II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4031 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Henrietta Lacks, 

in recognition of her immortal cells which have made invaluable contributions to global health, scientific research, our quality of life, and patients’ 

rights. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2022 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Henrietta Lacks, in recognition of her immortal cells which 

have made invaluable contributions to global health, scientific research, our quality of life, and patients’ rights. 

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 ‘‘Henrietta Lacks Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Henrietta Lacks, an African-American 

2 woman born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Vir3 ginia, was raised by her grandfather on a tobacco 

4 farm in Clover, Virginia. 

5 (2) Henrietta Lacks, her husband, and family 

6 moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1941 seeking eco7 nomic opportunity at the Bethlehem Steel Plant. 

8 (3) In 1951, Henrietta Lacks sought treatment 

9 for her continuous vaginal bleeding from The Johns 

10 Hopkins Hospital, which was one of the few hos11 pitals willing to treat African Americans at that 

12 time. Gynecologists discovered a large, malignant 

13 tumor on her cervix. 

14 (4) Unbeknownst to Henrietta Lacks or her 

15 family, medical researchers took samples of Hen16 rietta Lacks’ tumor during her treatment without 

17 her consent. Henrietta Lacks’ cells, now known as 

18 ‘‘HeLa Cells’’, doubled every 20 to 24 hours whereas 

19 other human cells died in the same time period. The 

20 HeLa Cells are the first known immortal line of 

21 human cells in history. 

22 (5) On October 4, 1951, 31-year-old Henrietta 

23 Lacks died of an aggressive cervical cancer eight 

24 months after her cancer diagnosis, leaving behind 

25 her husband and 5 children. 


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1 (6) The HeLa immortal cell line is the oldest 

2 and most used human cell line used in scientific re3 search. Henrietta Lacks’ immortal cells have been 

4 commercialized and distributed worldwide to re5 searchers, resulting in groundbreaking advancements 

6 in modern science and technology. 

7 (7) Henrietta Lacks’ prolific cells continue to 

8 replicate to this day and contribute to remarkable 

9 advances in medicine, including the development of 

10 the polio vaccine and drugs used to treat cancer, 

11 HIV/AIDS, hemophilia, leukemia, and Parkinson’s 

12 disease. HeLa cells have been used in research that 

13 has contributed to our understanding of the effects 

14 of radiation and zero gravity on human cells, and 

15 have informed research on chromosomal conditions, 

16 cancer, gene mapping, and precision medicine. 

17 (8) The use of HeLa cells as the foundation for 

18 biomedical research has led to several Nobel Prize 

19 winning discoveries. The National Institute of 

20 Health located over 110,000 publications that cited 

21 the use of HeLa cells between 1953 to 2018. These 

22 advances were made possible by Henrietta Lacks’ 

23 cells, yet the revenues they generated were not 

24 known to her family for more than twenty years. 


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1 (9) Henrietta Lacks is a linchpin to modern 

2 bioethics policies and informed consent laws that 

3 benefit patients nationwide by building patient trust 

4 and protecting research participants. 

5 (10) Henrietta Lacks’ legacy has been recog6 nized around the world through memorials, con7 ferences, museum exhibitions, libraries, and print 

8 and visual media for changing the face of medical 

9 science. 

10 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

11 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

12 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem13 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

14 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 

15 of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration 

16 of Henrietta Lacks, in recognition of her immortal cells 

17 which have made invaluable contributions to global health, 

18 scientific research, our quality of life, and patients’ rights. 

19 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 

20 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

21 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

22 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em23 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

24 Secretary. 

25 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

2 gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 

3 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

4 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 

5 made available for research. 

6 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

7 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

8 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

9 available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 

10 appropriate locations associated with Henrietta 

11 Lacks. 

12 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

13 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

14 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at 

15 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

16 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

17 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

18 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu19 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

20 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

21 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

22 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

23 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 


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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

2 SALE. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

5 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec6 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

7 this Act. 

8 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

9 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

10 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

11 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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