Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1520, the Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act.

This bill prohibits people who are eligible for a lifesaving organ transplant from being denied the transplant based solely on their disability status.

Existing Federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Affordable Care Act, already prohibit organ transplant centers from discriminating based solely on disability. However, there are still cases where people with disabilities have been denied access to organ transplants. This is often because of misperceptions about how a disability impacts the medical likelihood of transplant success or unfounded assumptions regarding people with disabilities' ability to comply with postoperative care.

This bill prohibits covered entities from determining that an individual is ineligible to receive a transplant based solely on the fact that the individual has a disability.

The legislation also acknowledges the importance of support networks and services in helping with postoperative care.

Organ transplants, Mr. Speaker, as you know, save lives, and it is important that the system is free from discrimination.

I am pleased that we are taking this step to clarify and build upon existing civil rights protections for people with disabilities. However, I am concerned that ongoing cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services will limit the effectiveness of this bill.

H.R. 1520 instructs the Office of Civil Rights to enforce the discrimination protections included in the bill. However, the Trump administration is not only proposing to eliminate the Office of Civil Rights as an independent agency, but it has fired some of the office's staff. The final number of staff who have or will be eliminated is unclear because the Department has refused to be transparent with Congress on the number of employees who have been terminated.

The Office of Civil Rights is already understaffed and underfunded, which has created a backlog of cases. If my Republican colleagues truly care about the proper implementation of this bill, they will join me in conducting oversight of the Trump administration's rampant cuts at HHS and the Office of Civil Rights.

I thank Representative Dingell and also Representative Cammack for their work on this bill. It is very important legislation, and I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1520.

Mr. Speaker, while I support this underlying legislation--and it is important legislation--I have to say that it is disappointing to see that my Republican colleagues are proceeding with this bill without a CBO score. They are violating their own protocol, which requires a CBO score before bringing a bill to the floor.

Over the past 3 years, there have been countless times that Democratic bills have been denied floor consideration because they included an increased authorization line, which is against the majority leader's floor protocol.

It is entirely inconsistent for Republicans to deny floor consideration for an increased authorization line that has no score but then bring a bill to the floor that could have a mandatory score.

It is the majority's responsibility to request and obtain CBO scores for bills they are planning to move. The Republicans are changing the rules as they please. I am, of course, concerned about this from a process perspective, and I encourage my Republican colleagues to follow their own rules.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, let me associate myself with the remarks that the chairman made. This is an important bill. I urge all of my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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