I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 941

To establish a congressional commemorative medal for organ donors and

their families.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 2, 1999

Mr. STARK (for himself, Mr. HORN, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. LEWIS

of Georgia, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr.

FROST, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. LUTHER, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. BARRETT of

Wisconsin, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. WYNN, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Ms.

NORTON, Mr. WAXMAN, and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial

Services, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, 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

A BILL

To establish a congressional commemorative medal for organ

donors and their families.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gift of Life Congres5 sional Medal Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL.

2 The Secretary of the Treasury shall design and strike

3 a bronze medal with suitable emblems, devices, and in4 scriptions, to be determined by the Secretary of the Treas5 ury, to commemorate organ donors and their families.

6 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any organ donor, or the family

8 of any organ donor, shall be eligible for a medal described

9 in section 2.

10 (b) DOCUMENTATION.—The Secretary of Health and

11 Human Services shall direct the entity holding the Organ

12 Procurement and Transplantation Network (hereafter in

13 this Act referred to as ‘‘OPTN’’) to contract to—

14 (1) establish an application procedure requiring

15 the relevant organ procurement organization, as de16 scribed in section 371(b)(1) of the Public Health

17 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 273(b)(1)), through which an

18 individual or their family made an organ donation,

19 to submit to the OPTN contractor documentation

20 supporting the eligibility of that individual or their

21 family to receive a medal described in section 2; and

22 (2) determine, through the documentation pro23 vided, and, if necessary, independent investigation,

24 whether the individual or family is eligible to receive

25 a medal described in section 2.
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1 SEC. 4. PRESENTATION.

2 (a) DELIVERY TO THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

3 HUMAN SERVICES.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall

4 deliver medals struck pursuant to this Act to the Secretary

5 of Health and Human Services.

6 (b) DELIVERY TO ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The Sec7 retary of Health and Human Services shall direct the

8 OPTN contractor to arrange for the presentation to the

9 relevant organ procurement organization all medals struck

10 pursuant to this Act to individuals or families that, in ac11 cordance with section 3, the OPTN contractor has deter12 mined to be eligible to receive medals under this Act.

13 (c) LIMITATION.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), only 1 medal may be presented to a fam16 ily under subsection (b). Such medal shall be pre17 sented to the donating family member, or in the case

18 of a deceased donor, the family member who signed

19 the consent form authorizing, or who otherwise au20 thorized, the donation of the organ involved.

21 (2) EXCEPTION.—In the case of a family in

22 which more than 1 member is an organ donor, the

23 OPTN contractor may present an additional medal

24 to each such organ donor or their family.
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1 SEC. 5. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and

3 Human Services or the OPTN contractor may provide du4 plicates of the medal described in section 2 to any recipi5 ent of a medal under section 4(b), under such regulations

6 as the Secretary of Health and Human Services may

7 issue.

8 (b) LIMITATION.—The price of a duplicate medal

9 shall be sufficient to cover the cost of such duplicates.

10 SEC. 6. NATIONAL MEDALS.

11 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national

12 medals for purposes of section 5111 of title 31, United

13 States Code.

14 SEC. 7. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULA15 TIONS.

16 No provision of law governing procurement or public

17 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods

18 or services necessary for carrying out the provisions of this

19 Act.

20 SEC. 8. SOLICITATION OF DONATIONS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury

22 may enter into an agreement with the OPTN contractor

23 to collect funds to offset expenditures relating to the

24 issuance of medals authorized under this Act.

25 (b) PAYMENT OF FUNDS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), all funds received by the Organ Procure3 ment and Transplantation Network under subsection

4 (a) shall be promptly paid by the Organ Procure5 ment and Transplantation Network to the Secretary

6 of the Treasury.

7 (2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 5 percent of

8 any funds received under subsection (a) shall be

9 used to pay administrative costs incurred by the

10 OPTN contractor as a result of an agreement estab11 lished under this section.

12 (c) NUMISMATIC PUBLIC ENTERPRISE FUND.—Not13 withstanding any other provision of law—

14 (1) all amounts received by the Secretary of the

15 Treasury under subsection (b)(1) shall be deposited

16 in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund, as de17 scribed in section 5134 of title 31, United States

18 Code; and

19 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury shall charge

20 such fund with all expenditures relating to the

21 issuance of medals authorized under this Act.

22 (d) START-UP COSTS.—A 1-time amount not to ex23 ceed $55,000 shall be provided to the OPTN contractor

24 to cover initial start-up costs. The amount will be paid
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1 back in full within 3 years of the date of the enactment

2 of this Act from funds received under subsection (a).

3 (e) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec4 retary of the Treasury shall take all actions necessary to

5 ensure that the issuance of medals authorized under sec6 tion 2 results in no net cost to the Government.

7 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

8 For purposes of this Act—

9 (1) the term ‘‘organ’’ means the human kidney,

10 liver, heart, lung, pancreas, and any other human

11 organ (other than corneas and eyes) specified by

12 regulation of the Secretary of Health and Human

13 Services or the OPTN contractor; and

14 (2) the term ‘‘Organ Procurement and Trans15 plantation Network’’ means the Organ Procurement

16 and Transplantation Network established under sec17 tion 372 of the Public Health Service Act (42

18 U.S.C. 274).

19 SEC. 10. SUNSET PROVISION.

20 This Act shall be effective during the 5-year period

21 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

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