[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 94 (Monday, July 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S6918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FAIRCLOTH:
  S. 990. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish 
the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging; to the Committee on Labor 
and Human Resources.


       national institute of biomedical imaging establishment act

  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I am today introducing the National 
Institute of Biomedical Imaging Establishment Act.
  This legislation would consolidate imaging research activities that 
are currently dispersed throughout the National Institutes of Health 
under a single administrative structure. This consolidation is needed 
to ensure that the American taxpayer receives the maximum possible 
return on our investment in critical new medical technologies. My 
legislation does not authorize any new spending; instead, it 
restructures existing programs in order to increase efficiency, provide 
greater accountability, and improve the process of setting priorities 
and allocating valuable resources for research. It also establishes a 
mechanism to coordinate the imaging research that is currently funded--
without an overall plan--by federal agencies outside NIH.
  The NIH is a national treasure, but it is organized to support 
research into specific diseases and organ systems. Its structure is 
less well suited to a technology that cuts across these lines and is 
applicable to virtually all diseases and organs. This legislation will 
create a research infrastructure at NIH to develop the imaging 
technologies of the 21st century. Based on the remarkable record of 
imaging innovations in the past 25 years, breakthroughs in the coming 
years will allow physicians to detect, diagnose, and treat disease more 
effectively, less invasively, and less expensively. Nearly every 
American who needs health care services will benefit from this 
proposal.
  I urge my colleagues to join in this effort to meet the scientific 
and budgetary challenges we face in medical research.

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