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Biden Has Proposed a New Agency to Turbocharge Medical Treatments. But There’s a Fight over Where It Should Live.
There’s at least one proposal left over from the Trump administration that President Biden is set on reviving: the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Under the administration’s debut budget proposal, the National Institutes of Health would receive $6.5 billion to launch an agency modeled after the military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). ARPA-H would accelerate the development of medical treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and more. But there’s a battle brewing over where exactly the agency should be housed—and how it should be structured to have the most impact. Some medical experts and lawmakers say that for the agency to successfully innovate, it should be a stand-alone entity within the Department of Health and Human Services, and free of what many experts view as NIH’s bureaucratic and time-consuming approach to innovation and research. ( The Washington Post - June 23, 2021)
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Senate Confirms Chris Inglis as White House Cyber Czar
Last Thursday, the Senate unanimously confirmed Chris Inglis as the White House national cyber director. The former NSA deputy director and current commissioner with the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission will be the first in the position after it was created as part of the most recent NDAA. The position of “cyber czar” expands on the previous White House cybersecurity coordinator role that was eliminated in 2018 under the Trump administration. According to The Hill, “Inglis will be tasked with coordinating federal cybersecurity policy and will be the key federal leader tying together agencies, being a point of contact between Congress and the White House.” ( Association of American Universities - June 23, 2021)
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Proposed Title IX Rule Changes Expected May 2022
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Warren Holding up Kvaal Confirmation in Senate
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, is the senator preventing a full vote to confirm James Kvaal as under secretary at the Department of Education, according to a source familiar with the situation. But the hold isn't because the senator is pressing the Biden administration for widespread student loan cancellation, as reported Monday by Bloomberg Government—it's about the administration of the student loan program. Warren has raised concerns about the department's oversight of for-profit colleges and how it plans to assist student borrowers in the COVID-19 economic recovery. She has also questioned management of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program—in which only 2 percent of applicants have been approved -- and the role that loan servicers play in the student loan system. Warren and her staff have been engaging in conversations with the department about the higher education reforms she believes is necessary, including with respect to the student loan program, the source said. ( Inside Higher Ed - June 23, 2021)
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FY 22 APPROPRIATIONS NEWS
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Friends of IES Coalition Endorses Top Line Amount for IES in FY22 Budget Request
Last week, the Friends of IES coalition[, of which AAU and Vanderbilt University are members,] sent a letter to House and Senate Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee leaders strongly endorsing the top line amount of $737.47 million included in President Biden’s FY22 budget request for the Institute of Education Sciences. This funding level, the letter states, “would bolster the research and statistical infrastructure needed to support learning recovery, understand and address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across all levels of education, and ensure the continuation of research and data collection in the field.” ( Association of American Universities - June 23, 2021)
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Through Proposed Climate Labs, Department of Energy Reaches Out to Urban Communities
Taking aim at two goals at once, the Department of Energy (DOE) wants to launch an initiative both to address the climate crisis and increase diversity in the U.S. scientific workforce. In its 2022 budget request to Congress, DOE requests funds to create urban integrated field laboratories (IFLs) that would gather climate data in cities and build bridges to urban communities, including by collaborating with minority-serving universities, such as historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The effort is timely, scientists say, as evidence suggests the impacts of climate change will often fall hardest on poorer urban communities. But collecting climate data in cities poses major challenges, and Black researchers stress that to really boost diversity, DOE will have to help minority institutions grow their research capacity. ( Science Magazine - June 23, 2021)
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DCbrief provides concise summaries of news items to inform Vanderbilt faculty and staff of federal policy developments that impact the university. Visit our website for past issues of DCbrief. Vanderbilt University Office of Federal Relations (202) 216-4361
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