Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - June 27, 2005)
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By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. DODD, Mr. BURR, Mr. REED, and Mr. ENSIGN):
S. 1317. A bill to provide for the collection and maintenance of cord blood units for the treatment of patients and research, and to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Cell Transplantation Program to increase the number of transplants for recipients suitable matched to donors of bone marrow and cord blood; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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Mr. REED. Mr. President, I join my colleagues, Senators ENSIGN, DODD, HATCH, and BURR, in introducing the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act of 2005. This bipartisan legislation represents a critical step forward in expanding access to lifesaving therapies to millions of patients with conditions that can be treated and even cured with bone marrow or cord blood.
The bill we are introducing today builds upon the already highly successful National Marrow Donor Program that has been in operation since 1987. In addition to reauthorizing this program, our bill calls for the establishment of a formal registry of cord blood units available for transplantation and expands to cord blood transplant recipients many of the program's existing functions, such as donor recruitment, education, information, and patient advocacy, presently available to only bone marrow recipients. It creates an umbrella program, aptly called the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Cell Transplantation Program.
Our legislation also captures many of the key recommendations of the Institute of Medicine, IOM, in their April 2004 report entitled, ``Cord Blood: Establishing a National Hematopoietip Stem Cell Bank Program.'' The report called for a stepped up effort to expand the inventory of cord blood units available for transplantation and, when appropriate, for research. Our bill establishes a grant program for qualified cord blood banks to help facilitate building an inventory of 150,000 new cord blood units. At that level, 95 percent of Americans with a condition that can be treated through a cord blood transplant could find a genetically suitable match. Additionally, the bill establishes an advisory council to consult and make recommendations to ensure the efficient and effective operation of the program.
Another important aspect of this bill is the creation of a demonstration project to study cord blood donations within families where a first degree relative has been I diagnosed with a condition that could benefit from a cord blood transplant. The legislation sets aside 5 percent of the cord blood inventory grants for the collection and storage of cord blood units at no cost to such families. This effort will be beneficial for families who find themselves in the tragic situation of having a sick child with another child on the way whose cord blood could provide a cure to the sibling. This demonstration program ensures that families will have this treatment option available to them.
I believe that the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Transplantation and Research Act of 2005 represents a strong compromise that upholds the principals my colleagues and I held as essential in developing a combined bone marrow and cord blood program. The bill also builds on the many strengths of the National Marrow Donor Program, which has facilitated over 20,000 transplants since its inception and has built a donor registry of over 5.5 million potential donors.
I urge the support of all of my colleagues for this bipartisan legislation so that we can send it quickly to the President for his signature.
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