponsor: Representative Ron Paul (R-TX)
Referred to: House Committee on Ways and Means (July 26)
Highlights: Would provide tax credits to
- individuals who donate umbilical cord blood to research organizations or cell storage facilities that do not study or store human embryonic stem cells.
- individuals who donate money to the facilities.
- businesses that establish or maintain the facilities.
Human Cloning Ban Act of 2005
Number: S. 1520Sponsor: Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Referred to: Senate Committee on the Judiciary (July 27)
Highlights: Would prohibit
- research on human cloning.
- interstate shipment or exportation of certain cells for human cloning.
- exportation of unfertilized blastocysts to a country that does not prohibit human cloning.
New DHHS Program
Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2005
Number: P.L. 109-18 (formerly H.R. 1812 and S. 898)Date Signed: June 30, 2005
Highlights: Would require the Health Resources and Services Administration, with input from the Indian Health Service, the National Cancer Institute, and “such other offices and agencies as deemed appropriate by the Secretary,” to fund programs to reduce barriers to
- early detection of cancer and chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, for populations affected by health disparities.
- treatment and follow-up care services for those who have cancer or other chronic diseases.
Biotechnology
Save America's Biotechnology Innovative Research Act of 2005
Numbers: H.R. 2943 and S. 1263Sponsors: Representative Sam Graves (R-MO) and Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO)
Referred to: House Committee on Small Business and House Committee on Science and Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (June 16)
Highlights: Would amend the Small Business Act to allow additional businesses to be eligible to receive federal funding, including grants from the NIH, under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.
Patent Reform Act of 2005
Number: H.R. 2795Sponsor: Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Referred to: House Committee on the Judiciary (June 8)
Highlights: Would change the U.S. patent system for determining, in the case of multiple patent applications for a single invention, who should receive the patent by changing it from a "first-to-invent" system to a "first-inventor-to-file" system.
Project BioShield II Act of 2005
Number: S. 975Sponsor: Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT
Referred to: Senate HELP Committee (April 29)
Highlights: Would provide incentives to increase private sector research to prevent, detect, contain, and treat illnesses associated with biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiological weapons attacks or an infectious disease outbreak.
Resolutions
A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of the National Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week.
Number: H.Res. 305
Sponsor: Representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
Referred to: House Committee on Energy and Commerce (June 7)
Concurrent resolution recognizing the need to pursue research into the causes, a treatment, and an eventual cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, supporting the goals and ideals of National Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Week, and for other purposes.
Number: H.Con.Res. 178
Sponsor: Representative Charlie Norwood (R-GA)
Referred to: House Committee on Energy and Commerce (June 14)
Concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress regarding bone marrow failure diseases.
Number: H.Con.Res. 179
Sponsor: Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Referred to: Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce (June 16)
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Content last modified: 8/26/2005
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