COPY

July 17th, 1964

Wny thanks for the material you sent ma,

Tho polnt I wanted to make in the talk we had at lunch was

that the Senate Appropriations Committee Report cwering fiscal 1964 funds
to NIH contained this statement1

In actuality,

**The cornnittee reaognizes that a sizable body of fundamental
research infonsetlon 1s now pennitting selection of certain
problems for intensive and extensive exploitation,  such as
chmfcal and virus causation of cancer. To move ahead ex-
peditiously fn such arms wt11 require resources not now in
ex1stLmcec particularly moderately large-scale facilities with
special air hsndliag for work with hazardous viruses and
chemicals. Xndustriaf-type facilities and operations, including
applied and dtvelopaental research capabilities, will be required
for full exploltation of research lrsads.
capability will necessitate long-term corrreitments to those
who are abfr and wtlling to undertake this type of research.
A11 moneys allocated in this contractual program shall be

en(: only after review and approval by the Nagional Cancer

The creation of this

1 sory Counc f 1 . *'

-

tbCounci1 is not provided with any opparttmlty to review rand

approve the-contracts, nor has the Council beem asked to review and approve
contract grants since E have bean on that Council t8e last two years.
in direct conflict with the expressed direction of the Senate report and
wlth the remarks of Congressman Fogarty on the House floar September 26th
of lest year, at the tlme the House accepted the Conference Report:

This fs

"The second point I wanted to mention is that it is my
understanding that research contracts, of which the National
Cancer Institute finances a great many, are not cleared through
the same channels of advisory groups as are grant applications,
After discussing this with several people with considerable
professional competence in this field, f am of the opinion
that the same procedure should be canployad for both."

        According to Public Taw 6125, enacted by the 80th Congress,
incorporating the National CRncer and Heatrt Xnstftutes under Title IV,  the
functions of the Council are "to review applications from any university,
hospital, laboratory, or other institution or agency, whether public or
private, or from individuals, for grants-ln-aid for research projects re-
lating to cancer, and certify to the Surgeon General its approval of
grants-in-aid in the cases of such projects which show promise of making
valuable contributions to humen knowledge with respect to the cause, pre-
vention, or methods of diagnosis or treatment of

Dr. Jams Shannon Page Two, June 17th. 1964

       The Council metnbetrs'inforrnatfon Is totally inadequate unless
they do have che opportunity to review and approve contracts, especially as
the contract program is such a large part of the tafal effort.

       As you noticed, no up-dated list of contracts wasprwidad for
review and approval either at the March or the JUM meetings of the Council,
nor hss the Council hen given the opportunity to review and approve contract
grants during the last two years.
wish and understanding of the Congress about the duties of the Council and
makes it impossible Cor the Council to have a cqrehensive view of what
the total research picture as in &his fieldz

I think this goes contrary to the expressed

With wany thanks and all best wishes,

Yours,

Dr. James Shannon, Director
National Institutes of Hwlth
Bsthesda 14, Maryland