[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 122 (Thursday, July 2, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S4234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2421. Mr. TILLIS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 2301 proposed by Mr. Inhofe to the bill S. 4049, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the end of subtitle C of title VII, add the following:

     SEC. 752. SENSE OF SENATE ON THE ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE FOR 
                   REGENERATIVE MEDICINE.

       It is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine 
     (in this section referred to as ``AFIRM'') delivers critical 
     regenerative-based technologies lead to functional and 
     aesthetic recovery from injuries incurred during service in 
     the Armed Forces;
       (2) AFIRM is a highly rated, nationally respected public-
     private consortium leading the development of restorative 
     therapies for battlefield trauma as part of several research 
     and development programs directed to meet defined medical 
     technology gaps for warfighter groups;
       (3) the efforts by AFIRM span from research and development 
     to clinical translation, implementation, and 
     commercialization, with therapies developed for extremity and 
     craniofacial trauma, skin and genitourinary injuries, and 
     transplantation;
       (4) each AFIRM project specifically addresses a key need of 
     the wounded warfighter, which has helped guide research 
     projects toward partnerships with industry that can be 
     reviewed for approval and entered into clinical trials for 
     eventual placement in the marketplace;
       (5) technologies developed by AFIRM include, in part, those 
     that will result in the ability to generate and integrate 
     functional composite tissue, neural pathways, 
     vascularization, aesthetic skin, bone, and muscle;
       (6) despite the technology challenges, the public-private 
     teaming approach to medical research and development used by 
     AFIRM has resulted in more than 24 products reaching clinical 
     trials;
       (7) it is essential that Congress continue to provide the 
     necessary resources to sustain the technology exploration, 
     maturation, and transition in regenerative medicine set forth 
     by AFIRM; and
       (8) the Senate highly encourages allocation of additional 
     funds to AFIRM from the undistributed medical research funds 
     provided in this Act to facilitate the continued 
     implementation of the innovative consortium model used by 
     AFIRM that has a proven track record of success.
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