II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1813

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide additional support for

and to expand clinical research programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 27, 1999

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. FRIST, Mr. JEFFORDS, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs.

MURRAY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. COCHRAN, and Mr. WELLSTONE) 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 provide additional

support for and to expand clinical research programs,

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 ‘‘Clinical Research En5 hancement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings:
2

•S 1813 IS

1 (1) Clinical research is critical to the advance2 ment of scientific knowledge and to the development

3 of cures and improved treatment for disease.

4 (2) Tremendous advances in biology are open5 ing doors to new insights into human physiology,

6 pathophysiology and disease, creating extraordinary

7 opportunities for clinical research.

8 (3) Clinical research includes translational re9 search which is an integral part of the research

10 process leading to general human applications. It is

11 the bridge between the laboratory and new methods

12 of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention and is thus

13 essential to progress against cancer and other dis14 eases.

15 (4) The United States will spend more than

16 $1,200,000,000,000 on health care in 1999, but the

17 Federal budget for health research at the National

18 Institutes of Health was $15,600,000,000 only 1

19 percent of that total.

20 (5) Studies at the Institute of Medicine, the

21 National Research Council, and the National Acad22 emy of Sciences have all addressed the current prob23 lems in clinical research.

24 (6) The Director of the National Institutes of

25 Health has recognized the current problems in clin-
3

•S 1813 IS

1 ical research and appointed a special panel, which

2 recommended expanded support for existing Na3 tional Institutes of Health clinical research programs

4 and the creation of new initiatives to recruit and re5 tain clinical investigators.

6 (7) The current level of training and support

7 for health professionals in clinical research is frag8 mented, undervalued, and underfunded.

9 (8) Young investigators are not only appren10 tices for future positions but a crucial source of en11 ergy, enthusiasm, and ideas in the day-to-day re12 search that constitutes the scientific enterprise. Seri13 ous questions about the future of life-science re14 search are raised by the following:

15 (A) The number of young investigators ap16 plying for grants dropped by 54 percent be17 tween 1985 and 1993.

18 (B) The number of physicians applying for

19 first-time National Institutes of Health research

20 project grants fell from 1226 in 1994 to 963 in

21 1998, a 21 percent reduction.

22 (C) Newly independent life-scientists are

23 expected to raise funds to support their new re24 search programs and a substantial proportion

25 of their own salaries.
4

•S 1813 IS

1 (9) The following have been cited as reasons for

2 the decline in the number of active clinical research3 ers, and those choosing this career path:

4 (A) A medical school graduate incurs an

average debt of $85,619, as reported in the