[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 458 Introduced in House (IH)]
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114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 458
Celebrating 25 years of success from the Office of Research on Women's
Health at the National Institutes of Health.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 1, 2015
Mrs. Noem (for herself, Ms. Matsui, Mrs. Brooks of Indiana, Ms. Frankel
of Florida, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Michelle Lujan
Grisham of New Mexico, Ms. Jenkins of Kansas, Ms. Speier, Mrs. Mimi
Walters of California, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Ms.
Loretta Sanchez of California, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Mrs. Beatty,
Ms. Castor of Florida, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. Bonamici, Mrs. Hartzler, Mrs.
Davis of California, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. Titus,
Mrs. Torres, Ms. Schakowsky, Miss Rice of New York, Ms. Jackson Lee,
Ms. Adams, Mrs. Lummis, Ms. Moore, Ms. Eshoo, Mrs. Capps, Ms. Hahn, Ms.
DeLauro, Ms. Meng, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mrs. Ellmers of North
Carolina, Mrs. Bustos, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Roybal-
Allard, Ms. Brownley of California, Ms. Norton, Ms. Edwards, Ms.
Bordallo, Ms. Stefanik, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. DeGette, Mrs. Dingell, Ms.
Tsongas, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Kuster, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Watson
Coleman, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Brown of Florida, Ms.
DelBene, Ms. Esty, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Ms. Herrera
Beutler, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Graham, Ms. Lee, Ms. Linda T.
Sanchez of California, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Fudge, Ms.
Maxine Waters of California, Ms. Lofgren, Mrs. Comstock, Ms. Gabbard,
Mrs. Black, Ms. McSally, Ms. Foxx, Mrs. Roby, Mrs. Wagner, Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen, and Ms. Plaskett) submitted the following resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Celebrating 25 years of success from the Office of Research on Women's
Health at the National Institutes of Health.
Whereas, on September 10, 1990, the Office of Research on Women's Health (in
this resolution referred to as ``ORWH'') was established at the National
Institutes of Health (in this resolution referred to as ``NIH'') to--
(1) ensure that women were included in NIH-funded clinical research;
(2) set research priorities to address gaps in scientific knowledge;
and
(3) promote biomedical research careers for women;
Whereas ORWH was established in law by the National Institutes of Health
Revitalization Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-43; 107 Stat. 122) and
implemented the law requiring researchers to include women in NIH-funded
tests of new drugs and other clinical trials;
Whereas today, more than \1/2\ of the participants in NIH-funded clinical trials
are women, enabling the development of clinical approaches to
prevention, diagnosis, or treatment appropriate for women;
Whereas in 2015, ORWH, with enthusiastic support from NIH leadership, announced
that, beginning in January 2016, NIH-funded scientists must account for
the possible role of sex as a biological variable in vertebrate animal
and human studies;
Whereas ORWH, along with NIH leadership, enhances awareness of the need to
adhere to principles of rigor and transparency, including the need to
publish sex-specific results to inform the treatment of women, men,
boys, and girls;
Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has helped expand research on women's
health beyond its roots in reproductive health to include--
(1) the study of the health of women across the lifespans of women; and
(2) biomedical and behavioral research from cells to selves;
Whereas by studying both sexes, ORWH is leading the scientific community to make
discoveries headed toward treatments that are more personalized for both
women and men;
Whereas today, ORWH communicates through programs and policies that sex and
gender affect health, wellness, and how diseases progress;
Whereas turning discovery into health for all, the NIH motto, means studying
both females and males across the biomedical research continuum;
Whereas the ORWH Specialized Centers of Research on Sex Differences program
supports established scientists who do basic, clinical, and
translational research with a sex and gender focus;
Whereas all NIH Institutes and Centers fund and encourage scientists at
universities across the Nation to conduct research on the health of
women and on sex and gender influences;
Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has established several career-enhancement
initiatives for women in biomedicine, including the Building
Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health program that
connects junior faculty with mentors who share interests in women's
health research;
Whereas ORWH co-directs the NIH Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers,
which develops and evaluates policies to promote the recruitment,
retention, and sustained advancement of women scientists;
Whereas the Women's Health Initiative (in this resolution referred to as
``WHI'') marked the first long-term study of its kind and resulted in a
wealth of information so that women and their physicians can make more
informed decisions regarding postmenopausal hormone therapy;
Whereas WHI reduced the incidence of breast cancer by 10,000 to 15,000 cases per
year, and the overall health care savings far exceeded the WHI
investment;
Whereas ORWH supported the National Cancer Institute's development of a vaccine
that prevents the transmission of Human Papilloma Virus, resulting in a
decrease in the number of cases of cervical cancer;
Whereas in 1994, ORWH co-sponsored with the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases a landmark study, the results of which showed that
giving the drug AZT to HIV-infected women with little or no prior
antiretroviral therapy reduced the risk of mother-to-child transmission
of HIV by \2/3\;
Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
perinatal HIV infections in the United States have dropped by more than
90 percent;
Whereas ORWH co-funded a large clinical study of the genetic and environmental
risk factors for ischemic stroke, which identified a strong relationship
between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the probability of
ischemic stroke in young women, prompting the targeting of smoking as a
preventable and modifiable risk factor for cerebrovascular disease in
young women; and
Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has contributed support toward major
advances in knowledge about the genetic risk for breast cancer, and
discovery of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic risk markers has enabled
better-informed genetic counseling and treatment for members of families
that carry mutant alleles: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) commends the ORWH for its work over the past 25 years
to improve and save the lives of women worldwide and must
remain intact for this and future generations;
(2) recognizes that there remain striking sex and gender
differences among many diseases and conditions on which the
ORWH should continue to focus;
(3) encourages the ORWH to continue to focus on ensuring
that the NIH supports biomedical research that considers sex as
a biological variable across the research spectrum; and
(4) encourages the Director of the NIH to continue to
consult and involve the ORWH on all matters related to the
influence of sex and gender on health, especially those
pertaining to the consideration of sex as a biological variable
in research with vertebrate animals and humans.
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