II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 865 

To provide for the establishment of a Commission to Accelerate the End 

of Breast Cancer. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2013 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. HELLER, Mr. WARNER, Mr. GRASSLEY, 

Mr. BROWN, Mr. REED, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. FRANKEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of a Commission to 

Accelerate the End of Breast 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2013’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Establishment. 

Sec. 4. Purpose; duties. 

Sec. 5. Membership. 


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Sec. 6. Powers. 

Sec. 7. Chairperson; program managers. 

Sec. 8. Coordination and nonduplication. 

Sec. 9. Evaluation of the Commission. 

Sec. 10. Authorization of funding. 

Sec. 11. Termination. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) In the United States, the chance of a 

4 woman developing breast cancer during her lifetime 

5 has increased from 1 in 11 in 1975 to 1 in 8 today. 

6 (2) Worldwide, breast cancer is the most fre7 quently diagnosed cancer in women with 1,300,000 

8 cases each year. Breast cancer is also the leading 

9 cause of cancer death in women, with more than 

10 438,000 women dying from the disease worldwide in 

11 2010, a 37.5 percent increase since 1990. 

12 (3) More than 90 percent of deaths from breast 

13 cancer are caused by metastasis, which occurs when 

14 cancerous cells spread to other organs or bone. 

15 (4) The National Cancer Institute estimated 

16 that breast cancer care in the United States cost 

17 $16,500,000,000 in 2010, and cost the Nation 

18 $12,100,000,000 in lost productivity. 

19 (5) Over the past 40 years, very little has im20 proved the incidence, morbidity, and mortality rates 

21 of breast cancer. 


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1 (6) In recognition of the complexity of breast 

2 cancer, experts have identified the need to transform 

3 how research is conducted by engaging investigators 

4 from many disciplines. 

5 (7) Advances in understanding the progression 

6 of breast cancer, particularly metastasis, have the 

7 potential to translate to better understanding and 

8 preventing the spread of other types of cancer. 

9 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 

10 There shall be established a commission to be known 

11 as the Commission to Accelerate the End of Breast Cancer 

12 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

13 SEC. 4. PURPOSE; DUTIES. 

14 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Commission shall 

15 be to help end breast cancer by January 1, 2020. 

16 (b) DUTIES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall iden18 tify, recommend, and promote initiatives, partner19 ships, and research within the public and private 

20 sectors, basic and applied sciences, and epidemiology 

21 that can be turned into strategies to prevent breast 

22 cancer and breast cancer metastasis. 

23 (2) PRIORITY.—The Commission shall give pri24 ority to initiatives, partnerships, and research that 

25 are— 


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1 (A) not prioritized within the public sector; 

2 and 

3 (B) unlikely to be achieved by the private 

4 sector due to technical and financial uncer5 tainty. 

6 (c) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than 6 months 

7 after the appointment of the initial members of the Com8 mission, the Commission shall submit to the President and 

9 to the relevant authorizing and appropriations committees 

10 of Congress, a description of the Commission’s strategic 

11 plan to advance the purpose described in subsection (a). 

12 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than January 15, 

13 2014, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall sub14 mit an annual report to the President, Congress, and the 

15 public— 

16 (1) describing the Commission’s activities under 

17 this section, including its progress in achieving the 

18 purpose described in subsection (a); and 

19 (2) containing a full financial report, including 

20 a line item report of the Commission’s expenditures 

21 for the preceding year. 

22 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP. 

23 (a) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall 

24 be composed of not more than 10 members who shall be 

25 appointed by the President, with the advice and consent 


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1 of the Senate, not later than 60 days after the date of 

2 enactment of this Act, in accordance with this section. 

3 (b) REPRESENTATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Com5 mission shall be appointed to represent one of the 

6 following 3 categories: 

7 (A) Individuals who represent the interests 

8 of varied disciplines within the biomedical re9 search field. 

10 (B) Individuals who represent the relevant 

11 varied disciplines outside of the biomedical re12 search field. 

13 (C) Patient advocates, including individ14 uals who— 

15 (i) represent a patient-led, patient16 centered organization with a patient con17 stituency either directly related to or rel18 evant to breast cancer; and 

19 (ii) are trained, knowledgeable, and 

20 prepared to participate in the decision21 making process of science and medicine. 

22 (2) REPRESENTATION OF MEMBERSHIP CAT23 EGORIES.—Of the members of the Commission— 


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1 (A) at least 1, but not more than 3, shall 

2 be appointed to represent the category de3 scribed in paragraph (1)(A); 

4 (B) at least 1, but not more than 3, shall 

5 be appointed to represent the category de6 scribed in paragraph (1)(B); and 

7 (C) at least 2, but not more than 4, shall 

8 be appointed to represent the category de9 scribed in paragraph (1)(C). 

10 (c) TERMS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Com12 mission shall be appointed for a term of 3 years and 

13 may be reappointed. 

14 (2) VACANCIES.—Any member of the Commis15 sion appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the 

16 expiration of the term for which the member’s pred17 ecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for 

18 the remainder of that term. A member may serve 

19 after the expiration of that member’s term until a 

20 successor has taken office. A vacancy in the Com21 mission shall be filled in the manner in which the 

22 original appointment was made and shall not affect 

23 the power of the remaining members to execute the 

24 duties of the Commission. 


