Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 5585 - ARPA-H Act

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(House Rules)
(Rep. Eshoo, D-CA, and 66 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly supports the mission of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to accelerate high-impact health solutions and revolutionize how we prevent, treat, and cure a range of diseases, including cancer and other diseases that have a significant impact on Americans' health and quality of life. The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 5585, which provides additional authorities for this critical agency.

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to driving and accelerating innovation toward new, groundbreaking capabilities, technologies, systems, and platforms in health and medicine, creating new hope for patients and advancing health equity.

As the pace of scientific discoveries accelerates, ARPA-H will provide a novel pathway to catalyzing transformative health breakthroughs that cannot readily be accomplished through traditional research or commercial activity. The Administration views ARPA-H as a vital complement to ongoing research efforts in the public and private sectors that deliver biomedical and health advances for the American public.

In order to successfully conduct impactful research on diseases like cancer or mental health conditions, it is critical that ARPA-H is stood up in a timely and efficient manner. At the same time, we need to allow this nascent agency to be nimble, dynamic, and adaptive. To that end, the Administration supports an approach that provides the agency with flexibility to adapt to unforeseen circumstances and believes that leveraging the National Institutes of Health's existing infrastructure would provide for the most efficient administration of the program's goals. The Administration is concerned by the provision that would enable ARPA-H to bypass the process for ensuring that communications with Congress are accurate and reflect the views of the Executive Branch.

We urge the Congress to pass legislation providing additional authorities for ARPA-H so that the program is fully equipped and resourced to work with the greatest possible speed to deliver results for the American people.