I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3630 

To establish a research program under the Congressionally Directed Medical 

Research Program of the Department of Defense to discover a cure 

for HIV/AIDS. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2013 

Mr. HIMES (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 establish a research program under the Congressionally 

Directed Medical Research Program of the Department 

of Defense to discover a cure for HIV/AIDS. 

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 ‘‘Cure for AIDS Act 

5 of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS; FINDINGS. 

2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that— 

4 (1) finding a cure is essential to ending the 

5 AIDS epidemic in the United States and globally; 

6 (2) AIDS treatment has saved millions of lives 

7 and also makes it much less likely that HIV infec8 tion will be passed to a partner; 

9 (3) access to AIDS treatment in the United 

10 States and globally needs to continue to be expanded 

11 but AIDS treatment is not a cure and not the ulti12 mate solution for the tens of millions of people living 

13 with HIV/AIDS; 

14 (4) the National Institutes of Health is the 

15 leading health research organization in the world 

16 and has dedicated millions of dollars to AIDS cure 

17 research; 

18 (5) to accelerate AIDS cure research and prod19 uct development, it is becoming increasingly impor20 tant to invest in areas that can complement the es21 sential role of the National Institutes of Health; and 

22 (6) a cure will save hundreds of millions of dol23 lars in spending and have a powerful positive eco24 nomic impact globally. 

25 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) It is estimated that in 2012 roughly 

2 35,300,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS 

3 worldwide. 

4 (2) In the United States, 1,200,000 Americans 

5 are estimated to be infected with the virus. 

6 (3) Every 9.5 minutes, a citizen of the United 

7 States becomes infected with HIV. Roughly 

8 2,700,000 individuals, including 390,000 children, 

9 became newly infected with HIV in 2010 alone. 

10 (4) In fiscal year 2012, the Federal Govern11 ment spent $27,700,000,000 on HIV/AIDS, the 

12 largest component being services and treatment for 

13 people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States at 

14 a cost of $15,600,000,000. The average lifetime cost 

15 of HIV treatment is estimated to be $367,134 per 

16 person. 

17 (5) In the last two years, discoveries have led 

18 to growing optimism in the scientific community 

19 that a cure for AIDS can be found. The eradication 

20 of HIV from the body of one individual in Germany 

21 has led many scientific leaders to believe that curing 

22 AIDS is now possible. Leading researchers believe 

23 we are now at the cutting edge of scientific discovery 

24 for an AIDS cure with a range of novel approaches 

25 being explored, including stem cells, gene therapy, 


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1 medications, and immune response modifications, 

2 such as therapeutic vaccines. 

3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF HIV/AIDS CONGRESSIONALLY 

4 DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH PROGRAM.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, 

7 acting through the Congressionally Directed Medical 

8 Research Program, shall establish and support an 

9 accelerated research program dedicated to the dis10 covery of a cure for HIV/AIDS. 

11 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall 

12 carry out the research program established under 

13 paragraph (1) in collaboration with— 

14 (A) the Director of the National Institutes 

15 of Health; 

16 (B) the Director of the National Institute 

17 of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and 

18 (C) any head of a Federal agency that the 

19 Secretary determines appropriate. 

20 (b) SCOPE.—To provide the basis for developing a 

21 cure for HIV/AIDS, the Secretary shall ensure that re22 search conducted under subsection (a)(1) is highly tar23 geted to address the following scientific questions and pri24 orities: 


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1 (1) How HIV persists despite antiretroviral 

2 therapy. 

3 (2) Where HIV persists beyond the reach of 

4 antiretroviral therapy. 

5 (3) Whether ongoing attempts of the immune 

6 system to clear the infection actually hinders the 

7 ability of the medical community to cure infected in8 dividuals. 

9 (4) Why the immune system reduces but does 

10 not eliminate levels of the virus. 

11 (5) How to measure ultra-low levels of the virus 

12 in the body of an infected individual. 

13 (6) Identifying and testing interventions, such 

14 as drugs, that may eliminate the virus from infected 

15 individuals. 

16 (7) Identifying and testing interventions, such 

17 as vaccines, that may help an infected individual 

18 permanently control the virus without antiretroviral 

19 therapy. 

20 (c) ASSISTANCE BY NONPROFIT ENTITIES.— 

21 (1) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the re22 search program established under subsection (a)(1), 

23 the Secretary shall coordinate with at least one eligi24 ble nonprofit entity— 


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1 (A) whose primary mission is ending the 

2 AIDS epidemic through innovative research; 

3 and 

4 (B) that has experience carrying out pro5 grams dedicated to AIDS cure research. 

6 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Secretary shall 

7 ensure that the responsibilities of a nonprofit entity 

8 selected under paragraph (1) include partnering with 

9 the Secretary to establish research priorities for 

10 peer-reviewed funded research pursuant to sub11 section (b). 

12 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.—In each annual report on 

13 the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program 

14 that the Secretary submits to Congress, the Secretary 

15 shall include information on the progress of the research 

16 program established under subsection (a)(1). 

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018. 

Æ 


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