II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 746 

To provide for the establishment of a Commission to Accelerate the End 

of Breast Cancer. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2015 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. HELLER, Mr. REED, Ms. 

COLLINS, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. FRANKEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of a Commission to 

Accelerate the End 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2015’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Establishment. 

Sec. 4. Purpose; duties. 

Sec. 5. Membership. 


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Sec. 6. Powers. 

Sec. 7. Chairperson; program managers. 

Sec. 8. Coordination and nonduplication. 

Sec. 9. Evaluation of the Commission. 

Sec. 10. Authorization of funding. 

Sec. 11. Termination. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) In the United States, the chance of a 

4 woman developing breast cancer during her lifetime 

5 has increased from 1 in 11 in 1975 to 1 in 8 today. 

6 (2) Worldwide, breast cancer is the most fre7 quently diagnosed cancer in women with 1,700,000 

8 new cancer cases diagnosed in 2012. Breast cancer 

9 is also one of the leading causes of cancer death in 

10 women, with 522,000 women dying from the disease 

11 worldwide in 2012, a 14 percent increase since 

12 2008. 

13 (3) More than 90 percent of deaths from breast 

14 cancer are caused by metastasis, which occurs when 

15 cancerous cells spread to other organs or bone. 

16 (4) The National Cancer Institute estimated 

17 that breast cancer care in the United States costs 

18 $16,500,000,000 in 2010, and costs the Nation 

19 $12,100,000,000 in lost productivity. It is projected 

20 with no changes, the cost of breast cancer care will 

21 rise to at least $20,900,000,000 in 2020. 


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1 (5) Over the past 40 years, very little has im2 proved the incidence, morbidity, and mortality rates 

3 of breast cancer. 

4 (6) In recognition of the complexity of breast 

5 cancer, experts have identified the need to transform 

6 how research is conducted by engaging investigators 

7 from many disciplines. 

8 (7) Advances in understanding the progression 

9 of breast cancer, particularly metastasis, have the 

10 potential to translate to better understanding and 

11 preventing the spread of other types of cancer. 

12 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 

13 There shall be established a commission to be known 

14 as the Commission to Accelerate the End of Breast Cancer 

15 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

16 SEC. 4. PURPOSE; DUTIES. 

17 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Commission shall 

18 be to help end breast cancer by January 1, 2020. 

19 (b) DUTIES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall iden21 tify, recommend, and promote initiatives, partner22 ships, and research within the public and private 

23 sectors, basic and applied sciences, and epidemiology 

24 that can be turned into strategies to prevent breast 

25 cancer and breast cancer metastasis. 


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1 (2) PRIORITY.—The Commission shall give pri2 ority to initiatives, partnerships, and research that 

3 are— 

4 (A) not prioritized within the public sector; 

5 and 

6 (B) unlikely to be achieved by the private 

7 sector due to technical and financial uncer8 tainty. 

9 (c) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than 6 months 

10 after the appointment of the initial members of the Com11 mission, the Commission shall submit to the President and 

12 to the relevant authorizing and appropriations committees 

13 of Congress, a description of the Commission’s strategic 

14 plan to advance the purpose described in subsection (a). 

15 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than January 15, 

16 2016, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall sub17 mit an annual report to the President, Congress, and the 

18 public— 

19 (1) describing the Commission’s activities under 

20 this section, including its progress in achieving the 

21 purpose described in subsection (a); and 

22 (2) containing a full financial report, including 

23 a line item report of the Commission’s expenditures 

24 for the preceding year. 


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1 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP. 

2 (a) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall 

3 be composed of not more than 10 members who shall be 

4 appointed by the President, with the advice and consent 

5 of the Senate, not later than 60 days after the date of 

6 enactment of this Act, in accordance with this section. 

7 (b) REPRESENTATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Com9 mission shall be appointed to represent one of the 

10 following 3 categories: 

11 (A) Individuals who represent the interests 

12 of varied disciplines within the biomedical re13 search field. 

14 (B) Individuals who represent the relevant 

15 varied disciplines outside of the biomedical re16 search field. 

17 (C) Patient advocates, including individ18 uals who— 

19 (i) represent a patient-led, patient20 centered organization with a patient con21 stituency either directly related to or rel22 evant to breast cancer; and 

23 (ii) are trained, knowledgeable, and 

24 prepared to participate in the decision25 making process of science and medicine. 


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1 (2) REPRESENTATION OF MEMBERSHIP CAT2 EGORIES.—Of the members of the Commission— 

3 (A) at least 1, but not more than 3, shall 

4 be appointed to represent the category de5 scribed in paragraph (1)(A); 

6 (B) at least 1, but not more than 3, shall 

7 be appointed to represent the category de8 scribed in paragraph (1)(B); and 

9 (C) at least 2, but not more than 4, shall 

10 be appointed to represent the category de11 scribed in paragraph (1)(C). 

12 (c) TERMS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Com14 mission shall be appointed for a term of 3 years and 

15 may be reappointed. 

16 (2) VACANCIES.—Any member of the Commis17 sion appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the 

18 expiration of the term for which the member’s pred19 ecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for 

20 the remainder of that term. A member may serve 

21 after the expiration of that member’s term until a 

22 successor has taken office. A vacancy in the Com23 mission shall be filled in the manner in which the 

24 original appointment was made and shall not affect 


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1 the power of the remaining members to execute the 

2 duties of the Commission. 

