I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2104 

To prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national investment 

in biomedical research. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2015 

Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. PETERS, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ

of California, and Ms. SPEIER) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Armed Services, and Veterans’ Affairs, 

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 prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national 

investment in biomedical research. 

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 ‘‘American Cures Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CAP ADJUSTMENT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced 

7 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

8 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) is amended— 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2104 IH

1 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub2 paragraph (E); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C), the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(D) BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH.— 

6 ‘‘(i) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF

7 HEALTH.—If a bill or joint resolution mak8 ing appropriations for a fiscal year is en9 acted that specifies amounts for the Na10 tional Institutes of Health at the Depart11 ment of Health and Human Services, then 

12 the adjustments for that fiscal year shall 

13 be the amount of additional new budget 

14 authority provided in that Act for such 

15 programs for that fiscal year, but shall not 

16 exceed— 

17 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

18 $1,741,000,000 in additional new 

19 budget authority; 

20 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

21 $3,422,000,000 in additional new 

22 budget authority; 

23 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

24 $5,167,000,000 in additional new 

25 budget authority; 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2104 IH

1 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

2 $7,085,000,000 in additional new 

3 budget authority; 

4 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

5 $9,149,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority; and 

7 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

8 $11,435,000,000 in additional new 

9 budget authority. 

10 ‘‘(ii) CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL

11 AND PREVENTION.—If a bill or joint reso12 lution making appropriations for a fiscal 

13 year is enacted that specifies amounts for 

14 the Centers for Disease Control and Pre15 vention at the Department of Health and 

16 Human Services, then the adjustments for 

17 that fiscal year shall be the amount of ad18 ditional new budget authority provided in 

19 that Act for such programs for that fiscal 

20 year, but shall not exceed— 

21 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

22 $716,000,000 in additional new budg23 et authority; 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2104 IH

1 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

2 $1,287,000,000 in additional new 

3 budget authority; 

4 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

5 $1,503,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority; 

7 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

8 $1,980,000,000 in additional new 

9 budget authority; 

10 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

11 $2,298,000,000 in additional new 

12 budget authority; and 

13 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

14 $2,884,000,000 in additional new 

15 budget authority. 

16 ‘‘(iii) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

17 HEALTH PROGRAM.—If a bill or joint reso18 lution making appropriations for a fiscal 

19 year is enacted that specifies amounts for 

20 the Department of Defense health pro21 gram, then the adjustments for that fiscal 

22 year shall be the amount of additional new 

23 budget authority provided in that Act for 

24 such programs for that fiscal year, but 

25 shall not exceed— 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2104 IH

1 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

2 $57,402,000 in additional new budget 

3 authority; 

4 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

5 $139,213,000 in additional new budg6 et authority; 

7 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

8 $226,460,000 in additional new budg9 et authority; 

10 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

11 $322,742,000 in additional new budg12 et authority; 

13 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

14 $425,700,000 in additional new budg15 et authority; and 

16 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

17 $540,000,000 in additional new budg18 et authority. 

19 ‘‘(iv) MEDICAL AND PROSTHETICS RE20 SEARCH PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT

21 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—If a bill or joint 

22 resolution making appropriations for a fis23 cal year is enacted that specifies amounts 

24 for the medical and prosthetics research 

25 program of the Department of Veterans 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2104 IH

1 Affairs, then the adjustments for that fis2 cal year shall be the amount of additional 

3 new budget authority provided in that Act 

4 for such programs for that fiscal year, but 

5 shall not exceed— 

6 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

7 $25,201,000 in additional new budget 

8 authority; 

9 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

10 $52,945,000 in additional new budget 

11 authority; 

12 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

13 $80,866,000 in additional new budget 

14 authority; 

15 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

16 $112,189,000 in additional new budg17 et authority; 

18 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

19 $146,157,000 in additional new budg20 et authority; and 

21 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

22 $184,027,000 in additional new budg23 et authority. 

