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MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1965

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1965

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 2125, Rayburn Building, Hon. Harley O. Staggers presiding.

Mr. STAGGERS. The committee will be in order. Hearings this morning are on H.R. 3142, which Chairman Harris introduced, and H.R. 6001, introduced by our colleague from Rhode Island (Mr. Fogarty). These two bills are both identical with S. 597, introduced by Senator Hill, on January 19, this year.

These bills would authorize a program of grants to finance the construction of medical library facilities, the training of biomedical librarians and information specialists; the expansion and improvement of medical library resources; research and development in medical library sciences; the support of biomedical publications; the support of special scholarly scientific projects; the establishment of regional medical libraries; and the establishment of regional branches of the National Library of Medicine.

The needs of medical libraries throughout the United States are critical. Existing libraries are cramped for space, frequently inadequate in resources, deficient in trained manpower, and in need of new methods for handling the growing amounts of medical literature. A number of persons have expressed their interest in this legislation to the committee and so far as I am aware there is no opposition to the legislation.

Under the circumstances, then, I would like to suggest to the witnesses here today that there should not be any need for prolonged presentations. We hope to be able to complete the hearings on this legislation today.

At this point in the record, we will print the text of the bill and the agency reports thereon.

(The bill and reports referred to follow :)

[H.R. 3142, 89th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a program of grants to assist in meeting the need for adequate medical library services and facilities

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965".

SEC. 2. Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following new part:

"PART I-ASSISTANCE TO MEDICAL LIBRARIES

"DECLARATION OF POLICY AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

"SEC. 390. (a) The Congress hereby finds and declares that (1) the unprecedented expansion of knowledge in the health sciences within the past two decades has brought about a massive growth in the quantity, and major changes in the nature of, biomedical information, materials, and publications, (2) there has not been a corresponding growth in the facilities and techniques necessary adequately to coordinate and disseminate among health scientists and practioners the ever increasing volume of knowledge and information which has been developed in the health science field; (3) much of the value of the ever increasing volume of knowledge and information which has been, and continues to be, developed in the health science field will be lost unless proper measures are taken in the immediate future to develop facilities and techniques necessary to collect, preserve, store, process, retrieve, and facilitate the dissemination and utilization of, such knowledge and information.

"(b) It is therefore the policy of this part to—

"(1) assist in the construction of new, and the renovation, expansion, or rehabilitation, of existing medical library facilities;

"(2) assist in the training of medical librarians and other information specialists in the health sciences;

"(3) assist, through the awarding of special fellowships to physicians and scientists, in the compilation of existing, and the creation of additional, written matter which will facilitate the distribution and utilization of knowledge and information relating to scientific, social and cultural advancements in sciences related to health;

"(4) assist in the conduct of research and investigations in the field of medical library science and related activities, and in the development of new techniques, systems and equipment for processing, storing, retrieving, and distributing information in the sciences related to health;

"(5) assist in improving and expanding the basic resources of medical libraries and related facilities;

"(6) assist in the development of a national system of regional medical libraries each of which would have facilities of sufficient depth and scope to supplement the services of other medical libraries within the region served by it; and

"(7) provide financial support to biomedical scientific publications.

"DEFINITIONS

"SEC. 391. As used in this part

"(1) the term 'sciences related to health' includes medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, and public health, and fundamental and applied sciences when related thereto;

"(2) the terms 'National Medical Libraries Assistance Advisory Board' and 'Board' mean the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine established under section 373(a) of this Act;

"(3) the terms 'construction' and 'cost of construction', when used with reference to any medical library facility, include (A) the construction of new buildings, and the expansion, remodeling, and alteration of existing buildings, including architects' fees, but not including the cost of acquisition of land or off-site improvements, and (B) equipping new buildings and existing buildings (whether or not expanded, remodeled, or altered) for use as a library (including provision of automatic data processing equipment), but not with books, pamphlets, or related material.

"NATIONAL MEDICAL LIBRARIES ASSISTANCE BOARD

"SEC. 392. (a) The Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine established pursuant to section 373(a) shall, in addition to its functions prescribed under section 373, constitute and serve as the National Medical Libraries Assistance Advisory Board (hereinafter in this part referred to as the 'Board'). "(b) The Board shall

"(1) advise and assist the Surgeon General in the preparation of general regulations and with respect to policy matters arising in the administration of this part, and

"(2) consider all applications for construction grants under this part and make to the Surgeon General such recommendations as it deems advisable

with respect to (A) the approval of such applications, and (B) the amount which should be granted to each applicant whose application, in its opinion, should be approved.

"(c) The Surgeon General is authorized to use the services of any member or members of the Board, in connection with matters related to the administration of this part, for such periods, in addition to conference periods, as he may determinc.

"(d)_ _Appointed members of the Board who are not otherwise in the employ of the United States, while attending conferences of the Board or otherwise serving at the request of the Surgeon General in connection with the administration of this part, shall be entitled to receive compensation, per diem in lieu of subsistence, and travel expenses in the same manner and under the same conditions as that prescribed under section 373 (d), when attending conterences, traveling, or serving at the request of the Surgeon General in connection with the administration of part H which deals with the National Library of Medicine.

ASSISTANCE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES

"SEC. 393. (a) In carrying out the purposes of section 390(b) (1), the Surgeon General may, upon application of any public or private nonprofit agency or institution, make grants to such agency or institution toward the cost of construction of any medical library facility to be constructed by such agency or institution.

"(b) A grant under this section may be made only if the application therefor is recommended for approval by the Board and is approved by the Surgeon General upon his determination that

"(1) the application contains or is supported by reasonable assurances that (A) for not less than ten years after completion of construction, the facility will be used as a medical library facility, (B) subject to subsection (c), sufficient funds will be available to meet the non-Federal share of the cost of constructing the facility, and (C) sufficient funds will be available, when construction is completed, for effective use of the facility for the purpose for which it is being constructed;

(2) the proposed construction is necessary to meet the demonstrated needs for additional or improved medical library facilities in the community or area in which the proposed construction is to take place;

"(3) the application contains or is supported by adequate assurance that any laborer or mechanic employed by any contractor or subcontractor in the performance of work on the construction of the facility will be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the DavisBacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276a-276a5). The Secretary of Labor shall have, with respect to the labor standards specified in this paragraph, the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3176; 64 Stat. 1267), and section 2 of the Act of June 13, 1934, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276c).

"(c) Within such aggregate monetary limit as the Surgeon General may prescribe, after consultation with the Board, applications which (solely by reason of the inability of the applicants to give the assurance required by clause (B) of subsection (b) (1)) fail to meet the requirements for approval set forth in subsection (b) may be approved upon condition that the applicants give the assurance required by such clause (B) within a reasonable time and upon such other reasonable terms and conditions as he may determine after consultation with the Board. "(d) In acting upon applications for grants under this section, the Board and the Surgeon General shall take into consideration the relative effectiveness of the proposed facilities in meeting demonstrated needs for additional or improved medical library services, and shall give priority to applications for construction of facilities for which the need is greatest.

"(e) The amount of any grant made under this section shall be that recommended by the Board or such lesser amount as the Surgeon General determines to be appropriate; except that in no event may such amount exceed 75 per centum of the necessary cost of the construction of such facility as determined by him. "(f) Upon approval of any application for a grant under this section, the Surgeon General shall reserve, from any appropriation available therefor, the amount of such grant as determined under subsection (e), and shall pay such amount, in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such installments consistent with construction progress, as he may determine, Such payments shall be made through the disbursement facilities of the Department of the Treasury.

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