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Union Calendar No. 537

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1795

[Report No. 106–889]

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Institute

of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 13, 1999

Mr. BURR of North Carolina (for himself and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

SEPTEMBER 26, 2000

Additional sponsors: Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr.

FROST, Mr. GARY MILLER of California, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. RAHALL, Mr.

BALDACCI, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. BACHUS, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr.

BOUCHER, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr.

FILNER, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. HORN, Mr.

VENTO, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. ISAKSON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. POMEROY, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. WATT of North Carolina, Mr.

BALLENGER, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr.

BILBRAY, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. SHAYS,

Mr. CLAY, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. WU, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MALONEY of

Connecticut, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. PASTOR, Mr.

MCDERMOTT, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr.

LIPINSKI, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. WEINER, Mr. MATSUI,

Mr. GEKAS, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr.

SANDLIN, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. WEXLER, Mr.

FATTAH, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr.

LATOURETTE, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. COOK, Mr. TOWNS, Ms.

PELOSI, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. BERKLEY, Mrs. MYRICK,

Mr. BORSKI, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. MOAKLEY, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. LEE,

Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. KILDEE, Mr.

RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. COBLE, Mr. JONES of North Carolina,

Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. BONIOR,
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Mr. RUSH, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. COYNE, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr.

NORWOOD, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HAYES, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr.

SPENCE, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr.

WYNN, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. NADLER, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. COX, Mr. OWENS, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́

, Mr.

WEYGAND, Mr. FORBES, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. SAXTON,

Mr. GOODE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. LEACH, Mr. VITTER, Mr. SCHAFFER,

Mr. WOLF, Ms. NORTON, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. TANCREDO,

Mr. TALENT, Mr. PETRI, Mr. SHAW, Mr. OLVER, Mr. STARK, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. HOLT, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. CARDIN, Mr.

CAMP, Ms. WATERS, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. BARCIA, Mr.

BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. BAKER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of

Texas, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. MENENDEZ,

Mr. SAWYER, Mr. GORDON, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. KELLY,

Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. EHRLICH, and Ms.

DEGETTE

SEPTEMBER 26, 2000

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 13, 1999]

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering.

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 Institute of

5 Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Establishment

6 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Basic research in imaging, bioengineering,

4 computer science, informatics, and related fields is

5 critical to improving health care but is fundamentally

6 different from the research in molecular biology on

7 which the current national research institutes at the

8 National Institutes of Health (‘‘NIH’’) are based. To

9 ensure the development of new techniques and tech10 nologies for the 21st century, these disciplines there11 fore require an identity and research home at the

12 NIH that is independent of the existing institute

13 structure.

14 (2) Advances based on medical research promise

15 new, more effective treatments for a wide variety of

16 diseases, but the development of new, noninvasive im17 aging techniques for earlier detection and diagnosis of

18 disease is essential to take full advantage of such new

19 treatments and to promote the general improvement

20 of health care.

21 (3) The development of advanced genetic and

22 molecular imaging techniques is necessary to continue

23 the current rapid pace of discovery in molecular biol24 ogy.

25 (4) Advances in telemedicine, and teleradiology

26 in particular, are increasingly important in the de-
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1 livery of high quality, reliable medical care to rural

2 citizens and other underserved populations. To fulfill

3 the promise of telemedicine and related technologies

4 fully, a structure is needed at the NIH to support

5 basic research focused on the acquisition, trans6 mission, processing, and optimal display of images.

7 (5) A number of Federal departments and agen8 cies support imaging and engineering research with

9 potential medical applications, but a central coordi10 nating body, preferably housed at the NIH, is needed

11 to coordinate these disparate efforts and facilitate the

12 transfer of technologies with medical applications.

13 (6) Several breakthrough imaging technologies,

14 including magnetic resonance imaging (‘‘MRI’’) and

15 computed tomography (‘‘CT’’), have been developed

16 primarily abroad, in large part because of the absence

17 of a home at the NIH for basic research in imaging

18 and related fields. The establishment of a central focus

19 for imaging and bioengineering research at the NIH

20 would promote both scientific advance and U.S. eco21 nomic development.

22 (7) At a time when a consensus exists to add sig23 nificant resources to the NIH in coming years, it is

24 appropriate to modernize the structure of the NIH to

25 ensure that research dollars are expended more effec-
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1 tively and efficiently and that the fields of medical

2 science that have contributed the most to the detection,

3 diagnosis, and treatment of disease in recent years re4 ceive appropriate emphasis.

5 (8) The establishment of a National Institute of

6 Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the NIH

7 would accelerate the development of new technologies

8 with clinical and research applications, improve co9 ordination and efficiency at the NIH and throughout

10 the Federal government, reduce duplication and

11 waste, lay the foundation for a new medical informa12 tion age, promote economic development, and provide

13 a structure to train the young researchers who will

14 make the pathbreaking discoveries of the next century.

15 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIO16 MEDICAL IMAGING AND BIOENGINEERING.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of title IV of the Public

18 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended by

19 adding at the end the following subpart:

20 ‘‘Subpart 18—National Institute of Biomedical Imaging

21 and Bioengineering

22 ‘‘PURPOSE OF THE INSTITUTE

23 ‘‘SEC. 464z. (a) The general purpose of the National

24 Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (in

25 this section referred to as the ‘Institute’) is the conduct and
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1 support of research, training, the dissemination of health

2 information, and other programs with respect to biomedical

3 imaging, biomedical engineering, and associated tech4 nologies and modalities with biomedical applications (in

5 this section referred to as ‘biomedical imaging and bio6 engineering’).

7 ‘‘(b)(1) The Director of the Institute, with the advice

8 of the Institute’s advisory council, shall establish a National

9 Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Program (in this

10 section referred to as the ‘Program’).

