On Apr. 29, 1937, U.S. Congressman Maury Maverick of Texas introduced H.R. 6767, “To promote research in the cause, prevention, and methods of diagnosis and treatment of cancer, to provide better facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, to establish a National Cancer Center in the Public Health Service (PHS), and for other purposes.”

It authorized an appropriation of $2,400,000 for the first year and $1 million annually thereafter. The legal office of PHS had helped draft the bill on the basis of suggestions made by Dr. Dudley Jackson of San Antonio, Texas.

The first Director of the new institute, who was to report directly to the US Surgeon General, was Carl Voegtlin, head of Pharmacology at the Public Health Service. Voegtlin merged his group with researchers at the Office of Cancer Investigations of Harvard University to  establish the first core of researchers at the new NCI, and issued the first thirteen research fellowship grants.