24 ‘‘(v) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this 

25 subparagraph: 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2104 IH

1 ‘‘(I) ADDITIONAL NEW BUDGET

2 AUTHORITY.—The term ‘additional 

3 new budget authority’ means— 

4 ‘‘(aa) with respect to the 

5 National Institutes of Health, the 

6 amount provided for a fiscal 

7 year, in excess of the amount 

8 provided in fiscal year 2015, in 

9 an appropriation Act and speci10 fied to support the National In11 stitutes of Health; 

12 ‘‘(bb) with respect to the 

13 Centers for Disease Control and 

14 Prevention, the amount provided 

15 for a fiscal year, in excess of the 

16 amount provided in fiscal year 

17 2015, in an appropriation Act 

18 and specified to support the Cen19 ters for Disease Control and Pre20 vention; 

21 ‘‘(cc) with respect to the De22 partment of Defense health pro23 gram, the amount provided for a 

24 fiscal year, in excess of the 

25 amount provided in fiscal year 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2104 IH

1 2015, in an appropriation Act 

2 and specified to support the De3 partment of Defense health pro4 gram; and 

5 ‘‘(dd) with respect to the 

6 medical and prosthetics research 

7 program of the Department of 

8 Veterans Affairs, the amount 

9 provided for a fiscal year, in ex10 cess of the amount provided in 

11 fiscal year 2015, in an appropria12 tion Act and specified to support 

13 the medical and prosthetics re14 search program of the Depart15 ment of Veterans Affairs. 

16 ‘‘(II) CENTERS FOR DISEASE

17 CONTROL AND PREVENTION.—The 

18 term ‘Centers for Disease Control and 

19 Prevention’ means the appropriations 

20 accounts that support the various in21 stitutes, offices, and centers that 

22 make up the Centers for Disease Con23 trol and Prevention. 

24 ‘‘(III) DEPARTMENT OF DE25 FENSE HEALTH PROGRAM.—The term 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2104 IH

1 ‘Department of Defense health pro2 gram’ means the appropriations ac3 counts that support the various insti4 tutes, offices, and centers that make 

5 up the Department of Defense health 

6 program. 

7 ‘‘(IV) MEDICAL AND PROS8 THETICS RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE

9 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF10 FAIRS.—The term ‘medical and pros11 thetics research program of the De12 partment of Veterans Affairs’ means 

13 the appropriations accounts that sup14 port the various institutes, offices, 

15 and centers that make up the medical 

16 and prosthetics research program of 

17 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

18 ‘‘(V) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF

19 HEALTH.—The term ‘National Insti20 tutes of Health’ means the appropria21 tions accounts that support the var22 ious institutes, offices, and centers 

23 that make up the National Institutes 

24 of Health.’’. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 2104 IH

1 (b) FUNDING.—There are hereby authorized to be 

2 appropriated— 

3 (1) for the National Institutes of Health, the 

4 amounts provided for under clause (i) of such sec5 tion 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 2016 

6 through 2021, and such sums as may be necessary 

7 for each subsequent fiscal year; 

8 (2) for the Secretary of Health and Human 

9 Services, acting through the Centers for Disease 

10 Control and Prevention, the amounts provided for 

11 under clause (ii) of such section 251(b)(2)(D) in 

12 each of fiscal years 2016 through 2021, and such 

13 sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal 

14 year; 

15 (3) for the Department of Defense health pro16 gram, the amounts provided for under clause (iii) of 

17 such section 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 

18 2016 through 2021, and such sums as may be nec19 essary for each subsequent fiscal year; and 

20 (4) for the Medical and prosthetics research 

21 program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 

22 amounts provided for under clause (iv) of such sec23 tion 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 2016 

24 through 2021, and such sums as may be necessary 

25 for each subsequent fiscal year. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 2104 IH

1 (c) MINIMUM CONTINUED FUNDING REQUIRE2 MENT.—Amounts appropriated for each of the programs 

3 and agencies described in section 251(b)(2)(D) of the Bal4 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

5 (as added by subsection (a)) for each of fiscal years 2016 

6 through 2021, and each subsequent fiscal year, shall not 

7 be less than the amounts appropriated for such programs 

8 and agencies for fiscal year 2015. 

9 (d) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN APPROPRIATIONS FROM

10 SEQUESTRATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 

12 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

13 Act (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting 

14 after ‘‘Advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund 

15 and Other Funds (16–0327–0–1–600).’’ the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘Appropriations under the American 

18 Cures Act.’’. 

19 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

20 this section shall apply to any sequestration order 

21 issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

22 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) 

23 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS