[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1157 Received in Senate (RDS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 1157


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 26 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the 
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants for 
      the development and operation of research centers regarding 
  environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast 
                                cancer.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Breast Cancer and Environmental 
Research Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDING COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ON BREAST CANCER AND THE 
              ENVIRONMENT.

    (a) In General.--Subpart 1 of part C of title IV of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 417F. INTERAGENCY BREAST CANCER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 
              COORDINATING COMMITTEE.

    ``(a) Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research 
Coordinating Committee.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 6 months after the 
        date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
        establish a committee, to be known as the Interagency Breast 
        Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee (in 
        this section referred to as the `Committee').
            ``(2) Duties.--The Committee shall--
                    ``(A) share and coordinate information on existing 
                research activities, and make recommendations to the 
                National Institutes of Health and other Federal 
                agencies regarding how to improve existing research 
                programs, that are related to breast cancer research;
                    ``(B) develop a comprehensive strategy and advise 
                the National Institutes of Health and other Federal 
                agencies in the solicitation of proposals for 
                collaborative, multidisciplinary research, including 
                proposals to evaluate environmental and genomic factors 
                that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer 
                that would--
                            ``(i) result in innovative approaches to 
                        study emerging scientific opportunities or 
                        eliminate knowledge gaps in research to improve 
                        the research portfolio;
                            ``(ii) outline key research questions, 
                        methodologies, and knowledge gaps;
                            ``(iii) expand the number of research 
                        proposals that involve collaboration between 2 
                        or more national research institutes or 
                        national centers, including proposals for 
                        Common Fund research described in section 
                        402(b)(7) to improve the research portfolio; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) expand the number of collaborative, 
                        multidisciplinary, and multi-institutional 
                        research grants;
                    ``(C) develop a summary of advances in breast 
                cancer research supported or conducted by Federal 
                agencies relevant to the diagnosis, prevention, and 
                treatment of cancer and other diseases and disorders; 
                and
                    ``(D) not later than 2 years after the date of the 
                establishment of the Committee, make recommendations to 
                the Secretary--
                            ``(i) regarding any appropriate changes to 
                        research activities, including recommendations 
                        to improve the research portfolio of the 
                        National Institutes of Health to ensure that 
                        scientifically-based strategic planning is 
                        implemented in support of research priorities 
                        that impact breast cancer research activities;
                            ``(ii) to ensure that the activities of the 
                        National Institutes of Health and other Federal 
                        agencies, including the Department of Defense, 
                        are free of unnecessary duplication of effort;
                            ``(iii) regarding public participation in 
                        decisions relating to breast cancer research to 
                        increase the involvement of patient advocacy 
                        and community organizations representing a 
                        broad geographical area;
                            ``(iv) on how best to disseminate 
                        information on breast cancer research progress; 
                        and
                            ``(v) on how to expand partnerships between 
                        public entities, including Federal agencies, 
                        and private entities to expand collaborative, 
                        cross-cutting research.
            ``(3) Rule of construction.--For the purposes of the 
        Committee, when focusing on research to evaluate environmental 
        and genomic factors that may be related to the etiology of 
        breast cancer, nothing in this section shall be construed to 
        restrict the Secretary from including other forms of cancer, as 
        appropriate, when doing so may advance research in breast 
        cancer or advance research in other forms of cancer.
            ``(4) Membership.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Committee shall be composed 
                of the following voting members:
                            ``(i) Not more than 7 voting Federal 
                        representatives as follows:
                                    ``(I) The Director of the Centers 
                                for Disease Control and Prevention.
                                    ``(II) The Director of the National 
                                Institutes of Health and the directors 
                                of such national research institutes 
                                and national centers (which may include 
                                the National Institute of Environmental 
                                Health Sciences) as the Secretary 
                                determines appropriate.
                                    ``(III) One representative from the 
                                National Cancer Institute Board of 
                                Scientific Advisors, appointed by the 
                                Director of the National Cancer 
                                Institute.
                                    ``(IV) The heads of such other 
                                agencies of the Department of Health 
                                and Human Services as the Secretary 
                                determines appropriate.
                                    ``(V) Representatives of other 
                                Federal agencies that conduct or 
                                support cancer research, including the 
                                Department of Defense.
                            ``(ii) 12 additional voting members 
                        appointed under subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Additional members.--The Committee shall 
                include additional voting members appointed by the 
                Secretary as follows:
                            ``(i) 6 members shall be appointed from 
                        among scientists, physicians, and other health 
                        professionals, who--
                                    ``(I) are not officers or employees 
                                of the United States;
                                    ``(II) represent multiple 
                                disciplines, including clinical, basic, 
                                and public health sciences;
                                    ``(III) represent different 
                                geographical regions of the United 
                                States;
                                    ``(IV) are from practice settings, 
                                academia, or other research settings; 
                                and
                                    ``(V) are experienced in scientific 
                                peer review process.
                            ``(ii) 6 members shall be appointed from 
                        members of the general public, who represent 
                        individuals with breast cancer.
                    ``(C) Nonvoting members.--The Committee shall 
                include such nonvoting members as the Secretary 
                determines to be appropriate.
            ``(5) Chairperson.--The voting members of the Committee 
        shall select a chairperson from among such members. The 
        selection of a chairperson shall be subject to the approval of 
        the Director of NIH.
            ``(6) Meetings.--The Committee shall meet at the call of 
        the chairperson of the Committee or upon the request of the 
        Director of NIH, but in no case less often than once each year.
    ``(b) Review.--The Secretary shall review the necessity of the 
Committee in calendar year 2011 and, thereafter, at least once every 2 
years.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out research activities under title IV of the Public Health Service 
Act, including section 417F of such Act as added by subsection (a), 
there are authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2009 through 2012. Amounts authorized to be appropriated under 
the preceding sentence shall be in addition to amounts otherwise 
authorized to be appropriated for such purpose under section 402A of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 282a).

            Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.