Washington, D.C.-Energy and Commerce Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Health Subcommittee Republican Leader Brett Guthrie (R-KY) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5855, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health (ARPA-H) Act.
“Today, the People’s House passed the ARPA-H Act, which authorizes the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) with a clearly defined targeted mission. It fosters the development of transformative health technologies by supporting high-risk, high-reward biomedical projects not being met by existing Federal programs or the private sector. It places strong transparency and accountability safeguards on the agency to make sure its top and only priority is high-risk breakthrough innovations in health and medicine. It prohibits federal funding from going to adversarial nations such as China and Russia. It also ensures that the Biden administration does not use the agency to push a political agenda. Because the Biden administration proposed 14 offices that we believed would be susceptible to political influence, mission creep, and high administrative costs, the ARPA-H Act limits the number of offices to six. Of those six, at least four must exclusively be focused on research and development. Furthermore, agency administration costs are capped at 15 percent.
“People and families from across this nation have an incredible amount of hope in the promise of American innovation. They are counting on American leadership for more lifesaving breakthrough cures and treatments. They deserve every assurance that ARPA-H and the funding that has already been allocated has a laser-focus on their priorities. That is what we achieved in the ARPA-H Act.
“We thank our colleagues Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone and Health Subcommittee Chair Anna Eshoo for working with us on this legislation to ensure these strong safeguards. Let’s continue to build on this work to unleash, not stifle, America’s global biomedical leadership."
