I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5191 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to establish Alzheimer’s Disease research, education, and clinical 

centers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2018 

Mr. COFFMAN (for himself, Mr. SESSIONS, and Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS) 

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

Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish Alzheimer’s Disease research, education, and clinical centers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE RE4 SEARCH, EDUCATION, AND CLINICAL CEN5 TERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 73 of title 38, United 

7 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 7330B 

8 the following new section: 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5191 IH

1 ‘‘§ 7330C. Alzheimer’s Disease research, education, 

2 and clinical centers. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS.—(1) The Sec4 retary, upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary 

5 for Health, shall designate not less than three Department 

6 health-care facilities as the locations for centers of Alz7 heimer’s Disease research, education, and clinical activi8 ties. 

9 ‘‘(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations for 

10 such purpose, the Secretary shall establish and operate 

11 centers of Alzheimer’s Disease research, education, and 

12 clinical activities centers at the locations designated pursu13 ant to paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR DESIGNATION.—(1) The 

15 Secretary may not designate a Department health-care fa16 cility as a location for a center under subsection (a) unless 

17 the peer review panel established under subsection (c) has 

18 determined under that subsection that the proposal sub19 mitted by such facility as a location for a new center under 

20 subsection (a) is among those proposals that meet the 

21 highest competitive standards of scientific and clinical 

22 merit. 

23 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not designate a Department 

24 health-care facility as a location for a center under sub25 section (a) unless the Secretary (upon the recommenda26 tion of the Under Secretary for Health) determines that 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5191 IH

1 the facility has (or may reasonably be anticipated to de2 velop) each of the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) An arrangement with an accredited med4 ical school that provides education and training in 

5 neurology and with which the Department health6 care facility is affiliated under which residents re7 ceive education and training in innovative diagnosis 

8 and treatment of chronic neurodegenerative diseases 

9 and forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s Dis10 ease. 

11 ‘‘(B) The ability to attract the participation of 

12 scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity 

13 in health-care research efforts. 

14 ‘‘(C) An advisory committee composed of vet15 erans and appropriate health-care and research rep16 resentatives of the Department health-care facility 

17 and of the affiliated school or schools to advise the 

18 directors of such facility and such center on policy 

19 matters pertaining to the activities of the center dur20 ing the period of the operation of such center. 

21 ‘‘(D) The capability to conduct effectively eval22 uations of the activities of such center. 

23 ‘‘(E) The capability to coordinate (as part of an 

24 integrated national system) education, clinical, and 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5191 IH

1 research activities within all facilities with such cen2 ters. 

3 ‘‘(F) The capability to jointly develop a consor4 tium of providers with interest in treating Alz5 heimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia, at fa6 cilities without centers established under subsection 

7 (a) in order to ensure better access to state-of-the8 art diagnosis, care, and education for neurodegener9 ative disorders throughout the health-care system of 

10 the Department. 

11 ‘‘(G) The capability to develop a national repos12 itory in the health-care system of the Department 

13 for the collection of data on health services delivered 

14 to veterans seeking care for neurodegenerative dis15 eases, including Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. 

16 ‘‘(H) A scientific specialization in a field of re17 search likely to be transformative to the development 

18 of a cure or treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease, in19 cluding the capability to study the connection be20 tween Alzheimer’s Disease and Down Syndrome. 

21 ‘‘(c) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—(1) The Under Sec22 retary for Health shall establish a panel to assess the sci23 entific and clinical merit of proposals that are submitted 

24 to the Secretary for the establishment of centers under 

25 this section. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5191 IH

1 ‘‘(2)(A) The membership of the panel shall consist 

2 of experts in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alz3 heimer’s Disease and forms of dementia. At least one 

4 member of the panel shall include an expert on the connec5 tion between Down Syndrome and Alzheimer’s Disease. 

6 ‘‘(B) Members of the panel shall serve for a period 

7 of no longer than two years, except as specified in sub8 paragraph (C). 

9 ‘‘(C) Of the members first appointed to the panel, 

10 one-half shall be appointed for a period of three years and 

11 one-half shall be appointed for a period of two years, as 

12 designated by the Under Secretary at the time of appoint13 ment. 

14 ‘‘(3) The panel shall review each proposal submitted 

15 to the panel by the Under Secretary and shall submit its 

16 views on the relative scientific and clinical merit of each 

17 such proposal to the Under Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(4) The panel shall not be subject to the Federal 

19 Advisory Committee Act. 

20 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY OF FUNDING.—Before providing 

21 funds for the operation of a center designated under this 

22 section at a Department health-care facility, the Secretary 

23 shall ensure that each Alzheimer’s Disease center at a fa24 cility so designated is receiving adequate funding to enable 

25 that center to function effectively in the areas of AlzVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Mar 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5191.IH H5191

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5191 IH

1 heimer’s Disease research, education, and clinical activi2 ties. 

3 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

5 necessary for the support of the research and education 

6 activities of the centers established pursuant to subsection 

7 (a). The Under Secretary for Health shall allocate to such 

8 centers from other funds appropriated generally for the 

9 Department medical services account and medical and 

10 prosthetics research account, as appropriate, such 

11 amounts as the Under Secretary for Health determines 

12 appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(f) AWARD COMPETITIONS.—Activities of clinical 

14 and scientific investigation at each center established 

15 under subsection (a) shall be eligible to compete for the 

16 award of funding from funds appropriated for the Depart17 ment medical and prosthetics research account. Such ac18 tivities shall receive priority in the award of funding from 

19 such account insofar as funds are awarded to projects for 

20 research in Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of de21 mentia.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

23 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5191 IH

1 after the item relating to section 7330B the following new 

2 item: 

‘‘7330C. Alzheimer’s Disease research, education, and clinical centers.’’. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS