II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3530 

To establish the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Gift of Life Medal for organ donors 

and the family of organ donors. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Gift of Life Medal 

for organ donors and the family of organ donors. 

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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Stephanie Tubbs Jones Gift of Life Medal Act of 2008’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 

7 findings: 

8 (1) Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones was 

9 dedicated to eliminating health disparities and pro10 tecting vulnerable populations. 


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1 (2) Through her service on the Committee on 

2 Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health, she was 

3 a strong voice for those who were poor, elderly, ra4 cial and ethnic minorities, and disenfranchised. 

5 (3) Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones’ 

6 concern for others was demonstrated by the decision 

7 to donate her organs, so that as her life ended, the 

8 lives of others continued. 

9 (4) There are currently 99,625 candidates for 

10 organ donation on the national transplant waiting 

11 list. Every 16 minutes, a new name is added to such 

12 list. Sixteen persons die each day waiting for a life 

13 saving organ transplant. 

14 (5) Minority populations account for nearly 50 

15 percent of those on the national transplant waiting 

16 list. 

17 (6) Diseases that can lead to organ failure, 

18 such as hypertension and diabetes, are found more 

19 frequently in ethnic minority populations than in the 

20 general population. 

21 (7) While minorities donate organs in propor22 tion to their population, the rate of organ donations 

23 fails to keep pace with the need for transplants in 

24 the population. African-Americans, for example, rep25 resent about 13 percent of the population and 12 


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1 percent of organ donors, but comprise roughly 23 

2 percent of individuals on national transplant waiting 

3 list for kidney transplants. 

4 (8) Transplantation success rates are higher 

5 when organs are matched between people sharing 

6 the same racial and ethnic background. 

7 (9) Because of the disparities in the need for 

8 organs, minorities are more likely to wait longer to 

9 find a successful match and are more likely to be 

10 sicker when an organ is found. 

11 (10) An increase in minority organ donations 

12 would decrease the waiting time and increase the 

13 likelihood of successful transplantations for minori14 ties. 

15 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR STEPHANIE 

16 TUBBS JONES GIFT OF LIFE MEDAL. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 

18 section and the availability of funds under this Act, any 

19 organ donor, or the family of any organ donor, shall be 

20 eligible for a Stephanie Tubbs Jones Gift of Life Medal 

21 (hereafter in this Act referred to as a ‘‘medal’’). 

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

23 Human Services shall direct the entity operating the 

24 Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to— 


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1 (1) establish an application procedure requiring 

2 the relevant organ procurement organization 

3 through which an individual or family of the indi4 vidual made an organ donation, to submit to such 

5 entity documentation supporting the eligibility of the 

6 individual or the family, respectively, to receive a 

7 medal; 

8 (2) determine through the documentation pro9 vided and, if necessary, independent investigation 

10 whether the individual or family, respectively, is eli11 gible to receive such a medal; and 

12 (3) arrange for the presentation to the relevant 

13 organ procurement organization all medals struck 

14 pursuant to section 4 to individuals or families that 

15 are determined to be eligible to receive medals. 

16 (c) LIMITATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), only 1 medal may be presented to a fam19 ily under subsection (b). Such medal shall be pre20 sented to the donating family member, or in the case 

21 of a deceased donor, the family member who signed 

22 the consent form authorizing, or who otherwise au23 thorized, the donation of the organ involved. 


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

2 which more than 1 member is an organ donor, a 

3 medal may be presented for each such organ donor. 

4 SEC. 3. SOLICITATION OF DONATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Organ Procurement and 

6 Transplantation Network may collect funds to offset ex7 penditures relating to the issuance of medals authorized 

8 under this Act. 

9 (b) PAYMENT OF FUNDS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), all funds received by the Organ Procure12 ment and Transplantation Network under subsection 

13 (a) shall be promptly paid by the Organ Procure14 ment and Transplantation Network to the Secretary 

15 of Health and Human Services for purposes of pur16 chasing medals under this Act for distribution. 

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

18 any funds received under subsection (a) may be used 

19 to pay administrative costs, and fundraising costs to 

20 solicit funds under subsection (a), incurred by the 

21 Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network in 

22 carrying out this Act. 

23 SEC. 4. DESIGN AND PRODUCTION OF MEDAL. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 

25 section, the Secretary of the Treasury shall design and 


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1 strike the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Gift of Life Medals, 

2 each of which shall— 

3 (1) weigh 250 grams; 

4 (2) have a diameter of 3 inches; and 

5 (3) consist of bronze. 

6 (b) DESIGN.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the medals 

8 shall commemorate the compassion and courage 

9 manifested by and the sacrifices made by organ do10 nors and their families, and the medals shall bear 

11 suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions. 

12 (2) SELECTION.—The design of medals struck 

13 under this section shall be— 

14 (A) selected by the Secretary of the Treas15 ury, in consultation with the Secretary of 

16 Health and Human Services, the Organ Pro17 curement and Transplantation Network, inter18 ested members of the family of Stephanie 

19 Tubbs Jones, Dr. William H. Frist, and the 

20 Commission of Fine Arts; and 

21 (B) reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory 

22 Committee. 

23 (c) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu24 ant to this section are national medals for purposes of 

25 chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 


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1 (d) STRIKING AND DELIVERY OF MINIMUM-SIZED

2 LOTS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall strike and de3 liver to the Secretary of Health and Human Services no 

4 fewer than 100 medals at any time pursuant to an order 

5 by such Secretary. 

6 (e) COST OF MEDALS.—Medals struck under this sec7 tion and sold to the Secretary of Health and Human Serv8 ices for distribution in accordance with this Act shall be 

9 sold to the Secretary of Health and Human Services at 

10 a price sufficient to cover the cost of designing and strik11 ing the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of ma12 chinery, and overhead expenses. 

13 (f) NO EXPENDITURES IN ADVANCE OF RECEIPT OF

14 FUNDS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas16 ury shall not strike or distribute any medals under 

17 this Act until such time as the Secretary of Health 

18 and Human Services certifies that sufficient funds 

19 have been received by such Secretary to cover the 

20 cost of the medals ordered. 

21 (2) DESIGN IN ADVANCE OF ORDER.—Notwith22 standing paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treas23 ury may begin designing the medal at any time after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act and take such 

25 other action as may be necessary to be prepared to 


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1 strike such medals upon receiving the certification 

2 described in such paragraph, including preparing 

3 dies and striking test pieces. 

4 SEC. 5. MEDALS NOT TREATED AS VALUABLE CONSIDER5 ATION. 

6 A medal under this Act shall not be treated as valu7 able consideration for purposes of section 301(a) of the 

8 National Organ Transplant Act (42 U.S.C. 274e(a)). 

9 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

10 For purposes of this Act: 

11 (1) ORGAN.—The term ‘‘organ’’ has the mean12 ing given such term in section 121.2 of title 42, 

13 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (2) ORGAN PROCUREMENT ORGANIZATION.— 

16 The term ‘‘organ procurement organization’’ means 

17 a qualified organ procurement organization de18 scribed in section 371(b)(1) of the Public Health 

19 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 273(b)(1)). 

20 (3) ORGAN PROCUREMENT AND TRANSPLAN21 TATION NETWORK.—The term ‘‘Organ Procurement 

22 and Transplantation Network’’ means the Organ 

23 Procurement and Transplantation Network estabVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:33 Sep 23, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3530.IS S3530

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1 lished under section 372 of the Public Health Serv2 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 274). 

Æ 


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