© 2002 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 94, No. 1, 9,
January 2, 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
NEWS |
Thirty Years Ago, Efforts to Remove NCI from NIH Failed
After Mary Lasker and Senator Ralph Yarborough got some momentum rolling for a comprehensive national cancer strategy, Yarborough appointed a committee to look into the matter. The group of scientists, business leaders, and cancer advocates returned with a radical proposal—to cede the National Cancer Institute from the National Institutes of Health.
Immediately, NIH director Robert Marston vociferously opposed the idea, as did leaders of other top groups, including the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. They argued that isolating cancer research would hinder the multidisciplinary efforts needed for cures.
Paul Rogers, a congressman from Florida, saw the rift and sought to mend it. "I was concerned that NCI as an independent [organization] would be disruptive, that other disease groups would start asking for their own special institutes," Rogers recalled at a recent symposium on the thirtieth anniversary of the cancer act that was sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Americans for Medical Progress.
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Edward Kennedy, Yarborough’s successor as torch-bearer after the Texan lost in the fall 1970 elections, introduced a Senate bill that included measures to rend NCI from NIH. Dismayed, Rogers scheduled 3 weeks of House hearings to bring the debate to the public.
The issue exploded onto the national scene. The hearings garnered so much attention that Ann Landers took up the cause, urging readers to pen their support for a national cancer strategy. Congress received 300,000 letters. Bolstered, Rogers introduced a different version of the bill in the House that would keep NCI as part of NIH. The bill passed in the House by a huge margin, and the House and Senate sat down to reconcile the two bills. They compromised. NCI would remain part of NIH, but its director would become a presidential appointee with the authority to propose budgets directly to the president.
Meanwhile, the people had latched onto the promise of rapid cancer cures. The influential Citizens’ Committee for the Conquest of Cancer publicly vowed to help cure cancer by the bicentennial year 1976.
The moment presented an opportunity for President Nixon to cultivate a more compassionate persona. His advisers urged him to turn the White House bill signing into a media event. But Nixon balked, said Rogers, because he was concerned about Kennedy as a possible presidential opponent in 1972. Nixon was loath to give the Massachusetts Senator any media exposure.
In the end, Nixon heeded his advisors and signed the bill with great hoopla, calling for the nation to embark on a "conquest to conquer cancer."
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