3 (d) QUORUM.—Three members of the Commission 

4 shall constitute a quorum. 

5 SEC. 6. POWERS. 

6 The Commission shall have the following powers: 

7 (1) HEARINGS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES.—For 

8 the purpose of carrying out its duties, the Commis9 sion may hold such hearings and undertake such 

10 other activities as the Commission determines to be 

11 necessary to carry out its duties. 

12 (2) DETAIL OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Upon 

13 the request of the Commission, the head of any Fed14 eral agency is authorized to detail, without reim15 bursement, any of the personnel of such agency to 

16 the Commission to assist the Commission in car17 rying out its duties. Any such detail shall not inter18 rupt or otherwise affect the civil service status or 

19 privileges of the Federal employee. 

20 (3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon the re21 quest of the Commission, the head of a Federal 

22 agency may provide such technical assistance to the 

23 Commission as the Commission determines to be 

24 necessary to carry out its duties. 


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1 (4) USE OF MAILS.—The Commission may use 

2 the United States mails in the same manner and 

3 under the same conditions as Federal agencies. 

4 (5) OBTAINING INFORMATION.—The Commis5 sion may secure directly from any Federal agency 

6 information necessary to enable it to carry out its 

7 duties, if the information may be disclosed under 

8 section 552 of title 5, United States Code. Upon re9 quest of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 

10 head of such agency shall furnish such information 

11 to the Commission. 

12 (6) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.— 

13 Upon the request of the Commission, the Adminis14 trator of General Services shall provide to the Com15 mission on a reimbursable basis such administrative 

16 support services as the Commission may request. 

17 SEC. 7. CHAIRPERSON; PROGRAM MANAGERS. 

18 (a) CHAIRPERSON.— 

19 (1) DESIGNATION.—Of the members of the 

20 Commission appointed under section 5(a), the Presi21 dent shall at the time of the appointment, designate 

22 one such member to serve as the Chairperson of the 

23 Commission. 

24 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 

25 the Chairperson shall include— 


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1 (A) approving areas of study of the Com2 mission based on criteria including scientific 

3 and technical merit, innovation, and impact; 

4 (B) developing criteria (including bench5 marks) for assessing, and overseeing the assess6 ment of, the progress of areas of study of the 

7 Commission; 

8 (C) terminating areas of study of the Com9 mission that are not achieving the purpose de10 scribed in section 4(a); 

11 (D) designating members of the Commis12 sion to act as program managers as described 

13 in subsection (b); and 

14 (E) appointing staff as necessary to aid in 

15 carrying out the purpose described in section 

16 4(a). 

17 (b) PROGRAM MANAGERS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 

19 Commission may designate members of the Commis20 sion who may act as program managers to oversee 

21 one or more areas of study of the Commission. 

22 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—A member designated 

23 under paragraph (1) shall, with respect to one or 

24 more areas of study, be responsible for the following: 


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1 (A) Recommending novel proposals, 

2 projects, and collaborations based on scientific 

3 and technical merit to achieve the purpose de4 scribed in section 4(a) with a focus on strate5 gies for the primary prevention of breast can6 cer, and methods to prevent breast cancer me7 tastasis. Program directors may— 

8 (i) convene workshops and confer with 

9 experts in both the public and private sec10 tor; 

11 (ii) identify areas of study; 

12 (iii) identify all areas where resources 

13 could be leveraged; and 

14 (iv) carry out other functions of the 

15 Commission that are approved by the 

16 Chairperson and that the Chairperson 

17 deems necessary to carry out the purpose 

18 described in section 4(a). 

19 (B) Working with relevant Federal agen20 cies to identify areas of concurrent interests in 

21 order to maximize Federal investment and stim22 ulate collaborative projects. 

23 (C) Monitoring the progress of areas of 

24 study and recommend restructure or termi25 nation. 


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1 SEC. 8. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION. 

2 To the maximum extent practicable, the Commission 

3 shall ensure that the activities of the Commission are co4 ordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, pro5 grams and laboratories of other government agencies. 

6 SEC. 9. EVALUATION OF THE COMMISSION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall enter into an 

8 agreement with the Institute of Medicine of the National 

9 Academy of Sciences under which the Institute, after the 

10 Commission has been in operation for 3 years, shall evalu11 ate the Commission’s progress towards achieving the pur12 pose described in section 4(a). 

13 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The evaluation under subsection 

14 (a) shall include— 

15 (1) a recommendation on whether the Commis16 sion should be continued or terminated; and 

17 (2) a description of lessons learned from oper18 ation of the Commission. 

19 (c) AVAILABILITY.—On completion of the evaluation 

20 under subsection (a), the Commission shall make the eval21 uation available to the Congress and the public. 

22 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING. 

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

24 out the purpose of this Act, there are authorized to be 

25 appropriated— 

26 (1) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; 


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1 (2) $12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 

2 and 2018; and 

3 (3) such sums as may be necessary for each fis4 cal year thereafter until the Commission is termi5 nated. 

6 (b) LIMITATION.—None of the amounts appropriated 

7 for a fiscal year under subsection (a) shall be used for 

8 the operation or construction of any laboratories or pilot 

9 plants. 

10 SEC. 11. TERMINATION. 

11 The Commission shall terminate on June 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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