“Turning medical waste into medical miracles”House passes Smith’s legislation to reauthorize and expand funding for umbilical cord blood stem cell research

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)’s legislation to authorize more than $280 million over five years for two collaborative programs that provide lifesaving treatments and therapies derived from ethically-sourced stem cell lines. The bipartisan legislation—the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025 ( HR 5160 )—was introduced in September with the strong backing of Reps. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), and Claudia Tenney (R-NY). While speaking on the House floor in favor of his legislation, Smith said , “The bill before us today authorizes $280 million for these programs over 5 years—$115 million for cord blood and $165 million for the bone marrow program—to ensure that thousands of present and future patients benefit from this exciting field of regenerative medicine.” Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) debates on the House floor in support of his Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025. HR 5160 reauthorizes the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 ( PL 109-129 )—authored and championed by Smith over twenty years ago—which formally established and expanded the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program (CWBYCTP), created the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI), and connected patients with genetically-matched and ethically-gleaned stem cells. “The law created a new nationwide umbilical cord blood stem cell program designed to collect, derive, type, and cryogenically freeze cord blood units for transplantation into patients to mitigate and cure serious disease. Pursuant to the law, it also provided cord blood stem cells for research,” noted Smith. Since its inception, the NCBI, which provides funding to public cord blood banks to expand the national inventory of cord blood units available for transplanting, has led to an incredible increase of over 121,000 available units . And the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), which lists the number of available cord blood units, has identified more than 43 million potential marrow donors around the world and facilitated over 150,000 transplants . Smith underscored the medical breakthroughs made possible through umbilical cord blood stem cell treatments, noting that they “have proven to be highly efficacious in treating over 75 diseases , including lymphoma, leukemia, sickle cell disease, and other metabolic and immune deficiencies.” Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg speaks at a press conference for the introduction of Smith's HR 5160 on September 10, 2025. Quoting Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University School of Medicine—who helped draft the original Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act over 26 years ago—Smith further explained that “‘cord blood is also used as starting material for manufacturing immune effector cells, like CAR-T cells and others, to treat patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. There is exciting research using cord blood to treat children with cerebral palsy, birth asphyxia, and autism.’” Ahead of today’s House vote on HR 5160, Dr. Kurtzberg also told Smith that he is “doing so many wonderful things” and that “none of this”—i.e., the growing number of successful umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants and lives subsequently saved—"could have occurred without this legislation and the NCBI.” “Not only has God, in His infinite wisdom and goodness, created a placenta and an umbilical cord to nurture and protect the precious life of an unborn child—but now, we know that another gift awaits immediately after birth,” concluded Smith. “Something very special is left behind: cord blood that is teeming with lifesaving stem cells.” ###