I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1315 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a Prostate Cancer 

Coordinating Committee, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mr. MURPHY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a Prostate Cancer Coordinating Committee, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Prostate Cancer Com5 munity Assistance, Research and Education Act of 2023’’ 

6 or the ‘‘PC–CARE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) Prostate cancer is the most commonly diag10 nosed non-skin cancer and the second leading cause 


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1 of cancer-related deaths among men in the United 

2 States. 

3 (2) Over 3,100,000 men in the United States 

4 live with a prostate cancer diagnosis and it is esti5 mated that in 2023, 288,300 men will be diagnosed 

6 with, and more than 34,700 men will die of, prostate 

7 cancer. 

8 (3) Men with at least one close relative who has 

9 been diagnosed with prostate cancer have twice the 

10 risk of having prostate cancer compared to the gen11 eral population. 

12 (4) At least 12 percent of men with metastatic 

13 prostate cancer have inherited predispositions to the 

14 disease and potentially actionable genomic alter15 ations have been identified in over 90 percent of 

16 men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate 

17 cancer. 

18 (5) Advances in science to identify, test, and 

19 treat these men at increased genetic risk of disease 

20 are needed. 

21 (6) African-American men suffer from a pros22 tate cancer incidence rate that is significantly higher 

23 than that of White men and have more than double 

24 the prostate cancer mortality rate than that of 

25 White men. 


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1 (7) Research has shown that veterans exposed 

2 to herbicides, such as Agent Orange, are at higher 

3 risk for and more likely to be diagnosed with aggres4 sive forms of prostate cancer. 

5 (8) Screening by a digital rectal examination 

6 and a prostate-specific antigen blood test can detect 

7 the disease at the earlier, more treatable stages. 

8 (9) Men diagnosed with early stage disease have 

9 a nearly 100 percent 5-year survival rate but only 

10 30 percent of men survive more than 5 years if diag11 nosed with prostate cancer after the cancer has me12 tastasized. 

13 (10) Early-staged prostate cancer has no symp14 toms, raising the importance of early detection and 

15 screening. 

16 (11) The Department of Health and Human 

17 Services, the Department of Defense, and the De18 partment of Veterans Affairs all have a role in pro19 viding care for and conducting research on prostate 

20 cancer. 

21 (12) Multiple institutes at the National Insti22 tutes of Health are engaged in prostate cancer care 

23 and research, including the National Cancer Insti24 tute, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and 

25 Bioengineering, the National Institute on Minority 


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1 Health and Health Disparities, and the Clinical Cen2 ter. 

3 (13) Additional agencies and offices within the 

4 Department of Health and Human Services conduct 

5 activities related to prostate cancer, including the 

6 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the 

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 

8 Food and Drug Administration, the Health Re9 sources and Services Administration, the Office of 

10 Minority Health, and the Agency for Healthcare Re11 search and Quality. 

12 (14) The Department of Defense created the 

13 Prostate Cancer Research Program in 1997 and has 

14 funded more than $2,000,000,000 in prostate cancer 

15 research since that time. 

16 (15) Private foundations have provided substan17 tial funding to the prostate cancer research commu18 nity for almost three decades, including support for 

19 over 200 cancer centers and universities. 

20 (16) The Director of the National Institutes of 

21 Health has partnered with private prostate cancer 

22 research groups to study to study biological and 

23 nonbiological factors associated with aggressive pros24 tate cancer in African-American men. 


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1 (17) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has 

2 partnered with private foundations to establish pre3 cision oncology program hubs for prostate cancer. 

4 (18) The Director of the Centers for Disease 

5 Control and Prevention has partnered with multiple 

6 private stakeholder groups to increase awareness 

7 and education around prostate cancer in the general 

8 population and among high-risk groups. 

9 (19) Increased coordination of governmental 

10 and nongovernmental activities can reduce costs and 

11 increase effectiveness of ongoing work. 

12 (20) Joint planning and goal setting across the 

13 Government and private sector can create a pathway 

14 toward eliminating prostate cancer deaths and im15 proving care for millions of men. 

16 SEC. 3. PROSTATE CANCER COORDINATING COMMITTEE. 

17 Part A of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 

18 (42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 404F. PROSTATE CANCER COORDINATING COM21 MITTEE. 

22 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab23 lish a committee to be known as the Prostate Cancer Co24 ordinating Committee (referred to in this section as the 

25 ‘Coordinating Committee’). 


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1 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Coordinating Committee shall— 

2 ‘‘(1) monitor, coordinate, and evaluate activities 

3 with respect to prostate cancer research programs 

4 carried out by Federal agencies; and 

5 ‘‘(2) develop and implement the plan under sub6 section (g). 

