I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4196

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Institute

of Biomedical Imaging.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 26, 1996

Mr. BURR (for himself, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. BROWN of Ohio,

Mr. BORSKI, Mr. COBLE, Mr. HEINEMAN, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, Mr. CHAPMAN, and Mr. SMITH of Texas)

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

Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging.

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 ‘‘National Institute of

5 Biomedical Imaging Establishment Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIO2 MEDICAL IMAGING.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of title IV of the Public

4 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended

5 by adding at the end the following subpart:

6 ‘‘Subpart 18—National Institute of Biomedical Imaging

7 ‘‘PURPOSE OF THE INSTITUTE

8 ‘‘SEC. 464z. (a) The general purpose of the National

9 Institute of Biomedical Imaging (in this section referred

10 to as the ‘Institute’) is the conduct and support of re11 search, training, the dissemination of health information,

12 and other programs with respect to radiologic and other

13 imaging modalities, imaging techniques, and imaging tech14 nologies with biomedical applications (in this section re15 ferred to as ‘biomedical imaging’).

16 ‘‘(b)(1) The Director of the Institute, with the advice

17 of the Institute’s advisory council, shall establish a Na18 tional Biomedical Imaging Program (in this section re19 ferred to as the ‘Program’).

20 ‘‘(2) Activities under the Program shall include the

21 following with respect to biomedical imaging:

22 ‘‘(A) Research into the development of new

23 techniques and devices.

24 ‘‘(B) Related research in physics, computer

25 science, information sciences, and other disciplines.
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1 ‘‘(C) Technology assessments and outcomes

2 studies to evaluate the effectiveness of devices and

3 procedures.

4 ‘‘(D) Research in screening for diseases and

5 disorders.

6 ‘‘(E) The advancement of existing modalities

7 (such as x ray imaging, computed tomography, mag8 netic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spec9 troscopy, positron emission tomography, single pho10 ton emission computed tomography, ultrasound, and

11 bioelectric and biomagnetic imaging).

12 ‘‘(F) The development of image-enhancing

13 agents, contrast media, and radiopharmaceuticals.

14 ‘‘(G) The development of image-enhancing

15 agents and advanced technologies and techniques for

16 molecular and genetic imaging.

17 ‘‘(H) The development of new techniques and

18 devices for imaging-guided surgery and related inter19 ventional procedures.

20 ‘‘(I) Research into technologies to enhance and

21 expand the potential applications of picture

22 archiving, communication systems, and telemedicine.

23 ‘‘(3)(A) With respect to the Program, the Director

24 or the Institute shall prepare and transmit to the Sec25 retary and the Director of NIH a plan to initiate, expand,
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1 intensify, and coordinate activities of the Institute respect2 ing biomedical imaging. The plan shall include such com3 ments and recommendations as the Director of the Insti4 tute determines appropriate. The Director of the Institute

5 shall periodically review and revise the plan and shall

6 transmit any revisions of the plan to the Secretary and

7 the Director of NIH.

8 ‘‘(B) The plan under subparagraph (A) shall include

9 the recommendations of the Director of the Institute with

10 respect to the following:

11 ‘‘(i) The consolidation of programs of the Na12 tional Institutes of Health for the conduct or sup13 port of activities regarding biomedical imaging.

14 ‘‘(ii) The establishment of a center within the

15 Institute to coordinate imaging research activities

16 conducted or supported by Federal agencies and to

17 facilitate the transfer of biomedical imaging tech18 nologies.

19 ‘‘(c) The establishment under section 406 of an advi20 sory council for the Institute is subject to the following:

21 ‘‘(1) The number of members appointed by the

22 Secretary shall be 12.

23 ‘‘(2) Of such members—

24 ‘‘(A) 6 members shall be scientists, physi25 cians, and other health professionals who rep-
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1 resent disciplines in biomedical imaging and

2 who are not officers or employees of the United

3 States; and

4 ‘‘(B) 6 members shall be scientists, physi5 cians, and other health professionals who rep6 resent other disciplines and are knowledgeable

7 about the applications of biomedical imaging in

8 medicine, and who are not officers or employees

9 of the United States.

10 ‘‘(3) In addition to the ex officio members spec11 ified in section 406(b)(2), the ex officio members of

12 the advisory council shall include the Director of the

13 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Di14 rector of the National Science Foundation, and the

15 Director of the National Institute of Standards and

16 Technology (or the designees of such officers).

17 ‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purpose of

18 carrying out this section:

19 ‘‘(A) For fiscal year 1997, there is authorized

20 to be appropriated an amount equal to the amount

21 obligated by the National Institutes of Health dur22 ing fiscal year 1996 for biomedical imaging, except

23 that such amount shall be adjusted to offset any in24 flation occurring after October 1, 1995.
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1 ‘‘(B) For each of the fiscal years 1998 and

2 1999, there is authorized to be appropriated an

3 amount equal to the amount appropriated under

4 subparagraph (A) for fiscal year 1997, except that

5 such amount shall be adjusted for the fiscal year in6 volved to offset any inflation occurring after October

7 1, 1996.

8 ‘‘(2) The authorization of appropriations for a fiscal

9 year under paragraph (1) is hereby reduced by the amount

10 of any appropriation made for such year for the conduct

11 or support by any other national research institute of any

12 program with respect to biomedical imaging.’’.

13 (b) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—In providing for

14 the establishment of the National Institute of Biomedical

15 Imaging pursuant to the amendment made by subsection

16 (a), the Director of the National Institutes of Health (re17 ferred to in this subsection as ‘‘NIH’’)—

18 (1) may transfer to the National Institute of

19 Biomedical Imaging such personnel of NIH as the

20 Director determines to be appropriate;

21 (2) may, for quarters for such Institute, utilize

22 such facilities of NIH as the Director determines to

23 be appropriate; and
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1 (3) may obtain administrative support for the

2 Institute from the other agencies of NIH, including

3 the other national research institutes.

4 (c) CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES.—None of the

5 provisions of this Act or the amendments made by the Act

6 may be construed as authorizing the construction of facili7 ties, or the acquisition of land, for purposes of the estab8 lishment or operation of the National Institute of Bio9 medical Imaging.

10 (d) DATE CERTAIN FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVI11 SORY COUNCIL.—Not later than 90 days after the effec12 tive date of this Act under section 3, the Secretary of

13 Health and Human Services shall complete the establish14 ment of an advisory council for the National Institute of

15 Biomedical Imaging in accordance with section 406 of the

16 Public Health Service Act and in accordance with section

17 464z of such Act (as added by subsection (a) of this sec18 tion).

19 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401(b)(1)

20 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281(b)(1))

21 is amended by adding at the end the following subpara22 graph:

23 ‘‘(R) The National Institute of Biomedical Im24 aging.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act takes effect October 1, 1996, or upon the

3 date of the enactment of this Act, whichever occurs later.

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