II 

Calendar No. 407 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 800 

To improve, coordinate, and enhance rehabilitation research at the National 

Institutes of Health. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 19, 2015 

Mr. KIRK (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. HATCH, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. ISAKSON, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. ENZI, and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

APRIL 4, 2016 

Reported by Mr. ALEXANDER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To improve, coordinate, and enhance rehabilitation research 

at the National Institutes of Health. 

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 ‘‘Enhancing the Stature 

5 and Visibility of Medical Rehabilitation Research at the 

6 NIH Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING MEDICAL REHABILITATION RESEARCH 

2 AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. 

3 Section 452 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 285g–4) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘conduct and 

6 support’’ and inserting ‘‘conduct, support, and co7 ordination’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (c)(1)(C), by striking ‘‘of the 

9 Center’’ and inserting ‘‘within the Center’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (d)— 

11 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert12 ing the following: ‘‘(1) The Director of the Cen13 ter, on behalf of the Director of NIH and the 

14 Director of the Institute and in consultation 

15 with the coordinating committee established 

16 under subsection (e) and the advisory board es17 tablished under subsection (f), shall develop a 

18 comprehensive plan (referred to in this section 

19 as the ‘Research Plan’) for the conduct, sup20 port, and coordination of medical rehabilitation 

21 research.’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

23 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

24 ‘‘and priorities for such research; and’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘priorities for such research, and 


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1 existing resources to support the purpose 

2 described in subsection (b);’’; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

4 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(C) include objectives, benchmarks, and guid8 ing principles for conducting, supporting, and co9 ordinating medical rehabilitation research, consistent 

10 with the purpose described in subsection (b).’’; 

11 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

12 (i) by striking the first sentence and 

13 inserting the following: ‘‘The Director of 

14 the Center, in consultation with the Direc15 tor of the Institute, the coordinating com16 mittee established under subsection (e), 

17 and the advisory board established under 

18 subsection (f), shall periodically, or not less 

19 than every 5 years, revise and update the 

20 Research Plan, as appropriate. Not later 

21 than 30 days after the Research Plan is so 

22 revised and updated, the Director of the 

23 Center shall transmit the revised and up24 dated Research Plan to the President and 


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1 the appropriate committees of Congress.’’; 

2 and 

3 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Center, in consultation with 

5 the Director of the Institute, shall annually prepare a re6 port for the coordinating committee established under sub7 section (e) and the advisory board established under sub8 section (f) that describes and analyzes the progress during 

9 the preceding fiscal year in achieving the objectives, 

10 benchmarks, and guiding principles described in para11 graph (2)(C) and includes expenditures of the Center and 

12 other agencies of the National Institutes of Health for car13 rying out the Research Plan. The report shall include rec14 ommendations for revising and updating the Research 

15 Plan, and such initiatives as the Director of the Center 

16 and the Director of the Institute determine appropriate. 

17 In preparing the report, the Director of the Center and 

18 the Director of the Institute shall consult with the Direc19 tor of NIH, and the report shall reflect an assessment of 

20 the Research Plan by the Director of NIH.’’; 

21 (4) in subsection (e)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘peri23 odically, or not less than every 5 years, host a 

24 scientific conference or workshop on medical reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:17 Apr 04, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S800.RS S800

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1 habilitation research and’’ after ‘‘The Coordi2 nating Committee shall’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘the Di4 rector of the Division of Program Coordination, 

5 Planning, and Strategic Initiatives within the 

6 Office of the Director of NIH,’’ after ‘‘shall be 

7 composed of’’; and 

8 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Director 

9 of the Center’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of the 

10 Center, acting in the capacity of a designee of 

11 the Director of NIH’’; 

12 (5) in subsection (f)(3)(B), by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(xii) The Director of the Division of Program 

15 Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives.’’; 

16 and 

17 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(g) The Director of the Center, in consultation with 

19 the Director of the Institute, the Coordinating Committee, 

20 and the Advisory Board, shall develop guidelines gov21 erning the funding for medical rehabilitation research by 

22 the Center and other agencies of the National Institutes 

23 of Health. At a minimum, such guidelines shall reflect the 

24 purpose of the Center described in subsection (b) and be 

25 consistent with the Research Plan. 


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1 ‘‘(h)(1) The Secretary and the heads of other Federal 

2 agencies shall jointly review the programs carried out (or 

3 proposed to be carried out) by each such official with re4 spect to medical rehabilitation research and, as appro5 priate, enter into agreements preventing duplication 

6 among such programs. 

