II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 640 

To prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national investment 

in biomedical research. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2017 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. 

CASEY, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national 

investment in biomedical research. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Cures Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CAP ADJUSTMENT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced 

7 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

8 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub10 paragraph (E); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C), the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(D) BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH.— 

4 ‘‘(i) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF

5 HEALTH.—If a bill or joint resolution mak6 ing appropriations for a fiscal year is en7 acted that specifies amounts for the Na8 tional Institutes of Health at the Depart9 ment of Health and Human Services, then 

10 the adjustments for that fiscal year shall 

11 be the amount of additional new budget 

12 authority provided in that Act for such 

13 programs for that fiscal year, but shall not 

14 exceed— 

15 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2017, 

16 $2,966,000,000 in additional new 

17 budget authority; 

18 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2018, 

19 $4,718,000,000 in additional new 

20 budget authority; 

21 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2019, 

22 $6,643,000,000 in additional new 

23 budget authority; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2020, 

2 $8,743,000,000 in additional new 

3 budget authority; and 

4 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2021, 

5 $10,981,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority. 

7 ‘‘(ii) CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL

8 AND PREVENTION.—If a bill or joint reso9 lution making appropriations for a fiscal 

10 year is enacted that specifies amounts for 

11 the Centers for Disease Control and Pre12 vention at the Department of Health and 

13 Human Services, then the adjustments for 

14 that fiscal year shall be the amount of ad15 ditional new budget authority provided in 

16 that Act for such programs for that fiscal 

17 year, but shall not exceed— 

18 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2017, 

19 $1,430,000,000 in additional new 

20 budget authority; 

21 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2018, 

22 $1,828,000,000 in additional new 

23 budget authority; 


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1 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2019, 

2 $2,264,000,000 in additional new 

3 budget authority; 

4 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2020, 

5 $2,740,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority; and 

7 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2021, 

8 $3,247,000,000 in additional new 

9 budget authority. 

10 ‘‘(iii) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

11 HEALTH PROGRAM.—If a bill or joint reso12 lution making appropriations for a fiscal 

13 year is enacted that specifies amounts for 

14 the Department of Defense health pro15 gram, then the adjustments for that fiscal 

16 year shall be the amount of additional new 

17 budget authority provided in that Act for 

18 such programs for that fiscal year, but 

19 shall not exceed— 

20 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2017, 

21 $135,100,000 in additional new budg22 et authority; 

23 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2018, 

24 $241,000,000 in additional new budg25 et authority; 


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1 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2019, 

2 $356,000,000 in additional new budg3 et authority; 

4 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2020, 

5 $482,000,000 in additional new budg6 et authority; and 

7 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2021, 

8 $618,000,000 in additional new budg9 et authority. 

10 ‘‘(iv) MEDICAL AND PROSTHETICS RE11 SEARCH PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT

12 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—If a bill or joint 

13 resolution making appropriations for a fis14 cal year is enacted that specifies amounts 

15 for the medical and prosthetics research 

16 program of the Department of Veterans 

17 Affairs, then the adjustments for that fis18 cal year shall be the amount of additional 

19 new budget authority provided in that Act 

20 for such programs for that fiscal year, but 

21 shall not exceed— 

22 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2017, 

23 $36,000,000 in additional new budget 

24 authority; 


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1 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2018, 

2 $65,000,000 in additional new budget 

3 authority; 

4 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2019, 

5 $98,000,000 in additional new budget 

6 authority; 

7 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2020, 

8 $134,000,000 in additional new budg9 et authority; and 

10 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2021, 

11 $172,000,000 in additional new budg12 et authority. 

