Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously, to Mrs. Henrietta Lacks, in recognition of her invaluable contribution to modern science in the form of her own immortal cells-HeLa cells-without which life-saving medicines and procedures would not have been developed at critical moments in our Nation's history.
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the President should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to Mrs. Henrietta Lacks in recognition of her invaluable contribution to modern science in the form of her own immortal cells, called HeLa cells; and (2) the case of Mrs. Lacks has spurred the medical and scientific communities to recognize their role in perpetuating racial and socioeconomic bias and has enabled the establishment of greater health care protections for patients.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.