Title: A concurrent resolution recognizing the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks during Women's History Month.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Celebrates, during Women's History Month, the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks.
Honors Lacks as a hero of modern medicine for contributions to the medical discoveries resulting from her HeLa cells, which helped make possible some of the most important medical advances of the last century.
Recognizes her legacy, which has contributed to developments in bioethics and patient rights.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 11 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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;
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;
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
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress, during Women's History month--
            (1) celebrates the life of Henrietta Lacks, an African-
        American woman who unknowingly changed the face of medical 
        science, contributing to lasting, worldwide improvements in 
        health;
            (2) honors Henrietta Lacks as a hero of modern medicine for 
        her contributions to the medical discoveries resulting from her 
        HeLa cells, which helped make possible some of the most 
        important medical advances of the last century; and
            (3) recognizes the legacy of Henrietta Lacks, which has 
        contributed to developments in bioethics and patient rights 
        that benefit all of the people of the United States.
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