HOUSE MOVES TO REAUTHORIZE NIH

Abstract

CONGRESS IS PREPARING TO DO something it hasn't done for more than a decade: reauthorize the National Institutes of Health. The House Energy & Commerce Committee initiated the process by releasing a discussion draft of NIH reauthorization legislation and by holding a hearing on that draft. On the Senate side, the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee has indicated that it will take up the issue this fall. Typically done every few years, reauthorization gives members of Congress an opportunity to reassess the mission and activities of a given federal agency and legislate any changes it believes are needed. For NIH, however, it's been 12 years since Congress last passed a reauthorization bill. In that time, the agency's budget has more than doubled to nearly $28 billion, and the number of institutes and centers has climbed to 27, making management of the agency a significant challenge. At the July 19 House hearing, Energy & ...