[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 23381-23382]
[From the U.S. 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

[[Page 23382]]

     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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