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Senate Pushing House To Back Bioterrorism Legislation (NIH reauthorization, Ryan White in the mix)
By Fawn Johnson
CongressDailyAM
December 7, 2006
Senate leaders are pressuring the House to pass a sweeping bioterrorism bill that cleared the Senate by unanimous consent Tuesday, but House lawmakers are insisting that the Senate pass a National Institutes of Health reauthorization bill in return, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said Wednesday.
The House's position is "actually my position, too, but in the absence of that, I hope they'll focus on the quality of the pieces of legislation that have passed the Senate and realize that it's very beneficial," he said.
Burr acknowledged that persuading senators to support an NIH reauthorization bill this week is unlikely, although an aide said Majority Leader Frist would try to bring up the issue before adjournment. The House passed the NIH bill, sponsored by Energy and Commerce Chairman Barton, in September. The NIH bill, the first in 13 years, would authorize 5 percent annual increases the agency through FY09.
Burr said some senators are reluctant to take up the NIH bill on short notice. "There are members who have a process problem, particularly on the Democrat side, with a two-week turnaround on an NIH reauthorization bill," Burr said.
The Senate-passed bioterrorism measure would identify the HHS secretary as the lead federal official in charge of public health and medical preparedness responses during a public health emergency.T
hat portion of the bill is similar to language in a House bill, also sponsored by Barton, that cleared the Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this year. Staffers involved in crafting the House bioterrorism bill were caught off guard earlier in the week when the Senate hotlined its own bioterrorism bill. A senior Senate aide said the Energy and Commerce Committee is reviewing the Senate-passed bill.
In addition to the HHS provision, the Senate bill includes language that would accelerate the development of new medicines and vaccines by establishing the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, within HHS, to invest in research institutions and industry that are developing vaccines.
It also would update a 2002 law to deal with the threat of an avian flu epidemic and the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. Burr said House members also are dragging their feet on reauthorization of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Act, which the Senate passed Tuesday. Burr said the House should allow that measure to pass because it prevents some states and cities from losing federal funds for AIDS patients.
Senator Tom Coburn's activity on the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
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