[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 163 (Thursday, November 29, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H8630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
AMENDMENTS OF 2001
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 717) to amend the Public Health Service
Act to provide for research with respect to various forms of muscular
dystrophy, including Duchenne, Becker, limb girdle, congenital,
facioscapulohumeral, myotonic, oculopharyngeal, distal, and Emery-
Dreifuss muscular dystrophies, with a Senate amendment thereto, and
concur in the Senate amendment.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The Clerk read the Senate amendment, as follows:
Senate amendment:
Page 17, after line 6 insert:
SEC. 7. STUDY ON THE USE OF CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE AT THE
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH.
(a) Review.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services shall enter into a contract with the Institute of
Medicine for the purpose of conducting a study and making
recommendations on the impact of, need for, and other issues
associated with Centers of Excellence at the National
Institutes of Health.
(b) Areas of Review.--In conducting the study under
subsection (a), the Institute of Medicine shall at a minimum
consider the following:
(1) The current areas of research incorporating Centers of
Excellence (which shall include a description of such areas)
and the relationship of this form of funding mechanism to
other forms of funding for research grants, including
investigator initiated research, contracts and other types of
research support awards.
(2) The distinctive aspects of Centers of Excellence,
including the additional knowledge that may be expected to be
gained through Centers of Excellence as compared to other
forms of grant or contract mechanisms.
(3) The costs associated with establishing and maintaining
Centers of Excellence, and the record of scholarship and
training resulting from such Centers. The research and
training contributions of Centers should be assessed on their
own merits and in comparison with other forms of research
support.
(4) Specific areas of research in which Centers of
Excellence may be useful, needed, or underused, as well as
areas of research in which Centers of Excellence may not be
helpful.
(5) Criteria that may be applied in determining when
Centers of Excellence are an appropriate and cost-effective
research investment and conditions that should be present in
order to consider the establishment of Centers of Excellence.
(6) Alternative research models that may accomplish results
similar to or greater than Centers of Excellence.
(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which
the contract is entered into under subsection (a), the
Institute of Medicine shall complete the study under such
subsection and submit a report to the Secretary of Health and
Human Services and the appropriate committees of Congress
that contains the results of such study.
Mr. TAUZIN (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that the Senate amendment be considered as read and printed in the
Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Nethercutt). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the original request
of the gentleman from Louisiana?
Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, and I
certainly shall not object as the sponsor of this legislation. I just
wanted to take this opportunity to thank the gentleman from Louisiana
(Mr. Tauzin) and also the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) for
their hard work and cooperation on this issue, along with expressing my
thanks to the ranking members, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Dingell) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown), as well as to my
principal cosponsor, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson).
Mr. Speaker, let me just briefly say that this legislation left this
House with a unanimous vote and 310 cosponsors, and it will authorize
the Centers of Excellence at the National Institutes of Health as well
as an epidemiological survey at the CDC for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
and other forms of childhood muscular dystrophy.
I have to say that I cannot think of a better Christmas present
during this time between Thanksgiving and Christmas for the tens of
thousands of parents whose children suffer from this lethal disease.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr.
Tauzin) knows, is the most common and most lethal form of childhood
genetic disease. By the passage of this legislation tonight, we are
giving honest, real hope to the parents of these children and to the
entire American people who want to fight this disease. My appreciation
goes to everyone.
I have been a strong supporter of NIH and all of the scientists and
dedicated professionals at the National Institutes of Health. I want to
thank them for their cooperation for helping us write a better bill
than I had originally offered. I am grateful to everyone, and my hat is
off to the Duchenne muscular dystrophy parents who have actually made
this possible.
With those words of thanks and appreciation, I yield to the gentleman
from Louisiana under my reservation.
Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I
want to commend the gentleman for his extraordinary work in this area.
Not only will this bill, because of his great work, authorize NIH to do
extensive new research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but also other
forms of childhood muscular dystrophy. What we have learned is when
they do extensive research in these areas, very much of it is genetic
research and that genetic research yields all sorts of information on
other diseases, such as Friedreich's ataxia, which is a disease of my
culture, the Cajun culture. We learn a great deal every time we do
extensive research into these genetic disease areas and as the
gentleman said, not only tens of thousands of parents whose children
suffer with these disease, but countless tens and perhaps hundreds of
thousands of families who may get an answer to diseases comparable or
similar to these may come out of this research.
I want to thank the gentleman for his great work on it; and again, I
think not only many families will receive this as a great Christmas
gift, but future generations are going to be grateful for the work he
has done on this bill.
Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time under my reservation, I
thank my chairman. I will simply conclude by saying it is not often
that we are surprised with this legislative business, but I think the
speed with which this legislation swept through the House of
Representatives and also the other body has taken my breath away. My
hat is off to the leadership of the House and to the gentleman from
Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin).
Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the original request
of the gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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