I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2778 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to redesignate the National Center 

on Minority Health and Health Disparities as the National Institute 

for Minority Health and Health Disparities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 9, 2009 

Mr. JACKSON of Illinois (for himself and Mr. CUMMINGS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to redesignate the 

National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities as the National Institute for Minority Health and 

Health Disparities, 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 ‘‘Health Equity and 

5 Accountability through Research Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MINORITY HEALTH AND 

7 HEALTH DISPARITIES. 

8 (a) REDESIGNATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Public 

2 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.) is 

3 amended— 

4 (A) in section 401(b)(24), by striking ‘‘Na5 tional Center on Minority Health and Health 

6 Disparities’’ and inserting ‘‘National Institute 

7 for Minority Health and Health Disparities’’; 

8 and 

9 (B) in subpart 6 of part E— 

10 (i) in the subpart heading, by striking 

11 ‘‘Center’’ and inserting ‘‘Institute’’; 

12 (ii) in the headings of sections 485E 

13 and 485H, by striking ‘‘CENTER’’ and in14 serting ‘‘INSTITUTE’’; and 

15 (iii) by striking (other than in section 

16 485E(i)(1)) the term ‘‘Center’’ each place 

17 it appears and inserting ‘‘Institute’’. 

18 (2) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, 

19 map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of 

20 the United States to the National Center on Minor21 ity Health and Health Disparities shall be deemed to 

22 be a reference to the National Institute for Minority 

23 Health and Health Disparities. 


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1 (b) DUTIES; AUTHORITIES; FUNDING.—Section 

2 485E of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 287c– 

3 31) is amended— 

4 (1) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(e) DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.— 

7 ‘‘(1) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION OF MINOR8 ITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITY ACTIVITIES.— 

9 With respect to minority health and health dispari10 ties, the Director of the Institute shall plan, coordi11 nate, and evaluate research and other activities con12 ducted or supported by the institutes and centers of 

13 the National Institutes of Health. In carrying out 

14 the preceding sentence, the Director of the Institute 

15 shall evaluate the minority health and health dis16 parity activities of each of such institutes and cen17 ters and shall provide for the periodic reevaluation 

18 of such activities. Such institutes and centers shall 

19 be responsible for providing information to the Insti20 tute, including data on clinical trials funded or con21 ducted by these institutes and centers. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATIONS.—The Director of the In23 stitute shall carry out this subpart (including devel24 oping and revising the plan and budget required by 

25 subsection (f) in consultation with the heads of the 


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1 institutes and centers of the National Institutes of 

2 Health, the advisory councils of such institutes and 

3 centers, and the advisory council established pursu4 ant to subsection (j). 

5 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The Di6 rector of the Institute— 

7 ‘‘(A) shall act as the primary Federal offi8 cial with responsibility for coordinating all re9 search and activities conducted or supported by 

10 the National Institutes of Health on minority or 

11 other health disparities; 

12 ‘‘(B) shall represent the health disparities 

13 research program of the National Institutes of 

14 Health, including the minority health and other 

15 health disparities research program, at all rel16 evant executive branch task forces, committees, 

17 and planning activities; and 

18 ‘‘(C) shall maintain communications with 

19 all relevant agencies of the Public Health Serv20 ice, including the Indian Health Service, and 

21 various other departments and agencies of the 

22 Federal Government to ensure the timely trans23 mission of information concerning advances in 

24 minority health disparities research and other 

25 health disparities research among these various 


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1 agencies for dissemination to affected commu2 nities and health care providers.’’; 

3 (2) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(f) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of 

7 this section and other applicable law, the Director of 

8 the Institute, in consultation with the Director of 

9 NIH, the Directors of the other institutes and cen10 ters of the National Institutes of Health, and the 

11 advisory council established pursuant to subsection 

12 (j), shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) annually review and revise a strategic 

14 plan (referred to in this section as ‘the plan’) 

15 and budget for the conduct and support of all 

16 minority health disparity research and other 

17 health disparity research activities of the insti18 tutes and centers of the National Institutes of 

19 Health that include time-based targeted objec20 tives with measurable outcomes and assure that 

21 the annual review and revision of the plan uses 

22 an established trans-National Institutes of 

23 Health process subject to timely review, ap24 proval, and dissemination; 


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1 ‘‘(B) ensure that the plan and budget es2 tablish priorities among the health disparities 

3 research activities that such agencies are au4 thorized to carry out; 

5 ‘‘(C) ensure that the plan and budget es6 tablish objectives regarding such activities, de7 scribe the means for achieving the objectives, 

8 and designate the date by which the objectives 

9 are expected to be achieved; 

10 ‘‘(D) ensure that all amounts appropriated 

11 for such activities are expended in accordance 

12 with the plan and budget; 

13 ‘‘(E) annually submit to Congress a report 

14 on the progress made with respect to the plan; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(F) create and implement a plan for the 

17 systemic review of research activities supported 

18 by the National Institutes of Health that are 

19 within the mission of both the Institute and 

20 other institutes and centers of the National In21 stitutes of Health, including by establishing 

22 mechanisms for— 

23 ‘‘(i) tracking minority health and 

24 health disparity research conducted within 

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1 propriateness of this research with regard 

2 to the overall goals and objectives of the 

3 plan; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the early identification of appli5 cations and proposals for grants, contracts, 

6 and cooperative agreements supporting ex7 tramural training, research, and develop8 ment, that are submitted to the institutes 

9 and centers that are within the mission of 

10 the Institute; 

11 ‘‘(iii) providing the Institute with the 

12 written descriptions and scientific peer re13 view results of such applications and pro14 posals; 

15 ‘‘(iv) enabling the institutes and cen16 ters to consult with the Director of the In17 stitute prior to final approval of such ap18 plications and proposals; and 

19 ‘‘(v) reporting to the Director of the 

20 Institute all such applications and pro21 posals that are approved for funding by 

22 the institutes and centers. 

