National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering Establishment Act

Summary: National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering Establishment Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering.  Requires the Director of the Institute to establish a National Biomedical Imaging and Engineering Program which shall include research and related technology assessments and development in biomedical imaging and engineering.  Requires the Director, with respect to such Program, to prepare and transmit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) a plan to initiate, expand, intensify, and coordinate Institute biomedical imaging and engineering activities.  Requires: (1) the consolidation and coordination of Institute biomedical imaging and engineering research and related activities with those of the NIH and other Federal agencies; and (2) the establishment of an Institute advisory council. 
Authorizes: (1) appropriations for the Institute for FY 2000 through 2002; and (2) the transfer of appropriate NIH personnel and research facilities for Institute activities.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Institute of Biomedical 
Imaging and Engineering Establishment Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Basic research in imaging, bioengineering, computer 
        science, informatics, and related fields is critical to 
        improving health care but is fundamentally different from the 
        research in molecular biology on which the current national 
        research institutes at the National Institutes of Health 
        (referred to in this section as the ``NIH'') are based. To 
        ensure the development of new techniques and technologies for 
        the 21st century, these disciplines therefore require an 
        identity and research home at the NIH that is independent of 
        the existing institute structure.
            (2) Advances based on medical research promise new, more 
        effective treatments for a wide variety of diseases, but the 
        development of new, noninvasive imaging techniques for earlier 
        detection and diagnosis of disease is essential to take full 
        advantage of such new treatments and to promote the general 
        improvement of health care.
            (3) The development of advanced genetic and molecular 
        imaging techniques is necessary to continue the current rapid 
        pace of discovery in molecular biology.
            (4) Advances in telemedicine, and teleradiology in 
        particular, are increasingly important in the delivery of high 
        quality, reliable medical care to rural citizens and other 
        underserved populations. To fulfill the promise of telemedicine 
        and related technologies fully, a structure is needed at the 
        NIH to support basic research focused on the acquisition, 
        transmission, processing, and optimal display of images.
            (5) A number of Federal departments and agencies support 
        imaging and engineering research with potential medical 
        applications, but a central coordinating body, preferably 
        housed at the NIH, is needed to coordinate these disparate 
        efforts and facilitate the transfer of technologies with 
        medical applications.
            (6) Several breakthrough imaging technologies, including 
        magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), 
        have been developed primarily abroad, in large part because of 
        the absence of a home at the NIH for basic research in imaging 
        and related fields. The establishment of a central focus for 
        imaging and bioengineering research at the NIH would promote 
        both scientific advance and U.S. economic development.
            (7) At a time when a consensus exists to add significant 
        resources to the NIH in coming years, it is appropriate to 
        modernize the structure of the NIH to ensure that research 
        dollars are expended more effectively and efficiently and that 
        the fields of medical science that have contributed the most to 
        the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease in recent 
        years receive appropriate emphasis.
            (8) The establishment of a National Institute of Biomedical 
        Imaging and Engineering at the NIH would accelerate the 
        development of new technologies with clinical and research 
        applications, improve coordination and efficiency at the NIH 
        and throughout the Federal Government, reduce duplication and 
        waste, lay the foundation for a new medical information age, 
        promote economic development, and provide a structure to train 
        the young researchers who will make the pathbreaking 
        discoveries of the next century.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIOMEDICAL IMAGING AND 
              ENGINEERING.

    (a) In General.--Part C of title IV of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

 ``Subpart 18--National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering

``SEC. 464Z. PURPOSE OF THE INSTITUTE.