11 ‘‘(2) Activities under the Program shall include the fol12 lowing with respect to biomedical imaging and bio13 engineering:

14 ‘‘(A) Research into the development of new tech15 niques and devices.

16 ‘‘(B) Related research in physics, engineering,

17 mathematics, computer science, and other disciplines.

18 ‘‘(C) Technology assessments and outcomes stud19 ies to evaluate the effectiveness of biologics, materials,

20 processes, devices, procedures, and informatics.

21 ‘‘(D) Research in screening for diseases and dis22 orders.

23 ‘‘(E) The advancement of existing imaging and

24 bioengineering modalities, including imaging, bio25 materials, and informatics.
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1 ‘‘(F) The development of target-specific agents to

2 enhance images and to identify and delineate disease.

3 ‘‘(G) The development of advanced engineering

4 and imaging technologies and techniques for research

5 from the molecular and genetic to the whole organ

6 and body levels.

7 ‘‘(H) The development of new techniques and de8 vices for more effective interventional procedures (such

9 as image-guided interventions).

10 ‘‘(3)(A) With respect to the Program, the Director of

11 the Institute shall prepare and transmit to the Secretary

12 and the Director of NIH a plan to initiate, expand, inten13 sify, and coordinate activities of the Institute with respect

14 to biomedical imaging and bioengineering. The plan shall

15 include such comments and recommendations as the Direc16 tor of the Institute determines appropriate. The Director

17 of the Institute shall periodically review and revise the plan

18 and shall transmit any revisions of the plan to the Sec19 retary and the Director of NIH.

20 ‘‘(B) The plan under subparagraph (A) shall include

21 the recommendations of the Director of the Institute with

22 respect to the following:

23 ‘‘(i) Where appropriate, the consolidation of pro24 grams of the National Institutes of Health for the ex25 press purpose of enhancing support of activities re-
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1 garding basic biomedical imaging and bioengineering

2 research.

3 ‘‘(ii) The coordination of the activities of the In4 stitute with related activities of the other agencies of

5 the National Institutes of Health and with related ac6 tivities of other Federal agencies.

7 ‘‘(c) The establishment under section 406 of an advi8 sory council for the Institute is subject to the following:

9 ‘‘(1) The number of members appointed by the

10 Secretary shall be 12.

11 ‘‘(2) Of such members—

12 ‘‘(A) 6 members shall be scientists, engi13 neers, physicians, and other health professionals

14 who represent disciplines in biomedical imaging

15 and bioengineering and who are not officers or

16 employees of the United States; and

17 ‘‘(B) 6 members shall be scientists, engi18 neers, physicians, and other health professionals

19 who represent other disciplines and are knowl20 edgeable about the applications of biomedical im21 aging and bioengineering in medicine, and who

22 are not officers or employees of the United

23 States.

24 ‘‘(3) In addition to the ex officio members speci25 fied in section 406(b)(2), the ex officio members of the
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1 advisory council shall include the Director of the Cen2 ters for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director

3 of the National Science Foundation, and the Director

4 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

5 (or the designees of such officers).

6 ‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purpose of

7 carrying out this section:

8 ‘‘(A) For fiscal year 2001, there is authorized to

9 be appropriated an amount equal to the amount obli10 gated by the National Institutes of Health during fis11 cal year 2000 for biomedical imaging and bio12 engineering, except that such amount shall be ad13 justed to offset any inflation occurring after October

14 1, 1999.

15 ‘‘(B) For each of the fiscal years 2002 and 2003,

16 there is authorized to be appropriated an amount

17 equal to the amount appropriated under subpara18 graph (A) for fiscal year 2001, except that such

19 amount shall be adjusted for the fiscal year involved

20 to offset any inflation occurring after October 1, 2000.

21 ‘‘(2) The authorization of appropriations for a fiscal

22 year under paragraph (1) is hereby reduced by the amount

23 of any appropriation made for such year for the conduct

24 or support by any other national research institute of any
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1 program with respect to biomedical imaging and bio2 engineering.’’.

3 (b) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—In providing for

4 the establishment of the National Institute of Biomedical

5 Imaging and Bioengineering pursuant to the amendment

6 made by subsection (a), the Director of the National Insti7 tutes of Health (referred to in this subsection as ‘‘NIH’’)—

8 (1) may transfer to the National Institute of

9 Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering such per10 sonnel of NIH as the Director determines to be appro11 priate;

12 (2) may, for quarters for such Institute, utilize

13 such facilities of NIH as the Director determines to

14 be appropriate; and

15 (3) may obtain administrative support for the

16 Institute from the other agencies of NIH, including

17 the other national research institutes.

18 (c) CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES.—None of the provi19 sions of this Act or the amendments made by the Act may

20 be construed as authorizing the construction of facilities,

21 or the acquisition of land, for purposes of the establishment

22 or operation of the National Institute of Biomedical Imag23 ing and Bioengineering.

24 (d) DATE CERTAIN FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVI25 SORY COUNCIL.—Not later than 90 days after the effective
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1 date of this Act under section 4, the Secretary of Health

2 and Human Services shall complete the establishment of an

3 advisory council for the National Institute of Biomedical

4 Imaging and Bioengineering in accordance with section

5 406 of the Public Health Service Act and in accordance

6 with section 464z of such Act (as added by subsection (a)

7 of this section).

8 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401(b)(1) of

9 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281(b)(1)) is

10 amended by adding at the end the following subparagraph:

11 ‘‘(R) The National Institute of Biomedical Imag12 ing and Bioengineering.’’.

13 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

14 This Act takes effect October 1, 2000, or upon the date

15 of the enactment of this Act, whichever occurs later.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the

Public Health Service Act to establish the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.’’.
Union Calendar No. 537

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1795

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging

and Engineering.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2000

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed