II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1250 

To prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national investment 

in biomedical research. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2019 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. 

CASEY, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national 

investment in biomedical research. 

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 ‘‘American Cures Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CAP ADJUSTMENT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced 

7 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

8 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), (E), 

2 and (F) as subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G), respec3 tively; and 

4 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C), the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(D) BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH.— 

7 ‘‘(i) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF

8 HEALTH.—If a bill or joint resolution mak9 ing appropriations for a fiscal year is en10 acted that specifies amounts for the Na11 tional Institutes of Health at the Depart12 ment of Health and Human Services, then 

13 the adjustments for that fiscal year shall 

14 be the amount of additional new budget 

15 authority provided in that Act for such 

16 programs for that fiscal year, but shall not 

17 exceed— 

18 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2020, 

19 $2,737,000,000 in additional new 

20 budget authority; 

21 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2021, 

22 $5,666,000,000 in additional new 

23 budget authority; 


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1 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2022, 

2 $8,800,000,000 in additional new 

3 budget authority; 

4 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2023, 

5 $12,153,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority; and 

7 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2024, 

8 $15,741,000,000 in additional new 

9 budget authority. 

10 ‘‘(ii) CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL

11 AND PREVENTION.—If a bill or joint reso12 lution making appropriations for a fiscal 

13 year is enacted that specifies amounts for 

14 the Centers for Disease Control and Pre15 vention at the Department of Health and 

16 Human Services, then the adjustments for 

17 that fiscal year shall be the amount of ad18 ditional new budget authority provided in 

19 that Act for such programs for that fiscal 

20 year, but shall not exceed— 

21 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2020, 

22 $511,000,000 in additional new budg23 et authority; 


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1 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2021, 

2 $1,057,000,000 in additional new 

3 budget authority; 

4 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2022, 

5 $1,642,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority; 

7 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2023, 

8 $2,268,000,000 in additional new 

9 budget authority; and 

10 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2024, 

11 $2,938,000,000 in additional new 

12 budget authority. 

13 ‘‘(iii) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

14 HEALTH PROGRAM.—If a bill or joint reso15 lution making appropriations for a fiscal 

16 year is enacted that specifies amounts for 

17 the Department of Defense health pro18 gram, then the adjustments for that fiscal 

19 year shall be the amount of additional new 

20 budget authority provided in that Act for 

21 such programs for that fiscal year, but 

22 shall not exceed— 

23 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2020, 

24 $167,510,000 in additional new budg25 et authority; 


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1 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2021, 

2 $346,745,700 in additional new budg3 et authority; 

4 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2022, 

5 $538,527,899 in additional new budg6 et authority; 

7 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2023, 

8 $743,734,852 in additional new budg9 et authority; and 

10 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2024, 

11 $963,306,292 in additional new budg12 et authority. 

13 ‘‘(iv) MEDICAL AND PROSTHETICS RE14 SEARCH PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT

15 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—If a bill or joint 

16 resolution making appropriations for a fis17 cal year is enacted that specifies amounts 

18 for the medical and prosthetics research 

19 program of the Department of Veterans 

20 Affairs, then the adjustments for that fis21 cal year shall be the amount of additional 

22 new budget authority provided in that Act 

23 for such programs for that fiscal year, but 

24 shall not exceed— 


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1 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2020, 

2 $54,530,000 in additional new budget 

3 authority; 

4 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2021, 

5 $58,350,000 in additional new budget 

6 authority; 

7 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2022, 

8 $62,440,000 in additional new budget 

9 authority; 

10 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2023, 

11 $66,810,000 in additional new budget 

12 authority; and 

13 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2024, 

14 $71,490,000 in additional new budget 

15 authority. 

