I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5218 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Organ 

and Tissue Donor Registry Resource Center, to authorize grants for 

State organ and tissue donor registries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2014 

Mr. CLAY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Organ and Tissue Donor Registry Resource Center, to authorize grants for State organ and tissue donor 

registries, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Everson Walls and 

5 Ron Springs Gift for Life Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL ORGAN AND TISSUE DONOR REGISTRY 

2 RESOURCE CENTER. 

3 Part H of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 273 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec5 tion 371A the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 371B. NATIONAL ORGAN AND TISSUE DONOR REG7 ISTRY RESOURCE CENTER. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

9 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

10 Administration, shall establish a National Organ and Tis11 sue Donor Registry Resource Center (referred to in this 

12 section as the ‘Center’). 

13 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Center shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) advance the development, expansion, and 

15 evaluation of State organ and tissue donor reg16 istries; 

17 ‘‘(2) facilitate timely access to and exchange of 

18 accurate donor information between State registries 

19 7 days each week on a 24-hour basis; 

20 ‘‘(3) ensure that State organ and tissue donor 

21 registries funded through section 371C are in com22 pliance with the requirements described in such sec23 tion, including the operating standards described in 

24 section 371C(d); 


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1 ‘‘(4) provide technical assistance to States for 

2 the establishment and operation of State organ and 

3 tissue registries; and 

4 ‘‘(5) maintain a registry information clearing5 house, including by maintaining a Web site, to col6 lect, synthesize, and disseminate best practices infor7 mation about organ and tissue donor registries. 

8 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2015 through 2019.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR STATE ORGAN AND TISSUE DONOR 

12 REGISTRIES. 

13 Part H of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

14 (42 U.S.C. 273 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec15 tion 371B, as inserted by section 2, the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 371C. GRANTS FOR STATE ORGAN AND TISSUE 

17 DONOR REGISTRIES. 

18 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 

19 award grants or cooperative agreements to eligible entities 

20 to support the development, enhancement, expansion, and 

21 evaluation of State organ and tissue donor registries. 

22 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘eligible 

23 entity’ means a State agency or a State contracted entity. 

24 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—As a condition on the receipt 

25 of a grant or cooperative agreement under this section, 


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1 an eligible entity shall agree to use the grant or coopera2 tive agreement— 

3 ‘‘(1) to develop, expand, or maintain a State 

4 organ and tissue donor registry; and 

5 ‘‘(2) to establish benchmarks for improvement 

6 in organ and tissue donation in the State. 

7 ‘‘(d) OPERATING STANDARDS.—As a condition on the 

8 receipt of a grant or cooperative agreement under this sec9 tion for a State organ and tissue donor registry, an eligible 

10 entity shall agree to maintain the registry in accordance 

11 with the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) The registry must allow a donor or any 

13 other person authorized by the donor to include in 

14 the registry a statement or symbol that the donor 

15 has made, amended, or revoked an anatomical gift. 

16 ‘‘(2) The registry must be accessible to any 

17 qualified organ procurement organization described 

18 in section 371(b) to allow the organization to obtain 

19 relevant information on the registry to determine, at 

20 or near the death of the donor or a prospective 

21 donor, whether the donor or prospective donor has 

22 made, amended, or revoked an anatomical gift. 

23 ‘‘(3) The registry must be accessible as de24 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) 7 days each week 

25 on a 24-hour basis. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The registry must ensure that personally 

2 identifiable information on the registry about a 

3 donor or prospective donor may not be used or dis4 closed without the express consent of the donor or 

5 prospective donor for any purpose other than to de6 termine, at or near the death of the donor or pro7 spective donor, whether the donor or prospective 

8 donor has made, amended, or revoked an anatomical 

9 gift. 

10 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant or cooperative 

11 agreement under this section, an entity shall submit an 

12 application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

13 and containing such information as the Secretary may rea14 sonably require. 

15 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—As a condition on the receipt of a 

16 grant or cooperative agreement under this section, not 

17 later than 180 days after receipt of the grant or coopera18 tive agreement, and every 180 days thereafter (through 

19 the date of completion of the activities funded through the 

20 grant or cooperative agreement), an eligible entity shall 

21 prepare and submit a report to the Secretary that— 

22 ‘‘(1) describes the manner in which such entity 

23 has used amounts received through the grant or co24 operative agreement; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) assesses initiatives that may be replicated 

2 in other States. 

3 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2015 through 2019.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. 

7 Part H of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 273 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec9 tion 371C, as inserted by section 3, the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 371D. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. 

11 ‘‘No person may be held civilly liable by reason of 

12 having harvested or taken an individual’s organs or tissues 

13 without having obtained valid consent for the harvesting 

14 or taking, if— 

15 ‘‘(1) such person has verified that, at the time 

16 of the harvesting or taking, the individual is reg17 istered as a donor with a State organ and tissue 

18 donor registry; and 

19 ‘‘(2) the harvesting or taking is within the 

20 scope of the consent given by such individual for 

21 purposes of such registration.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. STUDY ON FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A LIVING 

23 DONOR DATABASE. 

24 Section 371A of the Public Health Service Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 273a) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary may establish’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

3 may establish’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(b) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

6 of the enactment of the Everson Walls and Ron Springs 

7 Gift for Life Act of 2014, the Comptroller General of the 

8 United States shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) complete a study to determine the feasi10 bility of establishing a living donor database for the 

11 purpose of tracking the short- and long-term health 

12 effects for such donors associated with living organ 

13 donation; and 

14 ‘‘(2) submit a report to the Congress on the re15 sults of such study.’’. 

Æ 


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