[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 88 (Tuesday, June 28, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S7516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      BONE MARROW AND CORD BLOOD THERAPY AND RESEARCH ACT OF 2005

  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today to strongly support The Bone 
Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act of 2005. I introduced 
this legislation with Senators Hatch, Dodd, Ensign, and Reed yesterday 
and I appreciate their interest in this important legislation.
  The Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act will help 
provide adult stem cell transplant material for those patients who need 
them, and also provide adult stem cells for scientific research.
  The House has passed similar legislation and we need to act in a 
timely matter on this bill. The legislation that we introduced 
yesterday also reauthorizes the National Marrow Donor Program, an 
important program helping to provide adult bone marrow to sick 
individuals. Unfortunately, thousands of Americans have died because 
there was not an appropriate donor of bone marrow. However, umbilical 
cord blood may provide an alternative to bone marrow transplantation. 
Ultimately, given the current limitations of bone marrow 
transplantation, cord blood could become a more widespread lifesaving 
therapy.
  I am proud of the valuable work and research taking place in North 
Carolina. In particular, Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University, the 
director of the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, is 
leading the fight on monumental diseases such as diabetes and 
Alzheimer's. Dr. Kurtzberg and her team are pioneers in the field, 
having already performed more than 600 cord blood transplants with 
unrelated donors more than anyone else in the world.
  Cord blood transplantation has already been used to treat a number of 
diseases including leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell anemia. The 
legislation we introduced yesterday will establish an inventory of 
150,000 new cord blood stem cell units that reflects the diversity of 
the people of the United States. The goal of this legislation is to 
create a network so that 95 percent of Americans who need a transplant 
will be able to receive an appropriately matched transplant. Calling 
transplants the ``ultimate in recycling,'' Dr. Kurtzberg believes, as I 
do, that cord blood has the potential to save the lives of countless 
patients nationwide.
  The Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act establishes a 
network of qualified cord blood banks to collect, test, and preserve 
cord blood stem cells. Additionally, this legislation will help match 
donors and recipients. I am hopeful that this legislation will provide 
facilities like the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank at Duke with the ability 
to save thousands of lives as the number of bone marrow donors and cord 
blood units increases.
  The Senate needs to move forward on this legislation so that the 
Federal Government can help provide the infrastructure allowing these 
therapies to be extensively used. I stand ready to work with my 
colleagues so that we can enact this legislation quickly.

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