Washington Highlights: November
9, 2007
Congress Clears HHS Funding Bill for President
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The House of Representatives Nov. 8 approved the conference report
on the FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill (H.R.
3043), clearing it for the President. The vote was 274-141,
which is short of the two-thirds needed to override President Bush's
expected veto of the bill. A total of 51 Republicans voted for the
measure; no Democrat opposed it.
The House had earlier passed (269-142)
the conference report on H.R. 3043 when it included both the FY
2008 Labor-HHS-Education and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs
spending bills. Democratic congressional leaders had combined the
two bills to force the Administration to agree to approximately
$10 billion in additional funds above the President's request in
the Labor-HHS bill.
The Senate Nov. 7 considered the combined Labor-HHS and MilCon-VA
spending package. Lobbying and ethics legislation (PL
110-81) passed earlier this year changed the Senate rules to
permit Senators to strike provisions from a conference report that
were not in the bill passed by either the House or the Senate. Since
the conference agreement was technically for the Labor-HHS bill,
the MilCon-VA funding was vulnerable to a point of order to separate
the bills.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) offered the point of order
against the package, and the Senate failed (47-46)
to approve a motion by Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
Subcommittee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to waive the point of order.
After the MilCon-VA funding was stripped from the package, the Senate
then voted 55-37 to approve the Labor-HHS conference agreement and
send it back to the House for final approval.
In a Statement of Administration Policy issued Nov. 6, the White House repeated
its promise to veto the Labor-HHS bill.
The House and Senate conference agreement on Labor-HHS includes
$30 billion for NIH in FY 2008, an increase of $1.1 billion (3.8
percent) over the FY 2007 level, and $212 million for Title VII
health professions training programs, an increase of $27.3 million
(14.7 percent).
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Tannaz Rasouli, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
trasouli@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
House Passes Second Funding Extension as Part
of Defense Spending Bill
The House of Representatives Nov. 8 approved (400-15)
the conference agreement on the FY 2008 Defense Appropriations bill
(H.R.
3222, H.Rpt.
110-434). The legislation includes a second continuing resolution
(CR) to provide funds at FY 2007 levels for federal programs through
Dec. 14. The current CR (P.L.
110-92) expires Nov. 16. The legislation is needed to keep the
government operating because none of the FY 2008 spending bills
have been completed.
The new CR includes a provision to increase funding for the VA
by $2.9 billion above FY 2007 spending levels. That would allow
the VA to be funded at a rate equal to the President's FY 2008 budget
request during the period covered by the new CR.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Defense Spending Agreement Includes Indirect Cost
Cap
The conference agreement on the defense spending bill (H.R.
3222, H.Rpt.
110-434) includes a provision to limit payment for negotiated
indirect cost rates to no more than 35 percent of the total cost
of defense contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements for basic
research. The limitation applies only to Department of Defense contracts,
grants, or cooperative agreements using FY 2008 funds and entered
into after the date the spending bill is signed into law.
The bill passed by the House in July would have limited indirect
costs on defense basic research awards to 20 percent of the total
direct cost of the contract, grant, or agreement.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
AAMC, Higher Education Associations Comment on
Senate Patent Reform
A group of higher education associations, including the AAMC, sent
comments Oct. 15 to the Senate Judiciary committee on the "Patent
Reform Act of 2007" (S.
1145). The letter,
from the AAMC, the American Council on Education, the National Association
of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the Association of
American Universities, and the Council on Governmental Relations,
thanks the committee for its "thoughtful development"
of S. 1145 and provides comments on three remaining concerns of
the university research community: damages, applicant quality submissions,
and the post-grant review second window.
Information:
Stephen Heinig, Lead Science Policy Analyst
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
sheinig@aamc.org
(202) 828-0488
President Signs Temporary HEA Extension
President Bush Oct. 31 signed the "Third Higher Education
Extension Act of 2007" (P.L. 110-109) to extend temporarily
the Higher Education Act (HEA, P.L.
105-244) through March 31, 2008. Authority for the HEA expired
on Sept. 30, 2003; however, several extensions have been enacted,
allowing uninterrupted administration of the programs authorized
under the law. The most recent extension would have expired Oct.
31. The Oct. 23 House-passed bill (H.R.
3927) would have extended the programs through April 30, 2007.
[see Washington Highlights,
Oct. 26]
The Senate July 24 passed the "Higher Education Amendments
of 2007" (S.
1642) to reauthorize the HEA for 5 years [See Washington
Highlights, July 27].
The House is expected to introduce a final HEA reauthorization bill
shortly.
Information:
Matthew Shick, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
mshick@aamc.org
(202) 862-6116
NIH "Council of Councils" Holds First Meeting
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Nov. 8 held the inaugural meeting of its Council of Councils to plan for and discuss potential research
programs that cut across or address gaps in the categorical missions
of the agency's 27 institutes and centers. The council is chaired
by Alan Krensky, M.D., Director of the NIH Office of Portfolio Analysis
and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI) [see Washington
Highlights, Jan. 26],
and is currently comprised of 27 members drawn from the councils
of the NIH institutes or centers (including Robert Dickler, AAMC
Senior Vice President for Health Care Affairs), and three additional
ad hoc members. As part of its first meeting, the panel examined
and discussed initiatives to standardize reporting of phenotypes
and to improve the pipeline for career development of young scientists.
The council also heard from NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D.,
who noted earlier calls for reform in the organization of the NIH,
which has grown exponentially in complexity and budget for more
than half a century. A 2002 National Academies report, chaired by
Harold Shapiro, Ph.D., President Emeritus and Professor, Princeton
University (also a member of the council) called for an enhanced
analysis and coordination capacity within the Office of the Director
and for provision of sufficient funds to support innovative and
cross-cutting research. These recommendations in part inspired creation
of both the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and the new structure
within the director's office that institutionalizes the roadmap's
vision. Dr. Zerhouni, endorsing the new structure, compared NIH
to a hand that has 27 strong fingers without a strong palm.
The council was established by the "NIH Reform Act of 2007"
(P.L.
109-482), which also authorized the NIH "common fund"
--currently 1.7 percent of the NIH budget-- and created within NIH
the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives
(DPCPSI). As implemented, DPCPSI resides in the Office of the Director
and incorporates several offices, including OPASI, within it. The
Council of Councils is an advisory committee to the NIH Director,
although with a much more focused mandate than the Director's long-standing
Advisory Committee (ACD).
Information:
Stephen Heinig, Lead Science Policy Analyst
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
sheinig@aamc.org
(202) 828-0488
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