23 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN COMPONENTS OF PLAN AND

24 BUDGET.—With respect to health disparities re25 search activities of the agencies of the National InVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:32 Jun 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778

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1 stitutes of Health, the Director of the Institute shall 

2 ensure that the plan and budget under paragraph 

3 (1) provide for— 

4 ‘‘(A) basic research and applied research, 

5 including research and development with re6 spect to products; 

7 ‘‘(B) research that is conducted by the 

8 agencies; 

9 ‘‘(C) research that is supported by the 

10 agencies; 

11 ‘‘(D) proposals developed pursuant to so12 licitations by the agencies and for proposals de13 veloped independently of such solicitations; and 

14 ‘‘(E) behavioral research and social 

15 sciences research, which may include cultural 

16 and linguistic research in each of the agencies. 

17 ‘‘(3) MINORITY HEALTH DISPARITIES RE18 SEARCH.—The plan and budget under paragraph (1) 

19 shall include a separate statement of the plan and 

20 budget for minority health disparities research.’’; 

21 (3) by amending subsection (h) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(h) RESEARCH ENDOWMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Insti25 tute shall carry out a program to facilitate minority 


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1 health and health disparities research and other 

2 health disparities research by providing research en3 dowments at— 

4 ‘‘(A) centers of excellence under section 

5 736; and 

6 ‘‘(B) centers of excellence under section 

7 485F. 

8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—The Director of the Insti9 tute shall provide for a research endowment under 

10 paragraph (1) only if the institution involved meets 

11 the following conditions: 

12 ‘‘(A) The institution does not have an en13 dowment that is worth in excess of an amount 

14 equal to 50 percent of the national average of 

15 endowment funds at institutions that conduct 

16 similar biomedical research or training of health 

17 professionals. 

18 ‘‘(B) The application of the institution 

19 under paragraph (1) regarding a research en20 dowment has been recommended pursuant to 

21 technical and scientific peer review and has 

22 been approved by the advisory council estab23 lished pursuant to subsection (j). 

24 ‘‘(C) The institution at any time was 

25 deemed to be eligible to receive a grant under 


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1 section 736 and at any time received a research 

2 endowment under paragraph (1).’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(k) FUNDING.— 

5 ‘‘(1) FULL FUNDING BUDGET.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a fis7 cal year, the Director of the Institute shall pre8 pare and submit directly to the President, for 

9 review and transmittal to Congress, a budget 

10 estimate for carrying out the plan for the fiscal 

11 year, after reasonable opportunity for comment 

12 (but without change) by the Secretary, the Di13 rector of the National Institutes of Health, the 

14 directors of the other institutes and centers of 

15 the National Institutes of Health, and the advi16 sory council established pursuant to subsection 

17 (j). The budget estimate shall include an esti18 mate of the number and type of personnel 

19 needs for the Institute. 

20 ‘‘(B) AMOUNTS NECESSARY.—The budget 

21 estimate submitted under subparagraph (A) 

22 shall estimate the amounts necessary for the in23 stitutes and centers of the National Institutes 

24 of Health to carry out all minority health and 

25 health disparities activities determined by the 


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1 Director of the Institute to be appropriate, 

2 without regard to the probability that such 

3 amounts will be appropriated. 

4 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATE BUDGETS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a fis6 cal year, the Director of the Institute shall pre7 pare and submit to the Secretary and the Di8 rector of the National Institutes of Health the 

9 budget estimates described in subparagraph (B) 

10 for carrying out the plan for the fiscal year. 

11 The Secretary and such Director shall consider 

12 each of such estimates in making recommenda13 tions to the President regarding a budget for 

14 the plan for such year. 

15 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION.—With respect to the 

16 fiscal year involved, the budget estimates re17 ferred to in subparagraph (A) for the plan are 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘(i) The budget estimate submitted 

20 under paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(ii) A budget estimate developed on 

22 the assumption that the amounts appro23 priated will be sufficient only for— 

24 ‘‘(I) continuing the conduct by 

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1 tional Institutes of Health of existing 

2 minority health and health disparity 

3 activities (if approved for continu4 ation), and continuing the support of 

5 such activities by the institutes and 

6 centers in the case of projects or pro7 grams for which the institutes or cen8 ters have made a commitment of con9 tinued support; and 

10 ‘‘(II) carrying out activities that 

11 are in addition to activities specified 

12 in subclause (I), only for which the 

13 Director determines there is the most 

14 substantial need. 

15 ‘‘(iii) Such other budget estimates as 

16 the Director of the Institute determines to 

17 be appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000 for fis20 cal year 2010 and such sums as may be necessary for each 

21 of fiscal years 2011 through 2014, to carry out this sec22 tion.’’. 

Æ 


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