releases: https://ruppersberger.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/house-passes-legislation-honoring-immortal-cells-of-baltimore-native
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://ruppersberger.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/house-passes-legislation-honoring-immortal-cells-of-baltimore-native | House Passes Legislation Honoring Immortal Cells of Baltimore Native Henrietta Lacks | 2020-12-09 | 2020 | 2020-12 | Democrat | Senate | MD | C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger | R000576 | ruppersberger.house.gov | legacy | (Washington, DC) The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation honoring the legacy of Baltimore native Henrietta Lacks that addresses racial disparities among participants in cancer clinical trials. The Henrietta Lacks Enhancing Cancer Research Act was first introduced last year by the late Congress Elijah Cummings and cosponsored by Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger and their Baltimore delegation colleagues. The bill this year was sponsored by Maryland Congressman Kweisi Mfume. Lacks, a Black woman, died of cervical cancer in 1951 at the age of 31. During her cancer treatment, doctors took samples of her tumor without her consent and knowledge, and from this the HeLa cell line was created. The cell line has led to some of medicine's most important breakthroughs, including the development of the polio vaccine, along with treatments for cancer, HIV/AIDS, leukemia and Parkinson's disease. I am grateful and proud that Congressman Mfume has picked up the mantle on this legislation giving Henrietta Lacks the recognition she has deserved for so long, Congressman Ruppersberger said. I can think of only a handful of Marylanders and even Americans who have contributed more to modern medicine than Henrietta Lacks. Her DNA will continue to advance cures for debilitating diseases for generations to come. This bill builds on that legacy by ensuring all Americans have access to life-saving trials and treatments. You can see Congressman Ruppersberger's speech on the House floor in support of the bill here. At least 20 percent of cancer clinical trials fail because of low enrollment from minorities, according to the American Cancer Society. H.R. 1966 directs the federal General Accounting Office to investigate the full impact of limited cancer trials and outline policy options to make federally-funded cancer trials more racially inclusive and therefore more effective. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |