Congresswoman Matsui Applauds Passage of Life-Saving Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Bill

Press Release

On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 2820, The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act, a bill co-authored by Congresswoman Doris Matsui to reauthorize the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program and the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI). The Transplantation Program has been reauthorized in a bipartisan way since its inception in the mid-1980s and NCBI has been reauthorized with it since its addition in 2005.

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"I strongly support the legislation on the floor, The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2015.

This is a bipartisan bill to reauthorize life-saving programs that provide hope to the thousands of Americans, and their families, who suffer from blood cancers or other blood disorders.

Every 4 minutes, someone is diagnosed with blood cancer or another blood disorder. Often, the only cure for these fatal diseases is a bone marrow or cord blood transplant. The program we reauthorize today runs the registry that connects patients with donors, and provides other needed services and research.

I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this legislation, and I urge my Senate colleagues to take the reauthorization up swiftly before the program expires at the end of this month."

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