II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1897

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of Autoimmune

Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 9, 1999

Mr. BIDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an

Office of Autoimmune Diseases at the National Institutes

of Health, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘NIH Office of Auto5 immune Diseases Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF AUTOIMMUNE DIS7 EASES AT NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH.

8 Title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.

9 281 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 404D

10 the following section:
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1 ‘‘AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

2 ‘‘SEC. 404E. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab3 lished within the Office of the Director of NIH an office

4 to be known as the Office of Autoimmune Diseases (in

5 this section referred to as the ‘Office’), which shall be

6 headed by a Director appointed by the Director of NIH.

7 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office,

9 in consultation with the coordinating committee es10 tablished under subsection (c), shall carry out the

11 following:

12 ‘‘(A) The Director shall recommend an

13 agenda for conducting and supporting research

14 on autoimmune diseases through the national

15 research institutes. The agenda shall provide

16 for a broad range of research and education ac17 tivities relating to biomedical, psychosocial, and

18 rehabilitative issues, including studies of the

19 disproportionate impact of such diseases on

20 women.

21 ‘‘(B) The Director shall with respect to

22 autoimmune diseases promote coordination and

23 cooperation among the national research insti24 tutes and entities whose research is supported

25 by such institutes.
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1 ‘‘(C) The Director shall promote the ap2 propriate allocation of the resources of the Na3 tional Institutes of Health for conducting and

4 supporting research on autoimmune diseases.

5 ‘‘(D) The Director shall annually prepare a

6 report that describes the research and edu7 cation activities on autoimmune diseases being

8 conducted or supported through the national re9 search institutes, and that identifies particular

10 projects or types of projects that should in the

11 future be conducted or supported by the na12 tional research institutes or other entities in the

13 field of research on autoimmune diseases.

14 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPAL ADVISOR REGARDING AUTO15 IMMUNE DISEASES.—With respect to autoimmune

16 diseases, the Director of the Office shall serve as the

17 principal advisor to the Secretary, the Assistant Sec18 retary for Health, and the Director of NIH, and

19 shall provide advice to the Director of the Centers

20 for Disease Control and Prevention, the Commis21 sioner of Food and Drugs, and other relevant agen22 cies.

23 ‘‘(c) COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—The Director of

24 NIH shall ensure that there is in operation a committee

25 to assist the Director of the Office in carrying out sub-
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1 section (b), that the committee is designated as the Auto2 immune Diseases Coordinating Committee, and that, to

3 the extent possible, such Coordinating Committee includes

4 liaison members from other Federal health agencies, in5 cluding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

6 and the Food and Drug Administration.

7 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than October 1, 2001, the

8 Comptroller General shall prepare and submit to the ap9 propriate committees of Congress a report concerning the

10 effectiveness of the Office in promoting advancements in

11 research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention related to

12 autoimmune diseases.

13 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

14 term ‘autoimmune diseases’ includes diseases or disorders

15 in which autoimmunity is thought to play a significant

16 pathogenetic role, as determined by the Secretary.

17 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

18 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

19 to be appropriated $950,000 for fiscal year 2000, and

20 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years

21 2001 and 2002.’’.

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