December 28, 2000

The Honorable Wiliam J. Clinton
President of the United States
The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. President:

We write on behalf of the American Society for Cell Biology, a
nonprofit scientific organization of over 10,000 biomedical research
scientists, to strongly encourage you to veto H.R. 1795 (S. 1110),
"The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
Establishment Act."

We make this recommendation based on four serious concerns:

1. the passage of the Act did not enjoy due process or consideration
and analysis by the biomedical research community;

2. if instituted, the Act will introduce significant inefficiencies
to the operations of the National Institutes of Health;

3. the major premise upon which the bill is based is false; and, most
importantly,

4, if enacted, the Act will significantly undermine critical
integration of science and medicine, and will be a step backward for
human health and welfare.
Lack of Due Process: The bill was advocated by specialized groups
with narrow interests. It was unexpectedly introduced and passed on
the last day of the Congressional session on a Point of Order by
Senator Lott.

Inefficiencies: Congress directed the National Academy of Sciences

to review the operations of the National Institutes of Health with
specific concern about the proliferation of NIH institutes driven by
special interests. The proposed new Bioimaging Institute is an example
of exactly the sort of growth that is of concern to Congress. One of

us is on record as NIH Director (HEV) as advocating a consolidation of
the NIH institutes to increase operational efficiencies and scientific
synergy. The proposed Institute would work in direct opposition to

this effort.

False Premise: the bill claims that, "Basic research... is fundamentally
different from the research in molecular biology on which

the current national research institutes at the National

Institutes of Health (‘NIH’) are based." The NIH is not based on
research in molecular biology: it is based on research in many integrated
and synergistic areas of the biomedical sciences and human health.
Imaging and other technological advances, as well as molecular,

genetic and cellular insights, are all critical contributors to the

health research that is the basis of the NIH.

A Scientific Step Backward: significant bioengineering and imaging
research are vigorously pursued at present in the existing categorical
institutes. Separating these efforts from the diseases that they are
meant to address will frustrate hard-fought and scientifically wise
efforts to integrate research and clinical care.
Mr. President, you have an opportunity to conclude your term with one
final act of courage in defense of biomedical research by issuing a
pocket veto of this bill. We hope you will give the matter your
personal consideration.

Respectfully,

Paul Berg, Ph.D.

Chair

ASCB Public Policy Committee
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1980

Lawrence S. B. Goldstein, Ph.D.
Vice Chair
ASCB Public Policy Committee

H. Robert Horvitz, Ph.D.
Member
ASCB Public Policy Committee

Thomas D. Pollard, M.D.
Member
ASCB Public Policy Committee

Harold E. Varmus, M.D.

Member

ASCB Public Policy Committee

Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, 1989
Director, the National Institutes of Health, 1994-1999

cc: The Honorable Donna E. Shalala