I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4873

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 20, 1998

Mr. WAXMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

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 1998’’.

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 404E

10 the following section:
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1 ‘‘AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

2 ‘‘SEC. 404F. (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 shall carry out the following:

10 ‘‘(A) The Director shall recommend an

11 agenda for conducting and supporting research

12 on autoimmune diseases through the national

13 research institutes. The agenda shall provide

14 for a broad range of research relating to bio15 medical, psychosocial, and rehabilitative issues,

16 including studies of the disproportionate impact

17 of such diseases on women.

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

19 autoimmune diseases promote coordination and

20 cooperation among the national research insti21 tutes and entities whose research is supported

22 by such institutes.

23 ‘‘(C) The Director shall promote the suffi24 cient allocation of the resources of the National
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1 Institutes of Health for conducting and sup2 porting research on autoimmune diseases.

3 ‘‘(D) The Director shall biennially prepare

4 a report that describes the projects of research

5 on autoimmune diseases being conducted or

6 supported through the national research insti7 tutes, and that identifies particular projects or

8 types of projects that should in the future be

9 conducted or supported by the national research

10 institutes or other entities in the field of re11 search on autoimmune diseases.

12 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPAL ADVISOR REGARDING AUTO13 IMMUNE DISEASES.—With respect to autoimmune

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

15 principal advisor to the Secretary, the Assistant Sec16 retary for Health, and the Director of NIH, and

17 shall provide advice to the Director of the Centers

18 for Disease Control and Prevention and the Com19 missioner of Food and Drugs.

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

21 NIH shall ensure that there is in operation a committee

22 to coordinate the activities of the National Institutes of

23 Health with respect to autoimmune diseases, that the com24 mittee is designated as the Autoimmune Diseases Coordi25 nating Committee, and that, to the extent possible, such
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1 Coordinating Committee includes liaison members from

2 other Federal health agencies, including the Centers for

3 Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug

4 Administration.

5 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

6 term ‘autoimmune diseases’ includes rheumatoid arthritis,

7 systemic lupus erthematosus, multiple sclerosis, juvenile8 onset diabetes, Sjo ̈gren’s syndrome, scleroderma, and

9 other diseases or disorders as determined by the Sec10 retary.

11 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

12 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

13 to be appropriated $750,000 for fiscal year 1999, and

14 such sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal

15 year.’’.

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