Recognizing that equity, diversity, and inclusion in federally funded health research is necessary to enhance scientific excellence, and ensure equitable outcomes for patients in the United States.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1437 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1437

 Recognizing that equity, diversity, and inclusion in federally funded
  health research is necessary to enhance scientific excellence, and
      ensure equitable outcomes for patients in the United States.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 2026

  Mrs. Dingell (for herself, Mr. Cohen, and Ms. Norton) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 Recognizing that equity, diversity, and inclusion in federally funded
  health research is necessary to enhance scientific excellence, and
      ensure equitable outcomes for patients in the United States.

Whereas, on May 29, 2026, the White House Office of Management and Budget
        published a proposed rule that would expand their authority in
        policymaking for Federal agencies and allow the Office of Management and
        Budget to circumvent congressional authority;
Whereas the proposed rule builds off an Executive Order signed by President
        Donald J. Trump in August 2025, which directed Federal agencies to give
        political appointees oversight of grants to ensure that they ``advance
        the President's policy priorities'';
Whereas the proposed rule would expand the authority of the Office of Management
        and Budget, politicize control of Federal grants, de-emphasize peer
        review, place more restrictions on meeting attendance for grant holders,
        limit collaborations between federally funded United States scientists
        and overseas colleagues, and restrict Federal financial support for the
        publication of results by United States scientists in scientific
        journals;
Whereas more than 230 research universities and affiliated academic medical
        centers and research institutes, said that ``the proposed changes would
        effectively dismantle a framework that has supported basic and applied
        research in the United States and add unnecessary restrictions,
        requirements, and substantial burden that will hamper United States
        leadership and competitiveness'';
Whereas the proposed rule would, for all Federal agencies, prohibit Federal
        funds for bilateral or multilateral collaborations, agreements,
        programs, or activities with certain foreign countries or entities;
Whereas the proposal would disallow researchers from using Federal grants to
        cover costs associated with publication, ``including article-processing
        charges, fees that many journals charge authors to make articles freely
        available'';
Whereas existing policy requires all federally funded research to be made free
        to read as soon as it is published;
Whereas, historically, United States research grants have been managed by career
        civil servants, many of them scientists, who conducted peer reviews
        alongside expert scientists from recognized organizations including
        academies, scientific and professional societies, and academic
        institutions;
Whereas, according to the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular
        Biology, the peer-review system is a rigorous process intended to ensure
        that applications for funding are based on scientific merit and
        innovation;
Whereas the proposed rule would require senior political appointees to review
        every discretionary grant before it is awarded, and would forbid
        political appointees from routinely deferring to peer review
        recommendations by panels;
Whereas the proposed rule would codify and expand the authority of Federal
        agencies to terminate active grants mid-award if they are deemed
        ``inconsistent with program goals or agency priorities'';
Whereas agencies would not be required to provide a process for researchers to
        appeal a termination;
Whereas the proposed rule would prohibit the use of Federal funding for research
        on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as gender,
        disproportionately impacting funding for projects that focus on
        underserved and underrepresented communities and for scientists from
        these backgrounds;
Whereas the Trump administration's fiscal year 2026 budget request proposed
        eliminating has indicated its intention to remove the National Institute
        on Minority Health and Health Disparities, which focuses on groups that
        tend to have poorer health outcomes;
Whereas, according to data from the United States Census Bureau, women make up
        approximately 50.5 percent to 51.1 percent of the population of the
        United States;
Whereas, until the 1990s, nearly all health research was conducted on men, as
        women were excluded from most clinical trials;
Whereas researchers had previously assumed that they could apply the results of
        their male-only study to females, which overlooked fundamental
        differences between women and men, such as the vast majority of studies
        on aging that fail to account for the impact of menopause on age-related
        conditions;
Whereas cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women, yet
        women have historically been underrepresented in cardiovascular research
        and are more likely to experience delayed or missed diagnoses because
        diagnostic criteria, symptom recognition, and treatment approaches were
        largely developed based on male populations;
Whereas people of color have historically been underrepresented in clinical
        trials and other medical development research;
Whereas individuals with lighter skin have historically been the default
        baseline for assessing medical devices and treatments, as evidenced by
        multiple studies that found pulse oximeters, which help guide essential
        care decisions, overestimated oxygen saturation to a greater degree in
        Black patients than in White patients;
Whereas disparities in access to medical advancements can lead to disparities in
        health outcomes and life expectancy;
Whereas the National Institutes of Health Policy and Guidelines on the Inclusion
        of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research requires racial
        and ethnic categories to be used when reporting population data;
Whereas health disparities have economic costs for the entire Nation, and a 2018
        study found that racial health disparities alone cost $421,000,000,000
        to $451,000,000,000 in excess medical care expenses, lower labor force
        productivity, and premature death;
Whereas Black, LGBTQ, and women patients routinely experience discrimination
        from health care providers;
Whereas more representation in the health care workforce may contribute to the
        research and training of health professionals who contribute to the
        overall health of the United States, and restricting federally funded
        research related to diversity is likely to reshape the health of all
        Americans;
Whereas high-quality research on communities most impacted by health disparities
        is necessary to close gaps in health outcomes for these communities; and
Whereas the purpose of clinical research is to understand how the human body
        works, and in order for research to be useful it should reflect all of
        the populations it intends to help, regardless of their background,
        gender, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, or socioeconomic
        status, has access to opportunities to contribute: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes that equity, diversity, and inclusion in
        federally funded health research is--
                    (A) necessary to enhance scientific excellence, and
                ensure equitable outcomes for patients in the United
                States; and
                    (B) essential to address the full range of health
                challenges we face in the United States;
            (2) recognizes and is committed to addressing systemic
        barriers in federally funded research projects for underserved
        and underrepresented communities such as bias in funding,
        publication, and representation;
            (3) opposes arbitrary and politically motivated efforts to
        impede the science-based, meritorious review process of
        federally funded research projects that has made the United
        States the leader in health innovation for decades; and
            (4) urges the administration to maintain the longstanding,
        apolitical, science-backed peer review process.
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