109th Congress

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Improvement Act

S. 302

Background

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) is a private, nonprofit foundation established by Congress in 1990 to support the mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Foundation fosters collaborative relationships in education, research, and related activities among NIH, industry, academia, and nonprofit organizations. It supports basic and clinical research to advance medical knowledge, training and advanced education programs for research investigators, and educational programs about medical research. For example, FNIH is currently partnering with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to conduct clinical studies on pediatric patients. FNIH has also received grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to establish a program to identify critical scientific challenges in global health and conduct research to address those challenges.

During the 108th Congress, Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation that would have made several technical corrections to Section 499 of the Public Health Service Act, which provides the statutory authorization for FNIH. Although the bill was passed by the Senate by unanimous consent, it was not considered by the House.

At the beginning of the 109th Congress, Senator Kennedy reintroduced the bill as S. 302, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Improvement Act.

Provisions of the Legislation/Impact on NIH

S. 302 would have amended Section 499 of the Public Health Service Act, making minor technical corrections regarding the FNIH Board of Directors and other clarifying amendments. The bill would have required NIH to transfer between $500,000 and $1,250,000 to the Foundation annually. The version of S. 302 introduced during the 108th Congress would have set this amount at exactly $500,000.

Status and Outlook

S. 302 was introduced by Senator Kennedy on February 7, 2005, and was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). On February 9, the bill was ordered to be reported out of the Senate HELP Committee without amendment. On May 26, the bill was reported out of the Senate HELP Committee with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. As amended, S. 302 was passed by the Senate by unanimous consent on July 27. No further action occurred on this legislation as a freestanding bill; however, the provisions of S. 302 were incorporated into H.R. 6164, the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006 (see separate article).