I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5419

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a demonstration project

at the National Cancer Institute to provide funding for research concerning the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure for cancer.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 6, 2000

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio (for herself and Mrs. CAPPS) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a demonstration project at the National Cancer Institute to

provide funding for research concerning the prevention,

diagnosis, treatment, and cure for cancer.

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 ‘‘Millennium Cancer

5 Research Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE DEMONSTRATION

2 PROGRAM.

3 Subpart 1 of part C of title IV of the Public Health

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating section 417B as section

6 417C; and

7 (2) by inserting after section 417A, the fol8 lowing:

9 ‘‘SEC. 417B. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR MORE EFFEC10 TIVE RESEARCH.

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Insti12 tute shall establish a demonstration project under which

13 the Institute shall provide for the conduct of research

14 through an infrastructure that fosters scientific creativity

15 and increases fundamental biological understanding lead16 ing to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of

17 cancer.

18 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Under the dem19 onstration project under subsection (a), the Director of

20 the Institute shall—

21 ‘‘(1) establish efficient and cost-effective re22 search processes and management practices that

23 eliminate redundant business practices and provide

24 for ongoing and rigorous oversight to ensure both

25 quality management and quality science;
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1 ‘‘(2) develop a management plan that outlines,

2 in a clear and concise manner, the—

3 ‘‘(A) improvements that will be made

4 under the demonstration project in the research

5 practices of the Institute;

6 ‘‘(B) benefits to be achieved through such

7 improvements;

8 ‘‘(C) required modifications to existing

9 rules and regulations that are necessary to

10 carry out the management plan; and

11 ‘‘(D) processes that will be used to imple12 ment the required modifications;

13 ‘‘(3) establish formal review, oversight, and

14 management control procedures to ensure the effec15 tive implementation and execution of the manage16 ment plan; and

17 ‘‘(4) carry out the demonstration project using

18 amounts provided for the Institute under the annual

19 appropriations process.

20 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.—To carry out the

21 demonstration project under this section, the Director of

22 the Institute shall have the following authority:

23 ‘‘(1) HUMAN RESOURCES SYSTEM.—The Direc24 tor of the Institute shall, using the authority pro25 vided to the Director under this Act, as well as au-
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1 thorities under section 207(f), carry out a 5-year

2 pilot program under which the Director shall estab3 lish a comprehensive competitive human resources

4 system that complies with existing guidelines under

5 title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, and applicable

6 affirmative action requirements. In establishing such

7 system the Director shall—

8 ‘‘(A) appoint individuals to provide services

9 in furtherance of the mission of the Institute;

10 ‘‘(B) obtain the services of experts or con11 sultants as determined necessary by the Direc12 tor notwithstanding section 413(b)(5);

13 ‘‘(C) have the authority, notwithstanding

14 limitations on full time equivalent personnel, to

15 hire appropriate personnel, subject to the avail16 ability of funds; and

17 ‘‘(D) have the authority, notwithstanding

18 limitations on cost-sharing or duration, to exe19 cute Intergovernmental Personnel Act Agree20 ments under terms that are mutually agreeable

21 to the Director of the Institute and the loaning

22 or receiving employer.

23 ‘‘(2) TRANSACTIONS.—The Director of the In24 stitute may enter into transactions (other than con25 tracts, cooperative agreements, and grants) to carry
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1 out basic, applied, and advanced research projects.

2 The authority provided under this paragraph shall

3 be in addition to the authority provided under sec4 tions 405 and 413 to use contracts, cooperative

5 agreements, and grants in carrying out such

6 projects.

7 ‘‘(3) HIGH IMPACT, INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN

8 CANCER.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the

10 Institute shall establish a program to encourage

11 high impact, cutting edge research that will

12 lead to future progress against cancer. Such

13 program shall be designed to enable the Direc14 tor to undertake research projects with max15 imum flexibility and speed. The requirements of

16 section 303 of the Federal Property and Ad17 ministrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C.

18 253), section 8 of the Small Business Act (15

19 U.S.C. 637e), section 18 of the Office of Fed20 eral Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416),

21 and sections 405 and 492 of this Act, and any

22 regulations promulgated under such provisions

23 of law, shall be waived with respect to critical

24 research projects undertaken under the pro25 gram authorized by this paragraph. Such pro-
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1 gram shall be designed to enable the Director,

2 as rapidly as practicable to—

3 ‘‘(i) select new initiatives, after an ex4 peditious peer review with requisite exper5 tise, for further development and research;

6 ‘‘(ii) identify partners and collabo7 rators for such initiatives;

8 ‘‘(iii) select the appropriate funding

9 mechanism for such initiatives;

10 ‘‘(iv) reprogram up to 2 percent of the

11 amounts appropriated to the National Can12 cer Institute to support such initiatives

13 and research; and

14 ‘‘(v) make awards with respect to new

15 initiatives and research.

16 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—The Director shall annu17 ally submit a report to Congress that identifies

18 those initiatives that were funded in the year

19 for which the report is being submitted under

20 subparagraph (A).

21 ‘‘(C) USE OF EXPERTS.—In carrying out

22 this paragraph, the Director of the Institute

23 may, notwithstanding the Federal Advisory

24 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), convene

25 groups, that may be composed of both Federal
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1 and non-Federal employees, to obtain consensus

2 advice or recommendations.

3 ‘‘(4) FUNDING.—The Director of the Institute

4 may redirect within the National Cancer Institute,

5 as necessary in a fiscal year, not to exceed 5 percent

6 of the amount appropriated for the National Cancer

7 Institute for such fiscal year. Such redirected funds

8 shall be used for new, high priority initiatives.

9 ‘‘(5) GRANTS.—Notwithstanding the limitation

10 under section 405(b)(2)(B), and any regulations im11 plementing such provision, the Director of the Insti12 tute may award grants and cooperative agreements

13 to carry out initiatives under this subsection. The

14 Director may not award a grant or cooperative

15 agreement in an amount to exceed $300,000 without

16 obtaining a second level review by the National Can17 cer Advisory Board.

18 ‘‘(6) COMPENSATION.—Notwithstanding any

19 other provision of law, the Director of the Institute

20 shall make a salary determination for senior con21 tract research scientists employed at the Federally

22 Funded Research and Development Centers of the

23 Institute consistent with the salary levels applicable

24 for staff of the Institute under titles 5 and 38,

25 United States Code, and under this Act.
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1 ‘‘(7) OTHER AGREEMENTS.—Notwithstanding

2 the limitations contained in section 413(b)(6) and

3 the Public Buildings Act of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 601 et

4 seq.), the Director of the Institute may enter into

5 agreements that maximize the operations and effi6 ciency of the National Cancer Institute in fulfilling

7 its mission.

8 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—The Director of the Institute shall

9 annually prepare and submit to the Director of the Na10 tional Institutes of Health a report concerning those ac11 tivities carried out under this section that the Director of

12 the Institute determines may have a potential benefit for

13 other research activities carried out by the National Insti14 tutes of Health.

15 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—The authority provided under

16 this section shall terminate on the date that is 5 years

17 after the date of enactment of the Millennium Cancer Re18 search Act.’’.

19 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

20 Section 406(h)(2)(A) of the Public Health Service

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 284a(h)(2)(A)) is amended—

22 (1) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end;

23 (2) by striking clause (iv); and

24 (3) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (iv).

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