October 18th, 2007 - Mr. President, on December 20, 2005, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act was signed by the President and became law. This legislation established, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. A successor to the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry, this program takes what used to be considered medical waste, deposits of umbilical cord blood, and banks it for future transplant recipients. Cord blood is the only known substitute for bone-marrow transplantation.
The first cord blood transplant in the United States not involving a family member was performed at Duke University Medical Center in 1993. Since then, cord blood transplants have become increasingly common. Nationwide, more than 500 cord blood transplants are performed each year.
Today, cord blood transplantation is one of the most hopeful and exciting areas in the field of medicine. Together, adult stem cells and cord blood units have been used to treat over 70 blood cancers and genetic diseases.
Let me tell you about a young girl named Sangeetha. She received a transplant 10 years ago at my alma mater, Duke University, when she was battling leukemia. Doctors struggled to find a bone marrow match for Sangeetha, who is Indian. Fortunately, doctors found a compatible match from a baby girl born in New York, and Sangeetha was able to have cord blood stem cell transplantation. I am pleased to say she graduated from Western Alamance High School last year and is now a freshman at East Carolina University.
Mr. President, my amendment ensures that the cord blood program is included in the actual Labor-HHS appropriations bill. In the past, the cord blood program has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress, and I ask that the Senate again show its support of this program by accepting my amendment. I would also like to thank my colleagues, Senators Specter and Harkin, for their strong support of the cord blood program. Without their hard work, this life-saving program would not have received the funding increase that it did this year.
Patients across the nation have benefited from these state-of- the-art centers that are located in six states: North Carolina, New York, Washington, California, Colorado, and Texas. I know that in my home state of North Carolina, Duke University Medical Center has been working tirelessly to serve patients who travel from across the country to benefit from the latest advancements in medical research.
I urge my colleagues to support this important amendment. It is imperative that these centers are adequately funded to ensure that the National Cord Blood Centers can continue to expand and store more cord blood donations – which means matches for more patients in desperate need of a transplant.
Mr. President I ask for passage of this amendment.
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