II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 499

To establish a congressional commemorative medal for organ donors and

their families.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 2, 1999

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. THURMOND, Mr. DURBIN, and

Mr. INOUYE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL.

7 The Secretary of the Treasury shall design and strike

8 a bronze medal with suitable emblems, devices, and in-
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1 scriptions, to be determined by the Secretary of the Treas2 ury, to commemorate organ donors and their families.

3 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.

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

5 or family member of any organ donor, shall be eligible for

6 a medal described in section 2.

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

8 Human Services shall direct the entity holding the Organ

9 Procurement and Transplantation Network (hereafter in

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

11 (1) establish an application procedure requiring

12 the relevant organ procurement organization, as de13 scribed in section 371(b)(1) of the Public Health

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

15 individual or their family made an organ donation,

16 to submit to the OPTN contractor documentation

17 supporting the eligibility of that individual or their

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

19 (2) determine, through the documentation pro20 vided, and, if necessary, independent investigation,

21 whether the individual or family is eligible to receive

22 a medal described in section 2.

23 SEC. 4. PRESENTATION.

24 (a) DELIVERY TO THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

25 HUMAN SERVICES.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall
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1 deliver medals struck pursuant to this Act to the Secretary

2 of Health and Human Services.

3 (b) DELIVERY TO ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The Sec4 retary of Health and Human Services shall direct the

5 OPTN contractor to arrange for the presentation to the

6 relevant organ procurement organization all medals struck

7 pursuant to this Act to individuals or families that, in ac8 cordance with section 3, the OPTN contractor has deter9 mined to be eligible to receive medals under this Act.

10 (c) LIMITATION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (2), only 1 medal may be presented to a fam13 ily under subsection (b). Such medal shall be pre14 sented to the donating family member, or in the case

15 of a deceased donor, the family member who signed

16 the consent form authorizing, or who otherwise au17 thorized, the donation of the organ involved.

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

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

20 OPTN contractor may present an additional medal

21 to each such organ donor or their family.

22 SEC. 5. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

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

24 Human Services or the OPTN contractor may provide du25 plicates of the medal described in section 2 to any recipi-
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1 ent of a medal under section 4(b), under such regulations

2 as the Secretary of Health and Human Services may

3 issue.

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

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

6 SEC. 6. NATIONAL MEDALS.

7 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national

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

9 States Code.

10 SEC. 7. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULA11 TIONS.

12 No provision of law governing procurement or public

13 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods

14 or services necessary for carrying out the provisions of this

15 Act.

16 SEC. 8. SOLICITATION OF DONATIONS.

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

18 may enter into an agreement with the OPTN contractor

19 to collect funds to offset expenditures relating to the

20 issuance of medals authorized under this Act.

21 (b) PAYMENT OF FUNDS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), all funds received by the Organ Procure24 ment and Transplantation Network under subsection

25 (a) shall be promptly paid by the Organ Procure-
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1 ment and Transplantation Network to the Secretary

2 of the Treasury.

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

4 any funds received under subsection (a) shall be

5 used to pay administrative costs incurred by the

6 OPTN contractor as a result of an agreement estab7 lished under this section.

8 (c) NUMISMATIC PUBLIC ENTERPRISE FUND.—Not9 withstanding any other provision of law—

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

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

12 in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund, as de13 scribed in section 5134 of title 31, United States

14 Code; and

15 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury shall charge

16 such fund with all expenditures relating to the

17 issuance of medals authorized under this Act.

18 (d) START-UP COSTS.—A 1-time amount not to ex19 ceed $55,000 shall be provided to the OPTN contractor

20 to cover initial start-up costs. The amount will be paid

21 back in full within 3 years of the date of the enactment

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

23 (e) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec24 retary of the Treasury shall take all actions necessary to
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1 ensure that the issuance of medals authorized under sec2 tion 2 results in no net cost to the Government.

3 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act:

5 (1) ORGAN.—The term ‘‘organ’’ means the

6 human kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, and any

7 other human organ (other than corneas and eyes)

8 specified by regulation of the Secretary of Health

9 and Human Services or the OPTN contractor.

10 (2) ORGAN PROCUREMENT AND TRANSPLAN11 TATION NETWORK.—The term ‘‘Organ Procurement

12 and Transplantation Network’’ means the Organ

13 Procurement and Transplantation Network estab14 lished under section 372 of the Public Health Serv15 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 274).

16 SEC. 10. SUNSET PROVISION.

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

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

Æ