    ``(a) In General.--The general purpose of the National Institute of 
Biomedical Imaging and Engineering (in this section referred to as the 
`Institute') is the conduct and support of research, training, the 
dissemination of  health information, and other programs with respect 
to biomedical imaging, biomedical engineering, and associated 
technologies and modalities with biomedical applications (in this 
section referred to as `biomedical imaging and engineering').
    ``(b) National Biomedical Imaging and Engineering Program.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Director of the Institute, with 
        the advice of the Institute's advisory council, shall establish 
        a National Biomedical Imaging and Engineering Program (in this 
        section referred to as the `Program').
            ``(2) Activities.--Activities under the Program shall 
        include the following with respect to biomedical imaging and 
        engineering:
                    ``(A) Research into the development of new 
                techniques and devices.
                    ``(B) Related research in physics, engineering, 
                mathematics, computer science, and other disciplines.
                    ``(C) Technology assessments and outcomes studies 
                to evaluate the effectiveness of biologics, materials, 
                processes, devices, procedures, and informatics.
                    ``(D) Research in screening for diseases and 
                disorders.
                    ``(E) The advancement of existing imaging and 
                engineering modalities, including imaging, 
                biomaterials, and informatics.
                    ``(F) The development of target-specific agents to 
                enhance images and to identify and delineate disease.
                    ``(G) The development of advanced engineering and 
                imaging technologies and techniques for research from 
                the molecular and genetic to the whole organ and body 
                levels.
                    ``(H) The development of new techniques and devices 
                for more effective interventional procedures (such as 
                image-guided interventions).
            ``(3) Plan.--
                    ``(A) In general.--With respect to the Program, the 
                Director of the Institute shall prepare and transmit to 
                the Secretary and the Director of NIH a plan to 
                initiate, expand, intensify, and coordinate activities 
                of the Institute with respect to biomedical imaging and 
                engineering. The plan shall include such comments and 
                recommendations as the Director of the Institute 
                determines appropriate. The Director of the Institute 
                shall periodically review and revise the plan and shall 
                transmit any revisions of the plan to the Secretary and 
                the Director of NIH.
                    ``(B) Recommendations.--The plan under subparagraph 
                (A) shall include the recommendations of the Director 
                of the Institute with respect to the following:
                            ``(i) Where appropriate, the consolidation 
                        of programs of the National Institutes of 
                        Health for the express purpose of enhancing 
                        support of activities regarding basic 
                        biomedical imaging and engineering research.
                            ``(ii) The coordination of the activities 
                        of the Institute with related activities of the 
                        other agencies of the National Institutes of 
                        Health and with related activities of other 
                        Federal agencies.
    ``(c) Advisory Council.--The establishment under section 406 of an 
advisory council for the Institute is subject to the following:
            ``(1) The number of members appointed by the Secretary 
        shall be 12.
            ``(2) Of such members--
                    ``(A) 6 members shall be scientists, engineers, 
                physicians, and other health professionals who 
                represent disciplines in biomedical imaging and 
                engineering and who are not officers or employees of 
                the United States; and
                    ``(B) 6 members shall be scientists, engineers, 
                physicians, and other health professionals who 
                represent other disciplines and are knowledgeable about 
                the applications of biomedical imaging and engineering 
                in medicine, and who are not officers or employees of 
                the United States.
            ``(3) Ex officio members.--In addition to the ex officio 
        members specified in section 406(b)(2), the ex officio members 
        of the advisory council shall include the Director of the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of the 
        National Science Foundation, and the Director of the National 
        Institute of Standards and Technology (or the designees of such 
        officers).
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), for the 
        purpose of carrying out this section:
                    ``(A) For fiscal year 2000, there is authorized to 
                be appropriated an amount equal to the  amount 
obligated by the National Institutes of Health during fiscal year 1999 
for biomedical imaging and engineering, except that such amount shall 
be adjusted to offset any inflation occurring after October 1, 1998.
                    ``(B) For each of the fiscal years 2001 and 2002, 
                there is authorized to be appropriated an amount equal 
                to the amount appropriated under subparagraph (A) for 
                fiscal year 2000, except that such amount shall be 
                adjusted for the fiscal year involved to offset any 
                inflation occurring after October 1, 1999.
            ``(2) Reduction.--The authorization of appropriations for a 
        fiscal year under paragraph (1) is hereby reduced by the amount 
        of any appropriation made for such year for the conduct or 
        support by any other national research institute of any program 
        with respect to biomedical imaging and engineering.''.
    (b) Use of Existing Resources.--In providing for the establishment 
of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering 
pursuant to the amendment made by subsection (a), the Director of the 
National Institutes of Health (referred to in this subsection as the 
``NIH'')--
            (1) may transfer to the National Institute of Biomedical 
        Imaging and Engineering such personnel of the NIH as the 
        Director determines to be appropriate;
            (2) may, for quarters for such Institute, utilize such 
        facilities of the NIH as the Director determines to be 
        appropriate; and
            (3) may obtain administrative support for the Institute 
        from the other agencies of the NIH, including the other 
        national research institutes.
    (c) Construction of Facilities.--None of the provisions of this Act 
or the amendments made by the Act may be construed as authorizing the 
construction of facilities, or the acquisition of land, for purposes of 
the establishment or operation of the National Institute of Biomedical 
Imaging and Engineering.
    (d) Date Certain for Establishment of Advisory Council.--Not later 
than 90 days after the effective date of this Act, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall complete the establishment of an 
advisory council for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and 
Engineering in accordance with section 406 of the Public Health Service 
Act and in accordance with section 464Z of such Act (as added by 
subsection (a) of this section).
    (e) Conforming Amendment.--Section 401(b)(1) of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(R) The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and 
        Engineering.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect on October 1, 1999, or upon the date of 
the enactment of this Act, whichever occurs later.