WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement today as part of an Health Subcommittee hearing entitled, “NIH Reform Act of 2006: Progress, Challenges and Next Steps:”
“Mr. Chairman, thank you for recognizing me for an opening statement. I want to begin by thanking you for honoring my request to hold an oversight hearing of the NIH Reform Act of 2006.
“That law represents the first thorough reauthorization of the NIH in 13 years. Reforming NIH was a top priority of mine, and as I’d expected, writing the bill and passing it proved to be a long and arduous process. After three years of work, with significant input from NIH, advocacy groups and other stakeholders, the bill was passed into law on the very last day of the 2006 legislative year.
“In some respects, NIH had been stuck in the past, and the new law gave it the flexibility to adapt to new research opportunities. It made the director more than a figurehead by equipping him with oversight and coordination responsibilities that span the web of Institutes and Centers that constitute the agency. The Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives was established as a radar to spot areas of emerging scientific opportunity, allowing NIH to plan its new research initiatives in a cohesive and comprehensive way.
“I’m proud to say that the new system appears to be working. Having said that, there are some stakeholders who don’t understand the news system, and perhaps they don’t want to understand the new system.
“In any case, once again this Congress and this committee have had numerous disease-specific bills before us, all clamoring, with some justification, that they should be the newest, highest priority to fund. The whole purpose of the NIH bill was not to say we should not fund newer research with a higher priority, but we should let the experts, let the people who are most qualified to do the research, decide where to put the highest priority.
“Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for holding this year. I look forward to participating in the fullest degree possible.”
