Let's take a moment to talk about how important this letter to @NIHDirector is.
This letter from @PattyMurray and @rosadelauro likely set off a lot of alarm bells at the NIH and for good reason.
Before we get to the content of the letter, Rep. DeLauro is the ranking member of the House Labor H Approps committee--the committee that determines NIH annual funding. She'll likely chair the committee should Dems flip the house in Nov.
Sen. Murray is on the Senate Labor H Approps committee and also on Senate HELP which is charged with oversight of NIH. Both women have multiple opportunities to have NIH leadership in front of them for questioning.
So, aside from them being elected representatives, the power they could wield concerning NIH policy and funding assuredly got NIH leadership's attention.
Now for the letter--this paragraph on page 2 outlines the required NIH duties to ensure universities comply with civil rights laws. The most important, and possibly most damning, sentence is the last one. 
The very next paragraph essentially says that, with all of the news about NIH-funded researchers committing harassment, assault and worse, the agency has been absent, despite the clear need for provide oversight.
And the first two sentences of the next paragraph fully place the blame on Collins' shoulders.
Then the requests. The first six are mostly things they should have on file and can turn around quickly, but number 5 is quite a kicker.
The next six are what will let NIH show how they've taken the issue seriously. Or not. As @Dr24hours points out, number 11 is a big deal here.
The letter gave the NIH two weeks to comply with their requests (due date, Aug. 17). We'll see how well they do with this given the volume of information needed.
The NIH is clearly on the hook to show they're doing something regarding sexual harrassment. NIH leadership has prided itself on its good relationships with Congress, and falling flat here would cost them dearly. Especially with the prominence of the letter writers.
The cries from media and the research community, for years, have rung clearly in the ears of members of Congress before the NIH could come out with a coherent policy. That's embarrassing.
And beyond that, it's destructive. Universities are supposed to provide a vibrant research community and sexual harrassment/assault drive out great scientists much to the detriment of the larger community. Congress has given NIH authority to conduct oversight. They're not.
And thanks to @CWGreider via @JSheltzer for bringing this letter to my attention.
