[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6483 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6483

To amend the Public Health Service Act to require greater transparency 
  and accountability within the grant-making process of the National 
                         Institutes of Health.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 28, 2023

 Mr. Huizenga introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require greater transparency 
  and accountability within the grant-making process of 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Grant Reform And NIH Transparency 
Act of 2023'' or the ``GRANT Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. NIH DATABASE OF DENIALS.

    Section 402 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 282) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(p) Database of Denials.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Director of NIH, shall establish and maintain a database of 
        each research proposal that is denied a grant or other award by 
        the National Institutes of Health.
            ``(2) Updates.--The Secretary shall update the contents of 
        the database under paragraph (1) not less than quarterly.
            ``(3) Contents.--The database under paragraph (1) shall 
        include, with respect to each denial described in such 
        paragraph, an explanation of the basis for such denial.
            ``(4) Timing.--
                    ``(A) Establishment of database.--The Secretary 
                shall establish the database under paragraph (1) not 
                later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
                subsection.
                    ``(B) Covered denials.--The database under 
                paragraph (1) shall include all denials described in 
                such paragraph occurring on or after the date of 
                enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 3. ACCESS BY INDEPENDENT, OUTSIDE RESEARCHERS TO INFORMATION ON 
              NIH'S INTERNAL OPERATIONS FOR MAKING AWARDS.

    Section 402 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 282), as 
amended, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(q) Access to NIH Data by Independent, Outside Researcher.--
            ``(1) Sharing.--The Secretary, acting through the Director 
        of NIH, shall share with researchers, on request, information 
        concerning the internal operations of the National Institutes 
        of Health in making awards.
            ``(2) Relation to other law.--The obligation imposed by 
        paragraph (1) to share information applies notwithstanding any 
        other law, including sections 552(b), 552a, and 552b of title 
        5, United States Code.
            ``(3) Information to be shared.--Except as provided in 
        paragraph (4), the information required to be shared by 
        paragraph (1) includes the following:
                    ``(A) Individual scores and written comments on 
                funded and unfunded proposals made by study section 
                members and program staff of the National Institutes of 
                Health (including the Center for Scientific Review and 
                any national research institute, national center, 
                advisory council or board, or other office or agency of 
                the National Institutes of Health) in carrying out 
                applicable provisions of law, including sections 
                405(b)(2)(B)(ii), 405(b)(3)(B)(iii), 492, and 492A.
                    ``(B) The full text of funded proposals, unfunded 
                proposals, progress reports, and final reports for 
                research awards, including such awards consisting of a 
                grant, a cooperative agreement, a contract, training, 
                technical assistance, or other transaction authority.
                    ``(C) The information in the database under 
                subsection (p).
                    ``(D) Information on the performance of employees 
                and agents of the National Institutes of Health in 
                conducting research.
                    ``(E) The degree to which the National Institutes 
                of Health funds awards below the payline and the 
                rationale for doing so.
                    ``(F) Any other information regarding making awards 
                that is maintained by the Office of Portfolio Analysis, 
                the Center for Scientific Review, or the Office of 
                Evaluation, Performance, and Reporting.
                    ``(G) Any other information in the possession of 
                the National Institutes of Health that is requested in 
                accordance with paragraph (1), including any such--
                            ``(i) evaluation of performance; or
                            ``(ii) funding or peer-review model.
            ``(4) Redaction.--Before sharing information pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) regarding an award, the Secretary shall redact 
        the names of--
                    ``(A) the individuals serving as peer reviewers for 
                purposes of the research involved; and
                    ``(B) in the case of a grant or other award that 
                was denied (as described in subsection (p)(1)) the 
                individuals or other persons applying for the award.
            ``(5) Covered information.--
                    ``(A) Maintenance of information.--The Secretary 
                shall maintain into perpetuity information that is--
                            ``(i) described in paragraph (1); and
                            ``(ii) in the possession of the National 
                        Institutes of Health on or after the date of 
                        enactment of this subsection.
                    ``(B) Earlier information.--The Secretary shall 
                make a reasonable effort to reconstruct information 
                that--
                            ``(i) is requested pursuant to paragraph 
                        (1); and
                            ``(ii) was in the possession of the 
                        National Institutes of Health before the date 
                        of enactment of this subsection but has not 
                        been maintained in whole or in part.''.
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