I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9049 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a cancer center 

construction grant program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 24, 2020 

Mr. HIGGINS of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish 

a cancer center construction grant program. 

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 ‘‘Cancer Centers Assist5 ance for Renovations and Expansion Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CANCER CENTER CONSTRUCTION GRANT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 The Social Security Act is amended by inserting after 

9 section 1897 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘CANCER CENTER CONSTRUCTION GRANT PROGRAM

2 ‘‘SEC. 1897A. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

3 shall establish a program to award grants to qualifying 

4 cancer centers (as defined in subsection (b)) for payment 

5 of the capital costs of projects for the improvement of re6 search, prevention, or patient care infrastructure. 

7 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING CANCER CENTER AND OTHER

8 DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘qualifying cancer center’ means 

10 an entity that is designated as a comprehensive can11 cer center by the National Cancer Institute. 

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘project for the improvement of 

13 research, prevention, or patient care infrastructure’ 

14 means— 

15 ‘‘(A) the expansion, remodeling, ren16 ovating, or altering of an existing clinical, pre17 vention, or research facility; or 

18 ‘‘(B) the construction of a new clinical, 

19 prevention, or research facility. 

20 ‘‘(3) The term ‘intended use’ means the pur21 poses for which the infrastructure improvements 

22 were made. 

23 ‘‘(4) The term ‘shovel ready’ means, with re24 spect to a project, that construction of the project 

25 will be completed within 5 years of the date on 


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1 which a grant for such project is provided under this 

2 section. 

3 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION; QUALIFICATIONS; TERMS OF

4 GRANTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No grant may be awarded 

6 under this section to a qualifying cancer center ex7 cept pursuant to an application that is submitted 

8 and approved in a time, manner, and form specified 

9 by the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—A grant may not be 

11 provided under this section for a project for a quali12 fying cancer center unless the applicant— 

13 ‘‘(A) provides assurances satisfactory to 

14 the Secretary that— 

15 ‘‘(i) the project— 

16 ‘‘(I) is for the improvement of re17 search, prevention, or patient care in18 frastructure of the center; 

19 ‘‘(II) is shovel ready; and 

20 ‘‘(III) will expand the applicant’s 

21 capacity for research, prevention or 

22 patient care, or is necessary to im23 prove or maintain the quality of the 

24 applicant’s research, prevention, or 

25 patient care; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the applicant will— 

2 ‘‘(I) have sufficient funds to meet 

3 the non-Federal share of the cost of 

4 the infrastructure improvement; 

5 ‘‘(II) use the facility improved or 

6 resulting from the project for its in7 tended use for a period of at least 20 

8 years after completion of the project 

9 and has sufficient funds available to 

10 demonstrate effective use of such fa11 cility for its intended use; 

12 ‘‘(III) facilitate reasonable depth 

13 and breadth of research activities in 

14 each of the three major areas of lab15 oratory research, clinical research, 

16 and population-based research, with 

17 substantial transdisciplinary research 

18 that bridges these scientific areas; 

19 ‘‘(IV) initiate and conduct inves20 tigator-initiated, early phase, innova21 tive clinical trials; 

22 ‘‘(V) perform community service, 

23 outreach, dissemination, and edu24 cation and training of biomedical reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9049.IH H9049

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1 searchers and health care profes2 sionals; and 

3 ‘‘(VI) develop and implement 

4 strategies or activities designed to re5 duce racial or ethnic, gender, age, or 

6 socioeconomic health disparities in 

7 cancer research, cancer care, cancer 

8 patient outcomes, or directly in the 

9 communities in which the center is lo10 cated; and 

11 ‘‘(B) provides an estimate of the number 

12 of jobs that will be created by such project. 

13 ‘‘(3) NO FURTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec14 retary shall not promulgate any further require15 ments or restrictions on a qualifying cancer center 

16 to obtain assistance under this section other than 

17 those specified in this section. 

18 ‘‘(4) TERMS OF GRANTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Grants under this sec20 tion shall be made consistent with the require21 ments of this section. 

22 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS ON GRANTS.—The max23 imum, aggregate amount of grants that may be 

24 made under this section (and for which reim25 bursement may be provided under subsection 


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1 (d)(2)) for a qualifying cancer center is 75 per2 cent of the total project costs, but not to exceed 

3 $25,000,000. 

4 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 

6 there are appropriated out of amounts in the Treas7 ury not otherwise appropriated, $900,000,000. 

8 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—For the admin9 istration of this section, Secretary may not use more 

10 than $1,000,000 from the funds made available 

11 under paragraph (1) for fiscal years 2021 through 

12 2023. 

13 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated 

14 under this section shall be available for obligation 

15 and obligated during the period beginning on Octo16 ber 1, 2020, and ending on September 30, 2023. 

17 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 years 

18 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec19 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the projects 

20 for which grants are provided under this section and a 

21 recommendation as to whether the Congress should au22 thorize the Secretary to continue grants under this section 

23 beyond fiscal year 2023. For each applicant awarded a 

24 grant under this section, such report shall include an eval25 uation of whether such applicant has performed the acVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9049.IH H9049

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1 tions described in each of subclauses (II) through (VI) of 

2 subsection (c)(1)(A)(ii), including whether such applicant 

3 has developed and implemented strategies or activities de4 signed to reduce racial or ethnic, gender, age, or socio5 economic health disparities in cancer research, cancer 

6 care, cancer patient outcomes, or directly in the commu7 nities in which the center is located.’’. 

Æ 


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