To express the sense of the Senate concerning comparative effectiveness studies.

SA 154. Mrs. CLINTON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. 18, setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2006 and including the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2005 and 2007 through 2010; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title III, insert the following:

SEC. __. SENATE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS STUDIES.

It is the Sense of the Senate that--

(1) the overall discretionary levels set in this resolution assume $75,000,000 in new budget authority in fiscal year 2006 and new outlays that flow from this budget authority in fiscal year 2006 and subsequent years, to fund additional research and ongoing systematic reviews in the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality; and

(2) in addition to the efforts currently undertaken by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality that are designed to improve scientific evidence related to the comparative effectiveness and safety of prescription drugs and other treatments and to disseminate the findings and underlying data from such research to health care practitioners, consumers, and health care purchasers, knowledge gaps identified through such efforts should be the focus of additional research efforts to ensure that the goals of the relevant authorizing legislation are met.