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1 (d) QUORUM.—Three members of the Commission 

2 shall constitute a quorum. 

3 SEC. 6. POWERS. 

4 The Commission shall have the following powers: 

5 (1) HEARINGS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES.—For 

6 the purpose of carrying out its duties, the Commis7 sion may hold such hearings and undertake such 

8 other activities as the Commission determines to be 

9 necessary to carry out its duties. 

10 (2) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Upon 

11 the request of the Commission, the head of any Fed12 eral agency is authorized to detail, without reim13 bursement, any of the personnel of such agency to 

14 the Commission to assist the Commission in car15 rying out its duties. Any such detail shall not inter16 rupt or otherwise affect the civil service status or 

17 privileges of the Federal employee. 

18 (3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon the re19 quest of the Commission, the head of a Federal 

20 agency may provide such technical assistance to the 

21 Commission as the Commission determines to be 

22 necessary to carry out its duties. 

23 (4) USE OF MAILS.—The Commission may use 

24 the United States mails in the same manner and 

25 under the same conditions as Federal agencies. 


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1 (5) OBTAINING INFORMATION.—The Commis2 sion may secure directly from any Federal agency 

3 information necessary to enable it to carry out its 

4 duties, if the information may be disclosed under 

5 section 552 of title 5, United States Code. Upon re6 quest of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 

7 head of such agency shall furnish such information 

8 to the Commission. 

9 (6) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.— 

10 Upon the request of the Commission, the Adminis11 trator of General Services shall provide to the Com12 mission on a reimbursable basis such administrative 

13 support services as the Commission may request. 

14 SEC. 7. CHAIRPERSON; PROGRAM MANAGERS. 

15 (a) CHAIRPERSON.— 

16 (1) DESIGNATION.—Of the members of the 

17 Commission appointed under section 5(a), the Presi18 dent shall at the time of the appointment, designate 

19 one such member to serve as the Chairperson of the 

20 Commission. 

21 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 

22 the Chairperson shall include— 

23 (A) approving areas of study of the Com24 mission based on criteria including scientific 

25 and technical merit, innovation, and impact; 


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1 (B) developing criteria (including bench2 marks) for assessing, and overseeing the assess3 ment of, the progress of areas of study of the 

4 Commission; 

5 (C) terminating areas of study of the Com6 mission that are not achieving the purpose de7 scribed in section 4(a); 

8 (D) designating members of the Commis9 sion to act as program managers as described 

10 in subsection (b); and 

11 (E) appointing staff as necessary to aid in 

12 carrying out the purpose described in section 

13 4(a). 

14 (b) PROGRAM MANAGERS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 

16 Commission may designate members of the Commis17 sion who may act as program managers to oversee 

18 one or more areas of study of the Commission. 

19 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—A member designated 

20 under paragraph (1) shall, with respect to one or 

21 more areas of study, be responsible for the following: 

22 (A) Recommending novel proposals, 

23 projects, and collaborations based on scientific 

24 and technical merit to achieve the purpose de25 scribed in section 4(a) with a focus on strateVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:19 May 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865

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1 gies for the primary prevention of breast can2 cer, and methods to prevent breast cancer me3 tastasis. Program directors may— 

4 (i) convene workshops and confer with 

5 experts in both the public and private sec6 tor; 

7 (ii) identify areas of study; 

8 (iii) identify all areas where resources 

9 could be leveraged; and 

10 (iv) carry out other functions of the 

11 Commission that are approved by the 

12 Chairperson and that the Chairperson 

13 deems necessary to carry out the purpose 

14 described in section 4(a). 

15 (B) Working with relevant Federal agen16 cies to identify areas of concurrent interests in 

17 order to maximize Federal investment and stim18 ulate collaborative projects. 

19 (C) Monitoring the progress of areas of 

20 study and recommend restructure or termi21 nation. 

22 SEC. 8. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION. 

23 To the maximum extent practicable, the Commission 

24 shall ensure that the activities of the Commission are coVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:19 May 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865

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1 ordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, pro2 grams and laboratories of other government agencies. 

3 SEC. 9. EVALUATION OF THE COMMISSION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall enter into an 

5 agreement with the Institute of Medicine of the National 

6 Academy of Sciences under which the Institute, after the 

7 Commission has been in operation for 3 years, shall evalu8 ate the Commission’s progress towards achieving the pur9 pose described in section 4(a). 

10 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The evaluation under subsection 

11 (a) shall include— 

12 (1) a recommendation on whether the Commis13 sion should be continued or terminated; and 

14 (2) a description of lessons learned from oper15 ation of the Commission. 

16 (c) AVAILABILITY.—On completion of the evaluation 

17 under subsection (a), the Commission shall make the eval18 uation available to the Congress and the public. 

19 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING. 

20 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

21 out the purpose of this Act, there are authorized to be 

22 appropriated— 

23 (1) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 

24 (2) $12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 

25 and 2015; and 


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1 (3) such sums as may be necessary for each fis2 cal year thereafter until the Commission is termi3 nated. 

4 (b) LIMITATION.—None of the amounts appropriated 

5 for a fiscal year under subsection (a) shall be used for 

6 the operation or construction of any laboratories or pilot 

7 plants. 

8 SEC. 11. TERMINATION. 

9 The Commission shall terminate on June 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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