[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2421 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2421
To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase accountability at
the National Institutes of Health.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 19, 2015
Mr. Barton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase accountability at
the National Institutes of Health.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. INCREASING ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF
HEALTH.
(a) Appointment and Terms of Directors of National Research
Institutes and National Centers.--Subsection (a) of section 405 of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284) is amended to read as
follows:
``(a) Appointment; Terms.--
``(1) Appointment.--The Director of the National Cancer
Institute shall be appointed by the President and the directors
of the other national research institutes, as well as the
directors of the national centers, shall be appointed by the
Director of NIH. The directors of the national research
institutes, as well as national centers, shall report directly
to the Director of NIH.
``(2) Terms.--
``(A) In general.--The term of office of a director
of a national research institute or national center
shall be 5 years.
``(B) Removal.--The director of a national research
institute or national center may be removed from office
by the Director of NIH prior to the expiration of such
director's 5-year term.
``(C) Reappointment.--At the end of the term of a
director of a national research institute or national
center, the director may be reappointed. There is no
limit on the number of terms a director may serve.
``(D) Vacancies.--If the office of a director of a
national research institute or national center becomes
vacant before the end of such director's term, the
director appointed to fill the vacancy shall be
appointed for a 5-year term starting on the date of
such appointment.
``(E) Transitional provision.--Each director of a
national research institute or national center serving
on the date of enactment of the 21st Century Cures Act
is deemed to be appointed for a 5-year term under this
subsection starting on such date of enactment.''.
(b) Compensation to Consultants or Individual Scientists.--Section
202 of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (Public Law
102-394; 42 U.S.C. 238f note) is amended by striking ``portable
structures;'' and all that follows and inserting ``portable
structures.''.
(c) Review of Certain Awards by Directors.--Section 405(b) of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284(b)) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(3) Before an award is made by a national research institute or
by a national center for a grant for a research program or project
(commonly referred to as an `R-series grant'), other than an award
constituting a noncompeting renewal of such grant, or a noncompeting
administrative supplement to such grant, the director of such national
research institute or national center--
``(A) shall review and approve the award; and
``(B) shall take into consideration--
``(i) the mission of the national research
institute or national center and the scientific
priorities identified in the strategic plan under
section 402(m); and
``(ii) whether other agencies are funding programs
or projects to accomplish the same goal.''.
(d) IOM Study on Duplication in Federal Biomedical Research.--The
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall enter into an arrangement
with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (or, if the
Institute declines, another appropriate entity) under which the
Institute (or other appropriate entity) not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of this Act will--
(1) complete a study on the extent to which biomedical
research conducted or supported by Federal agencies is
duplicative; and
(2) submit a report to the Congress on the results of such
study, including recommendations on how to prevent such
duplication.
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