[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 926 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 926

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President 
 should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously, to Mrs. 
   Henrietta Lacks, in recognition of her invaluable contribution to 
   modern science in the form of her own immortal cells--HeLa cells--
without which life-saving medicines and procedures would not have been 
         developed at critical moments in our Nation's history.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2016

  Ms. Kelly of Illinois submitted the following resolution; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
 the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President 
 should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously, to Mrs. 
   Henrietta Lacks, in recognition of her invaluable contribution to 
   modern science in the form of her own immortal cells--HeLa cells--
without which life-saving medicines and procedures would not have been 
         developed at critical moments in our Nation's history.

Whereas, in 1951, Mrs. Henrietta Lacks, a tobacco farmer and mother to Lawrence, 
        Elsie, David, Deborah, and Zakariyya, was the unwitting donor of cells 
        from her cancerous tumor that were biopsied during treatment for her 
        cervical cancer;
Whereas at the time of her treatment in a racially segregated hospital, Mrs. 
        Henrietta Lacks was subjected to a form of routine cancer care now 
        deemed terribly harmful;
Whereas Mrs. Henrietta Lacks's cells, which were taken without permission and 
        code-named HeLa, have proven to be medical marvels and the first 
        immortal human cell line;
Whereas HeLa cells have--

    (1) enabled the development of the polio vaccine and antitumor 
medications;

    (2) allowed for greater understanding of the underlying causes of 
certain cancers, HIV, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), gene mapping, in 
vitro fertilization; and

    (3) been a part of missions to outer space, where astrophysicists have 
tested the effects of nongravity environments on human cells;

Whereas, in 1996, Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, recognized 
        Mrs. Henrietta Lacks's family for her posthumous contributions to 
        medicine and health research;
Whereas her immortal cells will continue to help mankind forever;
Whereas the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor of the 
        Nation, was established in 1945 to appropriately recognize Americans who 
        have made an especially meritorious contribution to the security or 
        national interests of the United States, world peace, or cultural or 
        other significant public or private endeavors; and
Whereas Mrs. Henrietta Lacks succumbed to cancer at the age of 31 in relative 
        obscurity, was buried in an unmarked grave, and finally received a 
        headstone in May 2010: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the President should award the Presidential Medal of 
        Freedom posthumously to Mrs. Henrietta Lacks in recognition of 
        her invaluable contribution to modern science in the form of 
        her own immortal cells;
            (2) in addition to the vital medical advances born from 
        HeLa cells, the case of Mrs. Henrietta Lacks has spurred the 
        medical and scientific communities to consider and publicly 
        recognize its role in perpetuating racially and 
        socioeconomically patterned bias in the form of unethical, ill-
        treatment of medically underserved or exploited families and 
        populations;
            (3) Mrs. Henrietta Lacks's cells enabled the establishment 
        of greater health care protections for patients and are 
        undeniably the fulcrum for greater ethical sensitivities within 
        the American bio-medical framework, guiding present-day 
        standards;
            (4) Mrs. Henrietta Lacks's immeasurable contribution to 
        modern-day science has generated a veritable medical 
        revolution; and
            (5) like her cells, Mrs. Henrietta Lacks's legacy lives on 
        and deserves the highest civilian recognition in the form of 
        the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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