Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Timely Reauthorization of Necessary Stem Cell Programs Lends Access to Needed Therapies (TRANSPLANT) Act of 2021 with Senators Richard Burr, Tina Smith, and Tim Scott. This bill offers promise to the tens of thousands of individuals diagnosed with leukemia and lymphomas, sickle cell anemia, and rare genetic blood disorders.

Our bipartisan legislation renews the C. W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program and the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI), the only programs in the Country that maintain donor registries for individuals in need of a bone marrow and umbilical cord blood transplantation. Over twenty-two million Americans are registered bone marrow donors resulting in nearly 6,500 transplants just last year. In the years since NCBI was established, more than 300,000 cord blood units have been collected, facilitating more than 100,000 blood stem cell transplants. The TRANSPLANT Act would reaffirm the commitment to these life-saving programs, which have been helping to connect individuals in need of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants with donors for more than two decades.

The public registries, made up of donors from all over the country, have been a true lifeline for the Americans who have found an unrelated match. By strengthening and enhancing the important programs operating these registries, many more Americans will be afforded the opportunity to find a match if they are ever in need. I look forward to swift consideration of this legislation in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and working toward passage in the full Senate.

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