16 ‘‘(v) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this 

17 subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(I) ADDITIONAL NEW BUDGET

19 AUTHORITY.—The term ‘additional 

20 new budget authority’ means— 

21 ‘‘(aa) with respect to the 

22 National Institutes of Health, the 

23 amount provided for a fiscal 

24 year, in excess of the amount 

25 provided in fiscal year 2019, in 


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1 an appropriation Act and speci2 fied to support the National In3 stitutes of Health; 

4 ‘‘(bb) with respect to the 

5 Centers for Disease Control and 

6 Prevention, the amount provided 

7 for a fiscal year, in excess of the 

8 amount provided in fiscal year 

9 2019, in an appropriation Act 

10 and specified to support the Cen11 ters for Disease Control and Pre12 vention; 

13 ‘‘(cc) with respect to the De14 partment of Defense health pro15 gram, the amount provided for a 

16 fiscal year, in excess of the 

17 amount provided in fiscal year 

18 2019, in an appropriation Act 

19 and specified to support the De20 partment of Defense health pro21 gram; and 

22 ‘‘(dd) with respect to the 

23 medical and prosthetics research 

24 program of the Department of 

25 Veterans Affairs, the amount 


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1 provided for a fiscal year, in ex2 cess of the amount provided in 

3 fiscal year 2019, in an appropria4 tion Act and specified to support 

5 the medical and prosthetics re6 search program of the Depart7 ment of Veterans Affairs. 

8 ‘‘(II) CENTERS FOR DISEASE

9 CONTROL AND PREVENTION.—The 

10 term ‘Centers for Disease Control and 

11 Prevention’ means the appropriations 

12 accounts that support the various in13 stitutes, offices, and centers that 

14 make up the Centers for Disease Con15 trol and Prevention. 

16 ‘‘(III) DEPARTMENT OF DE17 FENSE HEALTH PROGRAM.—The term 

18 ‘Department of Defense health pro19 gram’ means the appropriations ac20 counts that support the various insti21 tutes, offices, and centers that make 

22 up the Department of Defense health 

23 program. 

24 ‘‘(IV) MEDICAL AND PROS25 THETICS RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE


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1 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF2 FAIRS.—The term ‘medical and pros3 thetics research program of the De4 partment of Veterans Affairs’ means 

5 the appropriations accounts that sup6 port the various institutes, offices, 

7 and centers that make up the medical 

8 and prosthetics research program of 

9 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

10 ‘‘(V) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF

11 HEALTH.—The term ‘National Insti12 tutes of Health’ means the appropria13 tions accounts that support the var14 ious institutes, offices, and centers 

15 that make up the National Institutes 

16 of Health.’’. 

17 (b) FUNDING.—There are hereby authorized to be 

18 appropriated— 

19 (1) for the National Institutes of Health, the 

20 amounts provided for under clause (i) of such sec21 tion 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 2020 

22 through 2024, and such sums as may be necessary 

23 for each subsequent fiscal year; 

24 (2) for the Secretary of Health and Human 

25 Services, acting through the Centers for Disease 


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1 Control and Prevention, the amounts provided for 

2 under clause (ii) of such section 251(b)(2)(D) in 

3 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, and such 

4 sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal 

5 year; 

6 (3) for the Department of Defense health pro7 gram, the amounts provided for under clause (iii) of 

8 such section 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 

9 2020 through 2024, and such sums as may be nec10 essary for each subsequent fiscal year; and 

11 (4) for the medical and prosthetics research 

12 program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 

13 amounts provided for under clause (iv) of such sec14 tion 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 2020 

15 through 2024, and such sums as may be necessary 

16 for each subsequent fiscal year. 

17 (c) MINIMUM CONTINUED FUNDING REQUIRE18 MENT.—Amounts appropriated for each of the programs 

19 and agencies described in section 251(b)(2)(D) of the Bal20 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

21 (as added by subsection (a)) for each of fiscal years 2020 

22 through 2024, and each subsequent fiscal year, shall not 

23 be less than the amounts appropriated for such programs 

24 and agencies for fiscal year 2019. 


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1 (d) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN APPROPRIATIONS FROM

2 SEQUESTRATION.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 

4 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

5 Act (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting 

6 after ‘‘Advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund 

7 and Other Funds (16–0327–0–1–600).’’ the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘Appropriations under the American 

10 Cures Act.’’. 

11 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

12 this section shall apply to any sequestration order 

13 issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

14 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) 

15 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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