S.Amdt. 3350

SA 3350. Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Mr. Hatch) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 524, to
authorize the Attorney General to award grants to address the national
epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and heroin use; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title I of the bill, add the following:

SEC. 104. ENHANCING BASIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH ON PAIN TO
DISCOVER THERAPIES TO REDUCE THE CURRENT OVER-
PRESCRIBING OF OPIOIDS.

(a) In General.--The Director of the National Institutes of
Health may intensify and coordinate fundamental,
translational, and clinical research of the National
Institutes of Health (referred to in this section as the
``NIH'') with respect to the understanding of pain and the
discovery and development of therapies for chronic pain.
(b) Priority and Direction.--The prioritization and
direction of the Federally funded portfolio of pain research
studies shall consider recommendations made by the
Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee in concert
with the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task
Force, and in accordance with the National Pain Strategy, the
Federal Pain Research Strategy, and the NIH-Wide Strategic
Plan for Fiscal Years 2016-2020, the latter which calls for
the relative burdens of individual diseases and medical
disorders to be regarded as crucial considerations in
balancing the priorities of the Federal research portfolio.
(c) Funding.--Funds shall be available to carry out this
section from funds otherwise available to the NIH.

____________________