ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:

Phone, fax, or e-mail your senator and request that s/he cosponsor the bill (contact information is available at http://www.senate.gov);

Fax a letter of support to Senator Lieberman (202-224-9750);

Email Senator Cochran expressing your support through http://cochran.senate.gov

Issue a public statement of support from your organization and share it widely with members, colleagues, and the media. Contact ATA to add a link to your statement from this page.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Read a summary of the Cures Bill.

Visit Senator Lieberman's Web site

ATA's media coverage

The SPARC Open Access Newsletter

 

 

Supporters

The following organizations have expressed their support for the American Center for Cures Act 499H1: Alliance for Taxpayer Access American Association of Law Libraries / American Library Association / Association of Research Libraries / Medical Library Association / Special Libraries Association

The American Center for Cures Act
Sponsors Lieberman (D-CT) and Cochran (R-MS)

STATUS:

January 1, 2006

ATA MEMBERS INVITED TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT FOR
499H1 - Fax a letter of support to Senator Lieberman (202-224-9750) or email Senator Cochran expressing your support through http://cochran.senate.gov

December 8, 2005

TAXPAYER ADVOCACY GROUP SAYS CURES BILL IS THE RIGHT MEDICINE - Alliance for Taxpayer Access Commends Proviso that Would Make Federally Funded Biomedical Research Available to All Potential Users

 

THE ISSUE:

Introduced on December 7th by Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), the bipartisan Cures Bill would expedite development of new therapies and cures for life-threatening diseases. Among the requirements of the bill is the establishment of free public access to articles stemming from research funded by agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), including NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The bill calls for DHHS-funded research to be made available in NIH’s popular PubMed Central online digital archive within six months of publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The NIH already has a policy that asks its investigators to deposit their manuscripts in PubMed Central, but the policy is voluntary and public access can be delayed up to a year. NIH estimates that less than five percent of eligible research is making its way into PubMed Central under their current policy. The Cures Bill would require deposit of refereed articles and reach beyond the NIH. It would also provide access sooner than the NIH policy.

About the Cures Bill

• “Public Access Requirement for Research” is Section 499H-1 of the American Center for Cures bill introduced in the Senate.

• Summary of the Cures Bill:
http://lieberman.senate.gov/documents/bills/051207
curesbill.pdf

• Section-by-section breakdown of the legislation:
http://lieberman.senate.gov/documents/bills/051207
curessectionbysection.pdf

• List of quotes from supporters of the bill:
http://lieberman.senate.gov/documents/bills/051207
curesquotes.pdf