[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 531 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 531

To prioritize funding for the National Institutes of Health to discover 
    treatments and cures, to maintain global leadership in medical 
 innovation, and to restore the purchasing power the NIH had after the 
       historic doubling campaign that ended in fiscal year 2003.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 26, 2015

   Ms. DeLauro (for herself, Mr. Higgins, and Mr. King of New York) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                               the Budget

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prioritize funding for the National Institutes of Health to discover 
    treatments and cures, to maintain global leadership in medical 
 innovation, and to restore the purchasing power the NIH had after the 
       historic doubling campaign that ended in fiscal year 2003.

    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 ``Accelerating Biomedical Research 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The National Institutes of Health (referred to in this 
        section as the ``NIH'') is the leading biomedical research 
        entity in the world. It supports scientists in every State who 
        are pursuing treatments and cures to prevent and reduce human 
        suffering.
            (2) Thanks in large part to NIH-funded research, Americans 
        today are living longer and healthier lives. Life expectancy in 
        the United States has jumped from 47 years in 1900 to nearly 79 
        years today. Deaths from heart attack have fallen by more than 
        60 percent over the past 40 years, and deaths from cancer are 
        falling about 1 percent each year.
            (3) NIH is vital to the United States economy. The NIH 
        extramural program supports around 50,000 competitive research 
        grants and 300,000 scientists and research personnel at more 
        than 2,500 universities, medical schools, and other research 
        institutions across our 50 States.
            (4) Economists have estimated that every $1 invested in NIH 
        generates more than $2 in local economic growth. Bioscience 
        companies in the United States, many of which depend on basic 
        research conducted by NIH, directly employ 1.6 million people, 
        and indirectly support another 6.2 million jobs.
            (5) NIH research is critical to the Nation's long-term 
        fiscal health. Alzheimer's disease currently costs the United 
        States an estimated $200,000,000,000 a year. If no progress is 
        made to cure or delay the onset of this disease, the cost will 
        rise to well over $1,000,000,000,000 a year in today's dollars 
        by 2050.
            (6) Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease 
        for children in the United States. More than 60 percent of 
        children with cancer participate in NIH-funded clinical trials.
            (7) NIH enhances our national security by funding research 
        on medical countermeasures for bioterrorism, new and emerging 
        diseases, and deadly pandemics.
            (8) The historic, 5-year doubling of Federal funding for 
        NIH ended in fiscal year 2003. Despite the widely recognized 
        benefits of NIH-funded research, NIH funding has declined by 
        nearly 25 percent since then, when adjusted for inflation.
            (9) The success rate of applications for NIH funding is 
        near an all-time low. Fifteen years ago, NIH funded about 1-in-
        3 meritorious research proposals. Today, that rate has fallen 
        to about 1-in-6, meaning that thousands of promising research 
        ideas proposed every year are never pursued.
            (10) The decline in the NIH success rate has been 
        especially challenging for young researchers. In 1980, a 
        researcher could expect to receive her first R01 grant at age 
        38. Today, the average investigator must wait until age 45, a 
        delay that is causing many of our brightest young scientists to 
        leave the field.
            (11) America's global scientific leadership is now at risk. 
        Between 2004 and 2012, the United States share of global 
        investment declined by about 13 percent while the share of 
        Asian economies grew by 7 percent. The Organisation for 
        Economic Co-operation and Development projects that China will 
        outspend the United States on research and development by 2020.
            (12) Budget cap adjustments are used by Congress to 
        prioritize spending that produces economic growth and reduces 
        costs that contribute to the Federal debt.

SEC. 3. CAP ADJUSTMENT.

    Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E); 
        and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C), the following:
                    ``(D) National institutes of health.--
                            ``(i) In general.--If a bill or joint 
                        resolution making appropriations for a fiscal 
                        year is enacted that specifies amounts for the 
                        National Institutes of Health at the Department 
                        of Health and Human Services (75-9915-1-1-552), 
                        then the adjustments for that fiscal year shall 
                        be the amount of additional new budget 
                        authority provided in that Act for such 
                        programs for that fiscal year, but shall not 
                        exceed--
                                    ``(I) for fiscal year 2016, 
                                $3,000,000,000 in additional new budget 
                                authority;
                                    ``(II) for fiscal year 2017, 
                                $6,300,000,000 in additional new budget 
                                authority;
                                    ``(III) for fiscal year 2018, 
                                $8,450,000,000 in additional new budget 
                                authority;
                                    ``(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 
                                $10,740,000,000 in additional new 
                                budget authority;
                                    ``(V) for fiscal year 2020, 
                                $13,160,000,000 in additional new 
                                budget authority; and
                                    ``(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 
                                $15,730,000,000 in additional new 
                                budget authority.
                            ``(ii) Definitions.--As used in this 
                        subparagraph:
                                    ``(I) Additional new budget 
                                authority.--The term `additional new 
                                budget authority' means the amount 
                                provided for a fiscal year, in excess 
                                of $29,369,000,000, in an appropriation 
                                Act and specified to support the 
                                National Institutes of Health.
                                    ``(II) National institutes of 
                                health.--The term `National Institutes 
                                of Health' means the appropriations 
                                accounts that support the various 
                                institutes, offices, and centers that 
                                make up the National Institutes of 
                                Health.''.
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