7 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Coordinating Com9 mittee shall be composed of not more than 24 mem10 bers, to be appointed by the Secretary, of whom— 

11 ‘‘(A) one-half shall represent Federal agen12 cies that carry out research or treatment activi13 ties with respect to prostate cancer, including— 

14 ‘‘(i) the Director of the National In15 stitutes of Health (or designee); 

16 ‘‘(ii) the directors of the appropriate 

17 agencies of the National Institutes of 

18 Health (or designees), including the Na19 tional Cancer Institute; 

20 ‘‘(iii) the Director of the Centers for 

21 Disease Control and Prevention (or des22 ignee); 

23 ‘‘(iv) the Administrator of the Health 

24 Resources and Services Administration (or 

25 designee); 


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1 ‘‘(v) the Administrator of the Centers 

2 for Medicare & Medicaid Services (or des3 ignee); 

4 ‘‘(vi) the Commissioner of Food and 

5 Drugs (or designee); 

6 ‘‘(vii) the Secretary of Defense (or 

7 designee); and 

8 ‘‘(viii) the Secretary of Veterans Af9 fairs (or designee); and 

10 ‘‘(B) one-half shall be individuals who have 

11 experience with prostate cancer, including— 

12 ‘‘(i) not less than 3 individuals who 

13 are living with prostate cancer (or a care14 giver of such individual); 

15 ‘‘(ii) not less than 3 researchers; 

16 ‘‘(iii) not less than 3 clinicians; 

17 ‘‘(iv) not less than 3 representatives 

18 from patient groups; and 

19 ‘‘(v) not less than 3 representatives 

20 from professional medical societies. 

21 ‘‘(2) PHYSICIAN REQUIREMENT.—Of the mem22 bers appointed under paragraph (1), not less than 

23 one-half shall be physicians. 

24 ‘‘(d) TERM; VACANCIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A member shall be ap2 pointed for a term of 3 years. 

3 ‘‘(2) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Coordi4 nating Committee shall be filled in the same manner 

5 as the original appointment was made. 

6 ‘‘(e) REAPPOINTMENT.—The Secretary may re7 appoint a member of the Coordinating Committee to an 

8 unlimited number of terms. 

9 ‘‘(f) CHAIR.—The Secretary shall appoint the chair 

10 of the Coordinating Committee. 

11 ‘‘(g) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

12 the enactment of this section, the Coordinating Committee 

13 shall develop and implement a plan (and update such plan 

14 every 3 years thereafter), in consultation with a broad 

15 range of scientists, patients, clinicians, and advocacy 

16 groups, on prostate cancer research programs and activi17 ties carried out by Federal agencies. Such plan shall in18 clude the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) The identification of existing prostate can20 cer programs and activities of the— 

21 ‘‘(A) the Department of Health and 

22 Human Services, including the National Insti23 tutes of Health; 

24 ‘‘(B) the Department of Defense; and 

25 ‘‘(C) the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


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1 ‘‘(2) An evaluation on research with respect to 

2 the underlying causes, prevalence, treatment, and 

3 mortality of prostate cancer, including any disparity 

4 among African-American and other high-risk men 

5 (defined as men who have a family history of pros6 tate cancer, a genetic predisposition for prostate 

7 cancer, or developed cancer due to exposure to cer8 tain chemical and radiological agents). 

9 ‘‘(3) With respect to prostate cancer— 

10 ‘‘(A) an evaluation on the effectiveness of 

11 current screening and diagnostic techniques; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) recommendations for improving such 

14 techniques. 

15 ‘‘(4) An evaluation on the effectiveness of treat16 ments for prostate cancer and the development of 

17 recommendations for new treatments, including new 

18 biological agents. 

19 ‘‘(5) With respect to prostate cancer, an evalua20 tion on the effectiveness of clinical practice guide21 lines and the development of recommendations to 

22 improve such guidelines. 

23 ‘‘(6) The development of recommendations to 

24 improve clinical pathways in private and govern25 ment-operated medical systems, including screening 


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1 and diagnosis and information on informed and 

2 shared decision making. 

3 ‘‘(7) The development of recommendations for 

4 research investigation methods for improving the 

5 quality of life of individuals who have survived with 

6 prostate cancer. 

7 ‘‘(8) With respect to prostate cancer, an evalua8 tion on the effectiveness of information and edu9 cation programs for health care professionals and 

10 the public. 

11 ‘‘(9) With respect to screening and clinical trial 

12 enrollment for prostate cancer, recommendations to 

13 improve outreach and education, including best prac14 tices for outreach to African-American men and 

15 other high-risk men. 

16 ‘‘(h) MEETINGS.—The Coordinating Committee shall 

17 meet at the request of the Secretary not less 3 times each 

18 year. 

19 ‘‘(i) FACA.—Except as provided in this section, the 

20 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

21 apply to the Coordinating Committee. 

22 ‘‘(j) REPORT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

24 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

25 Coordinating Committee shall submit recommendaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Apr 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1315.IH H1315

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1 tions using the plan under subsection (g) to the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(A) The Secretary of the Department of 

4 Health and Human Services. 

5 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Defense. 

6 ‘‘(C) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

7 ‘‘(D) The Committees on Energy and 

8 Commerce and Appropriations of the House of 

9 Representatives. 

10 ‘‘(E) The Committees on Health, Edu11 cation, Labor, and Pensions and Appropriations 

12 of the Senate. 

13 ‘‘(2) UPDATED REPORTS.—Not later than 3 

14 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 

15 and every 3 years thereafter, the Coordinating Com16 mittee shall submit to the secretaries and commit17 tees listed in paragraph (1)— 

18 ‘‘(A) updated recommendations using the 

19 plan under subsection (g); and 

20 ‘‘(B) a summary of progress made with re21 spect to recommendations submitted pursuant 

22 to this section. 

23 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

2 2024 through 2030.’’. 

Æ 


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