II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 216 

To establish the National Prostate Cancer Council for improved screening, 

early detection, assessment, and monitoring of prostate cancer, and to 

direct the development and implementation of a national strategic plan 

to expedite advancement of diagnostic tools and the transfer of such 

tools to patients. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 21, 2015 

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself and Mrs. BOXER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish the National Prostate Cancer Council for improved screening, early detection, assessment, and monitoring of prostate cancer, and to direct the development 

and implementation of a national strategic plan to expedite advancement of diagnostic tools and the transfer 

of such tools to patients. 

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 ‘‘National Prostate Can5 cer Plan Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PROSTATE CANCER COUNCIL. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (re4 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) the National 

5 Prostate Cancer Council on Screening, Early Detection, 

6 Assessment, and Monitoring of Prostate Cancer (referred 

7 to in this Act as the ‘‘Council’’). 

8 (b) PURPOSE OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council 

9 shall— 

10 (1) develop and implement a national strategic 

11 plan for the accelerated creation, advancement, and 

12 testing of diagnostic tools to improve screening, 

13 early detection, assessment, and monitoring of pros14 tate cancer, including— 

15 (A) early detection of aggressive prostate 

16 cancer to save lives; 

17 (B) monitoring of tumor response to treat18 ment, including recurrence and progression; and 

19 (C) accurate assessment and surveillance 

20 of indolent disease to reduce unnecessary biop21 sies and treatment; 

22 (2) provide information and coordination of 

23 prostate cancer research and services across all Fed24 eral agencies; 


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1 (3) review diagnostic tools and their overall ef2 fectiveness at screening, detecting, assessing, and 

3 monitoring of prostate cancer; 

4 (4) evaluate all programs in prostate cancer 

5 that are in existence on the date of enactment of 

6 this Act, including Federal budget requests and ap7 provals and public-private partnerships; 

8 (5) submit an annual report to the Secretary 

9 and Congress on the creation and implementation of 

10 the national strategic plan under paragraph (1); and 

11 (6) ensure the inclusion of men at high-risk for 

12 prostate cancer, including men from ethnic and ra13 cial populations and men who are least likely to re14 ceive care, in clinical, research, and service efforts, 

15 with the purpose of decreasing health disparities. 

16 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

17 (1) FEDERAL MEMBERS.—The Council shall be 

18 led by the Secretary or designee and comprised of 

19 the following experts: 

20 (A) Two representatives of the National 

21 Institutes of Health, including 1 representative 

22 of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging 

23 and Bioengineering and 1 representative of the 

24 National Cancer Institute. 


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1 (B) A representative of the Centers for 

2 Disease Control and Prevention. 

3 (C) A representative of the Centers for 

4 Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

5 (D) A designee of the Director of the De6 partment of Defense Congressionally Directed 

7 Medical Research Program. 

8 (E) A designee of the Director of the Of9 fice of Minority Health. 

10 (F) A representative of the Food and Drug 

11 Administration. 

12 (G) A representative of the Agency for 

13 Healthcare Research and Quality. 

14 (2) NON-FEDERAL MEMBERS.—In addition to 

15 the members described in paragraph (1), the Council 

16 shall include 14 expert members from outside the 

17 Federal Government, which shall include— 

18 (A) 6 prostate cancer patient advocates, 

19 including— 

20 (i) 2 patient-survivors; 

21 (ii) 2 caregivers of prostate cancer pa22 tients; and 

23 (iii) 2 representatives from national 

24 prostate cancer disease organizations that 

25 fund research or have demonstrated experiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Jan 26, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S216.IS S216

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1 ence in providing assistance to patients, 

2 families, and medical professionals, includ3 ing information on health care options, 

4 education, and referral; and 

5 (B) 8 health care stakeholders with specific 

6 expertise in prostate cancer research in the crit7 ical areas of clinical expertise, including medical 

8 oncology, radiology, radiation oncology, urology, 

9 and pathology. 

10 (d) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet quarterly 

11 and meetings shall be open to the public. 

12 (e) ADVICE.—The Council shall advise the Secretary, 

13 or the Secretary’s designee. 

14 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Council shall submit an15 nual reports, beginning not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, to the Secretary or the Sec17 retary’s designee and to Congress. The annual report shall 

18 include— 

19 (1) in the first year— 

20 (A) an evaluation of all federally funded ef21 forts in prostate cancer research and gaps relat22 ing to the development and validation of diag23 nostic tools for prostate cancer; and 

24 (B) recommendations for priority actions 

25 to expand, eliminate, coordinate, or condense 


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1 programs based on the performance, mission, 

2 and purpose of the programs; and 

3 (2) annually thereafter for 5 years— 

4 (A) an outline for the development and im5 plementation of a national research plan for 

6 creation and validation of accurate diagnostic 

7 tools to improve prostate cancer care in accord8 ance with subsection (a); 

9 (B) roles for the National Cancer Institute, 

10 National Institute on Minority Health and 

11 Health Disparities, and the Office on Minority 

12 Health of the Department of Health and 

13 Human Services; 

14 (C) an analysis of the disparities in the in15 cidence and mortality rates of prostate cancer 

16 in men at high risk of the disease, including in17 dividuals with family history, increasing age, or 

18 African-American heritage; and 

19 (D) a review of the progress towards the 

20 realization of the proposed strategic plan. 

21 (g) TERMINATION.—The Council shall terminate on 

22 December 31, 2020. 

23 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 $2,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2016 through 

2 2020. 

Æ 


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