[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 186 (Thursday, December 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14827-S14829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CHARLIE W. NORWOOD LIVING ORGAN DONATION ACT

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask the Chair to lay before the 
Senate a message from the House of Representatives with respect to H.R. 
710, Charlie W. Norwood Living Organ Donation Act.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. klobuchar) laid before the Senate the 
following message from the House of Representatives:

                                H.R. 710

       Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the 
     Senate to the bill (H.R. 710) entitled ``An Act to amend the 
     National Organ Transplant Act to provide that criminal 
     penalties do not apply to paired donations of human kidneys, 
     and for other purposes'', with the following House amendments 
     to Senate amendment:
       In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the 
     amendment of the Senate to the text of the bill, insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Charlie W. Norwood Living 
     Organ Donation Act''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL ORGAN TRANSPLANT ACT.

       Section 301 of the National Organ Transplant Act (42 U.S.C. 
     274e) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following: 
     ``The preceding sentence does not apply with respect to human 
     organ paired donation.''; and
       (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) The term `human organ paired donation' means the 
     donation and receipt of human organs under the following 
     circumstances:
       ``(A) An individual (referred to in this paragraph as the 
     `first donor') desires to make a living donation of a human 
     organ specifically to a particular patient (referred to in 
     this paragraph as the `first patient'), but such donor is 
     biologically incompatible as a donor for such patient.
       ``(B) A second individual (referred to in this paragraph as 
     the `second donor') desires to make a living donation of a 
     human organ specifically to a second particular patient 
     (referred to in this paragraph as the `second patient'), but 
     such donor is biologically incompatible as a donor for such 
     patient.
       ``(C) Subject to subparagraph (D), the first donor is 
     biologically compatible as a donor of a human organ for the 
     second patient, and the second donor is biologically 
     compatible as a donor of a human organ for the first patient.
       ``(D) If there is any additional donor-patient pair as 
     described in subparagraph (A) or (B), each donor in the group 
     of donor-patient pairs is biologically compatible as a donor 
     of a human organ for a patient in such group.
       ``(E) All donors and patients in the group of donor-patient 
     pairs (whether 2 pairs or more than 2 pairs) enter into a 
     single agreement to donate and receive such human organs, 
     respectively, according to such biological compatibility in 
     the group.
       ``(F) Other than as described in subparagraph (E), no 
     valuable consideration is knowingly acquired, received, or 
     otherwise transferred with respect to the human organs 
     referred to in such subparagraph.''.

     SEC. 3. REPORT.

       Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Health and 
     Human Services shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress a report that details the progress made towards 
     understanding the long-term health effects of living organ 
     donation.

     SEC. 4. NO IMPACT ON SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND.

       Nothing in this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) 
     shall be construed to alter or amend the Social Security Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) (or any regulation promulgated under 
     that Act).
       Amend the title so as to read: ``An Act to amend the 
     National Organ Transplant Act to provide that criminal 
     penalties do not apply to human organ paired donation, and 
     for other purposes.''.

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
concur in the House amendments and the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, this bipartisan legislation makes 
technical changes to legislation I previously introduced, S. 487, along 
with Senators Bond, Dorgan, Graham, Durbin, Mikulski, Pryor, Cardin, 
Isakson, Coleman, Brown, and Chambliss and which passed the Senate on 
July 9, 2007. Companion legislation, H.R. 710, was introduced in the 
House by Representatives Charles Norwood and Jay Inslee,

[[Page S14828]]

where the bill was renamed in honor of Representative Norwood, a 
longtime advocate of organ donation, following his passing on February 
13, 2007. This legislation, which applied only to kidneys when first 
introduced, was subsequently broadened in a Senate substitute amendment 
I offered and the Senate adopted unanimously on July 9, 2007. The 
legislation was broadened to include paired donation of other organs as 
the field of transplantation advances, and in order that those advances 
not be hindered.
  Today, the House has returned the bill passed by the Senate on July 
9, 2007, with several technical changes and we are all pleased that 
with its adoption today and fast-track to the President for his 
signature, the saving of thousands of lives is on the horizon.
  Our legislation will save lives by increasing the number of kidneys 
and other organs available for transplantation through the process 
called paired organ donation. It addresses this relatively new 
procedure, which is supported by numerous medical organizations, 
including the United Network for Organ Sharing, UNOS, the American 
Society of Transplant Surgeons, the National Kidney Foundation, the 
Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, and the American 
Society of Pediatric Nephrology, as well as many other organ donation 
and transplant organizations. Paired organ donation, which did not 
exist when the National Organ Transplant Act, NOTA, was enacted more 
than two decades ago, will make it possible for thousands of people who 
wish to donate a kidney or other organ to a spouse, family member or 
friend, but find that they are medically incompatible, to still become 
living kidney donors.
  In the process of organ paired donation, a donor who is willing to 
give an organ to a family member or a friend, but is biologically 
incompatible, donates to another patient, who also has an incompatible 
donor. By cross-matching two or more incompatible living donor 
recipient pairs, more patients can receive organs and more donors can 
give an organ. Paired organ donation results in donor-recipient 
matching, that would not otherwise occur.
  This legislation is necessary because the National Organ Transplant 
Act, NOTA, which contains a prohibition intended by Congress to 
preclude purchasing organs, is unintentionally impeding the 
facilitation of matching incompatible pairs, as just described. Our 
legislation would simply add paired donation to the list of other 
living-related donation exemptions that Congress originally placed in 
NOTA. It removes an unintended impediment to paired donations by 
clarifying ambiguous language in section 301 of the National Organ 
Transplant Act, NOTA. That section has been interpreted by a number of 
transplant centers to prohibit such donations. In section 301 of NOTA, 
Congress prohibited the buying and selling of organs. Subsection (a), 
titled ``Prohibition of organ purchases,'' says, ``It shall be unlawful 
for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any 
human organ for valuable consideration . . .'' This legislation does 
not remove or alter any current provision of NOTA, but simply adds a 
line to section 301 which states that paired kidney donations do not 
violate it.
  Congress surely never intended that the living donation arrangements 
that permit paired donation be impeded by NOTA. Our bill simply makes 
that clear. Some transplant professionals involved in these and other 
innovative living kidney donation arrangements have proceeded in the 
reasonable belief that these arrangements do not violate section of 301 
of NOTA, but they contend that they are doing so under a cloud.

