[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 242 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 242

 Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Office of Research on Women's 
              Health at the National Institutes of Health.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2015

Ms. Mikulski (for herself, Ms. Collins, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. 
  Murray, Ms. Heitkamp, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. 
 Murkowski, Ms. Ayotte, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Fischer, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. 
Warren, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. McCaskill, Ms. Stabenow, Mrs. Capito, and 
 Mrs. Ernst) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
        the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

                           September 16, 2015

   Committee discharged; considered, amended, and agreed to with an 
             amended preamble and an amendment to the title

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Celebrating the 25th anniversary of 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, 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 Senate--
            (1) commends ORWH for its work over the past 25 years to 
        improve and save the lives of women worldwide and expresses 
        that ORWH 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 ORWH 
        should continue to focus;
            (3) encourages ORWH to continue to focus on ensuring that 
        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 ORWH on all matters related to the 
        influence of sex and gender on health, especially those matters 
        pertaining to the consideration of sex as a biological variable 
        in research with vertebrate animals and humans.
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