13 ‘‘(v) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this 

14 subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(I) ADDITIONAL NEW BUDGET

16 AUTHORITY.—The term ‘additional 

17 new budget authority’ means— 

18 ‘‘(aa) with respect to the 

19 National Institutes of Health, the 

20 amount provided for a fiscal 

21 year, in excess of the amount 

22 provided in fiscal year 2016, in 

23 an appropriation Act and speci24 fied to support the National In25 stitutes of Health; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) with respect to the 

2 Centers for Disease Control and 

3 Prevention, the amount provided 

4 for a fiscal year, in excess of the 

5 amount provided in fiscal year 

6 2016, in an appropriation Act 

7 and specified to support the Cen8 ters for Disease Control and Pre9 vention; 

10 ‘‘(cc) with respect to the De11 partment of Defense health pro12 gram, the amount provided for a 

13 fiscal year, in excess of the 

14 amount provided in fiscal year 

15 2016, in an appropriation Act 

16 and specified to support the De17 partment of Defense health pro18 gram; and 

19 ‘‘(dd) with respect to the 

20 medical and prosthetics research 

21 program of the Department of 

22 Veterans Affairs, the amount 

23 provided for a fiscal year, in ex24 cess of the amount provided in 

25 fiscal year 2016, in an appropriaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Mar 20, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S640.IS S640

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1 tion Act and specified to support 

2 the medical and prosthetics re3 search program of the Depart4 ment of Veterans Affairs. 

5 ‘‘(II) CENTERS FOR DISEASE

6 CONTROL AND PREVENTION.—The 

7 term ‘Centers for Disease Control and 

8 Prevention’ means the appropriations 

9 accounts that support the various in10 stitutes, offices, and centers that 

11 make up the Centers for Disease Con12 trol and Prevention. 

13 ‘‘(III) DEPARTMENT OF DE14 FENSE HEALTH PROGRAM.—The term 

15 ‘Department of Defense health pro16 gram’ means the appropriations ac17 counts that support the various insti18 tutes, offices, and centers that make 

19 up the Department of Defense health 

20 program. 

21 ‘‘(IV) MEDICAL AND PROS22 THETICS RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE

23 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF24 FAIRS.—The term ‘medical and pros25 thetics research program of the DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Mar 20, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S640.IS S640

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1 partment of Veterans Affairs’ means 

2 the appropriations accounts that sup3 port the various institutes, offices, 

4 and centers that make up the medical 

5 and prosthetics research program of 

6 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

7 ‘‘(V) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF

8 HEALTH.—The term ‘National Insti9 tutes of Health’ means the appropria10 tions accounts that support the var11 ious institutes, offices, and centers 

12 that make up the National Institutes 

13 of Health.’’. 

14 (b) FUNDING.—There are hereby authorized to be 

15 appropriated— 

16 (1) for the National Institutes of Health, the 

17 amounts provided for under clause (i) of such sec18 tion 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 2017 

19 through 2021, and such sums as may be necessary 

20 for each subsequent fiscal year; 

21 (2) for the Secretary of Health and Human 

22 Services, acting through the Centers for Disease 

23 Control and Prevention, the amounts provided for 

24 under clause (ii) of such section 251(b)(2)(D) in 

25 each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021, and such 


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1 sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal 

2 year; 

3 (3) for the Department of Defense health pro4 gram, the amounts provided for under clause (iii) of 

5 such section 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 

6 2017 through 2021, and such sums as may be nec7 essary for each subsequent fiscal year; and 

8 (4) for the medical and prosthetics research 

9 program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 

10 amounts provided for under clause (iv) of such sec11 tion 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 2017 

12 through 2021, and such sums as may be necessary 

13 for each subsequent fiscal year. 

14 (c) MINIMUM CONTINUED FUNDING REQUIRE15 MENT.—Amounts appropriated for each of the programs 

16 and agencies described in section 251(b)(2)(D) of the Bal17 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

18 (as added by subsection (a)) for each of fiscal years 2017 

19 through 2021, and each subsequent fiscal year, shall not 

20 be less than the amounts appropriated for such programs 

21 and agencies for fiscal year 2016. 

22 (d) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN APPROPRIATIONS FROM

23 SEQUESTRATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 

25 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 


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1 Act (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting 

2 after ‘‘Advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund 

3 and Other Funds (16–0327–0–1–600).’’ the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘Appropriations under the American 

6 Cures Act.’’. 

7 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

8 this section shall apply to any sequestration order 

9 issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

10 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) 

11 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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