II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST 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, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

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’’. 

7 SEC. 2. IMPROVING MEDICAL REHABILITATION RESEARCH 

8 AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. 

9 Section 452 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 285g–4) is amended— 


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

2 support’’ and inserting ‘‘conduct, support, and co3 ordination’’; 

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

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

6 (3) in subsection (d)— 

7 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert8 ing the following: ‘‘(1) The Director of the Cen9 ter, on behalf of the Director of NIH and the 

10 Director of the Institute and in consultation 

11 with the coordinating committee established 

12 under subsection (e) and the advisory board es13 tablished under subsection (f), shall develop a 

14 comprehensive plan (referred to in this section 

15 as the ‘Research Plan’) for the conduct, sup16 port, and coordination of medical rehabilitation 

17 research.’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

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

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

21 inserting ‘‘priorities for such research, and 

22 existing resources to support the purpose 

23 described in subsection (b);’’; 

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

25 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(C) include objectives, benchmarks, and guid4 ing principles for conducting, supporting, and co5 ordinating medical rehabilitation research, consistent 

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

7 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

8 (i) by striking the first sentence and 

9 inserting the following: ‘‘The Director of 

10 the Center, in consultation with the Direc11 tor of the Institute, the coordinating com12 mittee established under subsection (e), 

13 and the advisory board established under 

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

15 than every 5 years, revise and update the 

16 Research Plan, as appropriate. Not later 

17 than 30 days after the Research Plan is so 

18 revised and updated, the Director of the 

19 Center shall transmit the revised and up20 dated Research Plan to the President and 

21 the appropriate committees of Congress.’’; 

22 and 

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

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

25 the Director of the Institute, shall annually prepare a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Mar 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800

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1 port for the coordinating committee established under sub2 section (e) and the advisory board established under sub3 section (f) that describes and analyzes the progress during 

4 the preceding fiscal year in achieving the objectives, 

5 benchmarks, and guiding principles described in para6 graph (2)(C) and includes expenditures of the Center and 

7 other agencies of the National Institutes of Health for car8 rying out the Research Plan. The report shall include rec9 ommendations for revising and updating the Research 

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

11 and the Director of the Institute determine appropriate. 

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

13 the Director of the Institute shall consult with the Direc14 tor of NIH, and the report shall reflect an assessment of 

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

16 (4) in subsection (e)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘peri18 odically, or not less than every 5 years, host a 

19 scientific conference or workshop on medical re20 habilitation research and’’ after ‘‘The Coordi21 nating Committee shall’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘the Di23 rector of the Division of Program Coordination, 

24 Planning, and Strategic Initiatives within the 


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

2 composed of’’; and 

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

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

5 Center, acting in the capacity of a designee of 

6 the Director of NIH’’; 

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

8 end the following: 

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

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

11 and 

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

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

14 the Director of the Institute, the Coordinating Committee, 

15 and the Advisory Board, shall develop guidelines gov16 erning the funding for medical rehabilitation research by 

17 the Center and other agencies of the National Institutes 

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

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

20 consistent with the Research Plan. 

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

22 agencies shall jointly review the programs carried out (or 

23 proposed to be carried out) by each such official with re24 spect to medical rehabilitation research and, as approVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Mar 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800

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1 priate, enter into agreements preventing duplication 

2 among such programs. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall enter into interagency agree4 ments relating to the coordination of medical rehabilita5 tion research conducted by agencies of the National Insti6 tutes of Health and other agencies of the Federal Govern7 ment. 

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

9 rehabilitation research’ means the science of mechanisms 

10 and interventions that prevent, improve, restore, or re11 place lost, underdeveloped, or deteriorating function (de12 fined at the level of impairment, activity, and participa13 tion, according to the World Health Organization in the 

14 International Classification of Functioning, Disability and 

15 Health (2001)).’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS OF CERTAIN AGREEMENTS FOR 

17 ENHANCING COORDINATION AND PRE18 VENTING DUPLICATIVE PROGRAMS OF MED19 ICAL REHABILITATION RESEARCH. 

20 Section 3 of the National Institutes of Health 

21 Amendments of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 285g–4 note) is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a) IN GEN24 ERAL.—’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking subsection (b). 

Æ 


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