II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2287

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants

for the development and operation of research centers regarding environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 23, 2000

Mr. L. CHAFEE (for himself and Mr. REID) 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 authorize the

Director of the National Institute of Environmental

Health Sciences to make grants for the development

and operation of research centers regarding environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of

breast cancer.

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 ‘‘Breast Cancer and

5 Environmental Research Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds as follows:

3 (1) Breast cancer is the second leading cause of

4 cancer deaths among American women.

5 (2) In 1999, 175,000 women will be diagnosed

6 with breast cancer, and more than 43,000 are ex7 pected to die from this disease.

8 (3) The National Action Plan on Breast Can9 cer, a public private partnership, has recognized the

10 importance of expanding the scope and breadth of

11 biomedical, epidemiological, and behavioral research

12 activities related to the etiology of breast cancer and

13 the role of the environment.

14 (4) To date, there has been only a limited re15 search investment to expand the scope or coordinate

16 efforts across disciplines or work with the commu17 nity to study the role of the environment in the de18 velopment of breast cancer.

19 (5) In order to take full advantage of the tre20 mendous potential for avenues of prevention, the

21 Federal investment in the role of the environment

22 and the development of breast cancer should be ex23 panded.
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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL

2 HEALTH SCIENCES; AWARDS FOR DEVELOP3 MENT AND OPERATION OF RESEARCH CEN4 TERS REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL FAC5 TORS RELATED TO BREAST CANCER.

6 Subpart 12 of part C of title IV of the Public Health

7 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285L et seq.) is amended by adding

8 at the end the following section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 463B. RESEARCH CENTERS REGARDING ENVIRON10 MENTAL FACTORS RELATED TO BREAST CAN11 CER.

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Institute,

13 after consultation with the advisory council for the Insti14 tute, shall make grants to public or nonprofit private enti15 ties for the development and operation of not more than

16 8 centers for the purpose of conducting multidisciplinary

17 and multi-institutional research on environmental factors

18 that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer. Each

19 such center shall be known as a Breast Cancer and Envi20 ronmental Research Center of Excellence.

21 ‘‘(b) RESEARCH, TRAINING, AND INFORMATION AND

22 EDUCATION.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each center under sub24 section (a) shall, with respect to the purpose de25 scribed in such subsection—
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1 ‘‘(A) conduct basic epidemiologic, popu2 lation-based and clinical research outreach ac3 tivities;

4 ‘‘(B) develop protocols and conduct for

5 training, including continuing education pro6 grams, of physicians, scientists, nurses, and

7 other health and allied health professionals; and

8 ‘‘(C) disseminate information to such pro9 fessionals and the public.

10 ‘‘(2) STIPENDS FOR TRAINING OF HEALTH PRO11 FESSIONALS.—A center under subsection (a) may

12 use funds under such subsection to provide stipends

13 for health and allied health professionals enrolled in

14 programs described in subparagraph (B) of para15 graph (1).

16 ‘‘(c) COLLABORATION WITH COMMUNITY.—Each

17 center under subsection (a) shall establish and maintain

18 ongoing collaborations with community organizations in

19 the geographic area served by the center, including those

20 that represent women with breast cancer.

21 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION OF CENTERS; REPORTS.—The

22 Director of the Institute shall, as appropriate, provide for

23 the coordination of information among centers under sub24 section (a) and ensure regular communication between

25 such centers, and may require the periodic preparation of
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1 reports on the activities of the centers and the submission

2 of the reports to the Director.

3 ‘‘(e) REQUIRED CONSORTIUM.—Each center under

4 subsection (a) shall be formed from a consortium of co5 operating institutions, meeting such requirements as may

6 be prescribed by the Director of the Institute.

7 ‘‘(f) DURATION OF SUPPORT.—Support of a center

8 under subsection (a) may be for a period not exceeding

9 5 years. Such period may be extended for one or more

10 additional periods not exceeding 5 years if the operations

11 of such center have been reviewed by an appropriate tech12 nical and scientific peer review group established by the

13 Director of the Institute and if such group has rec14 ommended to the Director that such period should be ex15 tended.

16 ‘‘(g) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF CENTERS.—

17 The Director of the Institute shall, to the extent prac18 ticable, provide for an equitable geographical distribution

19 of centers under this section.

20 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

21 purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized

22 to be appropriated $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

23 2001 through 2006. Such authorization is in addition to
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1 any other authorization of appropriations that is available

2 for such purpose.’’.

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