7 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall enter into interagency agree8 ments relating to the coordination of medical rehabilita9 tion research conducted by agencies of the National Insti10 tutes of Health and other agencies of the Federal Govern11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(i) For purposes of this section, the term ‘medical 

13 rehabilitation research’ means the science of mechanisms 

14 and interventions that prevent, improve, restore, or re15 place lost, underdeveloped, or deteriorating function (de16 fined at the level of impairment, activity, and participa17 tion, according to the World Health Organization in the 

18 International Classification of Functioning, Disability and 

19 Health (2001)).’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS OF CERTAIN AGREEMENTS FOR 

2 ENHANCING COORDINATION AND PRE3 VENTING DUPLICATIVE PROGRAMS OF MED4 ICAL REHABILITATION RESEARCH. 

5 Section 3 of the National Institutes of Health 

6 Amendments of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 285g–4 note) is amend7 ed— 

8 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a) IN GEN9 ERAL.—’’; and 

10 (2) by striking subsection (b). 

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing the Stature 

13 and Visibility of Medical Rehabilitation Research at the 

14 NIH Act’’. 

15 SEC. 2. IMPROVING MEDICAL REHABILITATION RESEARCH 

16 AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. 

17 Section 452 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 285g–4) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘conduct and 

20 support’’ and inserting ‘‘conduct, support, and co21 ordination’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (c)(1)(C), by striking ‘‘of the 

23 Center’’ and inserting ‘‘within the Center’’; 

24 (3) in subsection (d)— 

25 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting 

26 the following: ‘‘(1) The Director of the Center, in 


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1 consultation with the Director of the Institute, 

2 the coordinating committee established under 

3 subsection (e), and the advisory board established 

4 under subsection (f), shall develop a comprehen5 sive plan (referred to in this section as the ‘Re6 search Plan’) for the conduct, support, and co7 ordination of medical rehabilitation research.’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

10 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

12 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (iii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(C) include goals and objectives for conducting, 

16 supporting, and coordinating medical rehabilitation 

17 research, consistent with the purpose described in sub18 section (b).’’; 

19 (C) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(4) The Director of the Center, in consultation with 

22 the Director of the Institute, the coordinating committee es23 tablished under subsection (e), and the advisory board es24 tablished under subsection (f), shall revise and update the 

25 Research Plan periodically, as appropriate, or not less than 


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1 every 5 years. Not later than 30 days after the Research 

2 Plan is so revised and updated, the Director of the Center 

3 shall transmit the revised and updated Research Plan to 

4 the President, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

5 and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committee on Energy 

6 and Commerce of the House of Representatives.’’; and 

7 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Center, in consultation with 

9 the Director of the Institute, shall, prior to revising and 

10 updating the Research Plan, prepare a report for the co11 ordinating committee established under subsection (e) and 

12 the advisory board established under subsection (f) that de13 scribes and analyzes the progress during the preceding fiscal 

14 year in achieving the goals and objectives described in para15 graph (2)(C) and includes expenditures for rehabilitation 

16 research at the National Institutes of Health. The report 

17 shall include recommendations for revising and updating 

18 the Research Plan, and such initiatives as the Director of 

19 the Center and the Director of the Institute determine ap20 propriate. In preparing the report, the Director of the Cen21 ter and the Director of the Institute shall consult with the 

22 Director of NIH.’’; 

23 (4) in subsection (e)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘peri25 odically host a scientific conference or workshop 


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1 on medical rehabilitation research and’’ after 

2 ‘‘The Coordinating Committee shall’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘the Di4 rector of the Division of Program Coordination, 

5 Planning, and Strategic Initiatives within the 

6 Office of the Director of NIH,’’ after ‘‘shall be 

7 composed of’’; 

8 (5) in subsection (f)(3)(B)— 

9 (A) by redesignating clauses (ix) through 

10 (xi) as clauses (x) through (xii), respectively; and 

11 (B) by inserting after clause (viii) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(ix) The Director of the Division of Program 

14 Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives.’’; 

15 and 

16 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(g)(1) The Secretary and the heads of other Federal 

18 agencies shall jointly review the programs carried out (or 

19 proposed to be carried out) by each such official with respect 

20 to medical rehabilitation research and, as appropriate, 

21 enter into agreements preventing duplication among such 

22 programs. 

23 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall, as appropriate, enter into 

24 interagency agreements relating to the coordination of med25 ical rehabilitation research conducted by agencies of the NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:17 Apr 04, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S800.RS S800

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1 tional Institutes of Health and other agencies of the Federal 

2 Government. 

3 ‘‘(h) For purposes of this section, the term ‘medical re4 habilitation research’ means the science of mechanisms and 

5 interventions that prevent, improve, restore, or replace lost, 

6 underdeveloped, or deteriorating function.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS OF CERTAIN AGREEMENTS FOR EN8 HANCING COORDINATION AND PREVENTING 

9 DUPLICATIVE PROGRAMS OF MEDICAL REHA10 BILITATION RESEARCH. 

11 Section 3 of the National Institutes of Health Amend12 ments of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 285g–4 note) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a) IN GEN14 ERAL.—’’; and 

15 (2) by striking subsection (b). 


sradovich on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 407 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 800 

A BILL 

To improve, coordinate, and enhance rehabilitation 

research at the National Institutes of Health. 

APRIL 4, 2016 

Reported with an amendment 


sradovich on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with BILLS