III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 11 

Recognizing the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks during Women’s History 

Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2017 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) submitted the following 

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks during 

Women’s History Month. 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman born 

on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia, was raised by 

her grandfather on a tobacco farm in Clover, Virginia; 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks married David ‘‘Day’’ Lacks in 

1941 in Halifax County, Virginia, and they later moved 

to the Baltimore County, Maryland, community of Turner Station, to build a life for themselves and their 5 

children, Lawrence, Elsie, David, Deborah, and Joseph 

(Zakariyya); 

Whereas, in 1951, Henrietta Lacks, at the age of 31, was diagnosed with cervical cancer, and despite receiving painful radium treatments, Henrietta Lacks passed away on 

October 4, 1951; 

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•SCON 11 IS 

Whereas medical researchers took samples of Henrietta 

Lacks’ tumor during her treatment and the HeLa cell 

line from her tumor proved remarkably resilient; 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks died 8 months after her cancer diagnosis, leaving behind her children, husband, and ‘‘immortal cells’’ that would change the world; 

Whereas HeLa cells were the first immortal line of human 

cells, doubling every 24 hours, dividing and replenishing 

indefinitely in a laboratory, and successfully growing outside of the human body for longer than 36 hours; 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks’ cells are unique, grow by the millions, and are commercialized and distributed worldwide 

to researchers, resulting in advances in medicine; 

Whereas the advances made possible by Henrietta Lacks’ 

cells and the revenues the advances generated were not 

known to her family for more than 20 years; 

Whereas an estimated 50,000,000 metric tons of HeLa cells 

have been distributed around the world to become the 

subject of more than 74,000 studies; 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks’ prolific cells continue to grow and 

contribute to remarkable advances in medicine, including 

the development of the polio vaccine, and drugs for treating the effects of cancer, HIV/AIDS, hemophilia, leukemia, and Parkinson’s disease; 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks’ cells have been used in research 

that has contributed to the understanding of the effects 

of radiation and zero gravity on human cells; 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks’ immortal cells have informed research on chromosomal conditions, cancer, gene mapping, 

and precision medicine; 

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Whereas Henrietta Lacks’ legacy has been recognized around 

the world through memorials, conferences, museum exhibitions, libraries, and print and visual media; 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks and her family’s experience is fundamental to modern bioethics policies and informed consent laws that benefit patients nationwide by building patient trust and protecting research participants; 

Whereas the family of Henrietta Lacks entered the 

groundbreaking HeLa Genome Data Use Agreement in 

2013 with the medical, scientific, and bioethics communities, giving the family a role in regulating HeLa genome sequences and discoveries; 

Whereas Women’s History Month is celebrated in March to 

pay tribute to the many contributions women have made 

to the United States; and 

Whereas Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells have made 

a significant contribution to global health, scientific research, quality of life, and patient rights: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress, during Women’s History 

3 month— 

4 (1) celebrates the life of Henrietta Lacks, an 

5 African-American woman who unknowingly changed 

6 the face of medical science, contributing to lasting, 

7 worldwide improvements in health; 

8 (2) honors Henrietta Lacks as a hero of mod9 ern medicine for her contributions to the medical 

10 discoveries resulting from her HeLa cells, which 

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1 helped make possible some of the most important 

2 medical advances of the last century; and 

3 (3) recognizes the legacy of Henrietta Lacks, 

4 which has contributed to developments in bioethics 

5 and patient rights that benefit all of the people of 

6 the United States. 

Æ 

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