  No Federal dollars are needed to implement this change. And, for each 
patient who receives a kidney, Medicare will save roughly $220,000 in 
the end-stage-renal disease program because of the significantly lower 
cost of transplantation compared to dialysis cost. It is essential that 
we make the intent of Congress explicit so that transplant centers 
which have hesitated to implement incompatible living kidney donation 
programs can feel free to do so.
  Currently, over 97,000 people are waiting for an organ, including 
72,000 who are waiting for a kidney transplant, over 2,600 of whom are 
in the State of Michigan, as they endure countless hours attached to a 
life-sustaining dialysis machine hoping that a organ donor will become 
available before they die. Because of the shortage of available organs, 
approximately 3,800 people die every year while on the waiting list for 
a kidney transplant. For them, time is of the essence.
  Last but certainly not least, the great success we have achieved here 
today would not have been possible without the support of my good 
friend and colleague in the House, Representative John Dingell chair of 
the House Energy and Commerce Committee and my distinguished and caring 
colleague in the Senate, Senator Ted Kennedy, chair of the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In addition, there are those 
who energetically led the effort in educating Congress on the need for 
paired donation and they have long been a progressive force in organ 
donation and transplantation. I thank Dr. Robert M. Merion, professor 
of surgery at the University of Michigan Transplant Center and 
secretary of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, ASTS, as well 
as Dr. Goran B. Klintmalm from Baylor University Medical Center and 
president of the ASTS, for their tireless advocacy for this lifesaving 
legislation. I would also like to thank Dr. Jeff Crippin, director of 
liver transplants at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and 
president of the American Society of Transplantation, AST; Dr. David 
Briscoe, director of transplant research at Children's Hospital in 
Boston, Harvard University; Dr. David Cohen, director of kidney 
transplant, Columbia University; and Bill Lawrence of United Network of 
Organ Donor Sharing for his steadfast leadership in the cause of organ 
donor awareness and organ transplantation.

  Senate passage and enactment of this legislation is a fitting tribute 
that honors the memory of six members of the University of Michigan 
Transplant Team, who died in a tragic plane crash while on an emergency 
mission to deliver life-saving organs to the University of Michigan 
Hospital to save the lives of transplant patients.
  I would like to share with my colleagues the sentiments expressed by 
Mary Sue Coleman, President of the University of Michigan, upon 
learning of the tragic loss of the six members of the University of 
Michigan Transplant Team. Her remarks, given on June 5, 2007, are as 
follows:

       Our hearts are broken by the devastating and irreplaceable 
     loss of six members of the Survival Flight transplant team.
       Every day, the doctors, nurses and flight personnel of 
     Survival Flight do heroic work in saving the lives of others, 
     and that is how we will remember those who perished in 
     Monday's tragedy--as selfless heroes.
       There is no greater act than that of saving a life, and 
     through our grief, we take comfort in knowing these six men 
     died in the service of a fellow human being.
       Please hold in your hearts David Ashburn, M.D., a fellow 
     (physician-in-training) in cardiothoracic surgery; Richard 
     Chenault II, a transplant donation specialist with the U-M 
     Transplant Program; Dennis Hoyes, a Marlin air pilot; Rick 
     Lapensee, a transplant donation specialist with the U-M 
     Transplant Program; Bill Serra, a Marlin air pilot; and 
     Martinus (Martin) Spoor, M.D., a cardiac surgeon who had been 
     on the U-M faculty since 2003.
       Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends 
     and colleagues.

  Finally, I would also like to share an excerpt from a letter I 
received from Dr. Robert Merion regarding his cherished colleagues and 
friends who were members of the University of Michigan Transplant Team, 
as follows:

       All of my colleagues who perished in that horrible crash 
     were committed to organ donation. In fact, the U.S. 
     Department of Health and Human Services awarded one of them, 
     Richard Chenault II, its Medal of Honor in 2006 for his 
     successful efforts to increase organ donation at the 
     University of Michigan. All six of these fine men would have 
     been extraordinarily proud to know that their names were 
     being invoked to stimulate final passage of a bill that will 
     provide the gift of life to so many others.

  I commend the Senate on the passage of this much-needed legislation 
and look forward to the President signing it in the days ahead.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.

[[Page S14829]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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