[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 46 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3183-S3184]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ORGAN DONOR AWARENESS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise today to bring attention to an issue 
that is literally an issue of life and death. Mr. President, any one of 
the Senators here today or any member of our families, whether through 
accident or misfortune, could find ourselves needing a life-saving 
organ transplant operation tomorrow. If that should happen, we would be 
placed on a waiting list to join about 43,000 other Americans who right 
now, this very second, are waiting their turn--or their death if they 
never get that turn.

  Since 1990, the number of people diagnosed as needing an organ 
transplant has doubled. Today, every 18 minutes a new name is added to 
this list of people waiting. By the end of this year, the list of 
people waiting for a transplant will be over 50,000 people long. But 
those are just the people that we know about, people who are lucky 
enough to have made it into the medical system, who have jumped through 
the financial hurdles of diagnosis and have been recommended to a 
transplant center.
  The real numbers are even more staggering: Approximately 100,000 
people--100,000 people--need an organ transplant this very year. Yet, 
only a small fraction of that 100,000 people will receive a transplant 
to live or to have a better quality of life.
  In fact, every day eight people die because a donor, an organ donor, 
does not become available. We have 100,000 people that could benefit 
from transplantation, yet only one in five, about 20,000, will actually 
receive a transplant.
  Why? Is it because donors must be a certain age or race or blood type 
or physical condition? Is it because of outdated State laws or Federal 
regulations? Or is it because it is difficult to qualify or to 
designate one's organs for donation? The answer to all three of those 
questions is no.
  The reason can be summed up in four simple words: lack of public 
awareness. There are no limits for organ donation for any of the 
reasons I just mentioned. Every person is potentially a donor. Even 
those under the age of 18 can sign up with a parent's permission. Yet, 
tragically, there are only about 5,000 actual donors every year. 
Experts estimate that organ donation could be increased by 80 percent 
simply through better public education and awareness.
  I began my training to become a heart and lung transplant surgeon 22 
years ago. At that time, I could only dream of the science and the 
technology and the medical know-how that today is routinely used to 
save people's lives through transplantation or to give people a better 
quality of life. It is no longer an experimental procedure, but a life-
saving, life-improving medical operation that is performed routinely in 
centers all over this country. Yet, today, for people who need a heart 
transplant, about one out of four die needlessly, senselessly because 
an organ donor is not available.

[[Page S3184]]

  Now I am a U.S. Senator, now in a position to change and help people 
save lives through public awareness; and that is my goal, to bring 
public awareness in line with the advances in medical science and 
technology that we have today.
  Together with my colleagues, Senator Simon, Senator DeWine, and 
Senator Levin, we have just launched a drive to focus congressional 
attention on organ transplantation and to encourage every Member of 
Congress to consider signing up as an organ donor. We ask them to do 
three things: First, learn the benefits of transplantation; second, 
consider signing an organ donor card; and third, and probably most 
importantly, discuss their decision with their next of kin and loved 
ones.
  So far, more than a third of my colleagues in the U.S. Senate have 
done so, and more are adding their names to this list every day. On the 
House side, Congressman Joe Moakley of Massachusetts is urging his 
colleagues to do the same. We must continue to do this because just as 
our list is growing, so too is that list of children and men and women 
who are waiting for that transplant procedure.
  I want to urge today every one of my Senate colleagues and every 
Member of the House to perform that heroic, life-saving act, which is 
selfless, unselfish, and sign an organ donor card to give others a new 
chance at life. Our goal is 100 percent congressional participation.
  The week of April 21 through the 27th is National Organ and Tissue 
Donor Awareness Week.
  That is one month from now. On Tuesday of that week we will be having 
hearings in the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, 
dedicated to this issue of public awareness surrounding organ donation, 
tissue donation, and transplant patients. We can start right here by 
recognizing that public policy--and we, as legislators--can only do so 
much. The problem is the shortage of organs. The solution is public 
awareness. Doing our part, here today, and over the coming months to 
raise public awareness will go a long way in helping us achieve our 
policy goals, as well.
  The 104th Congress has been unparalleled in the amount of attention 
that we have been able to focus on the important issues now before our 
Nation. This is one of them. We have the opportunity to give the most 
important service you will ever give to fellow Americans. Be a hero. 
Join the fight, and save a life.
  Mr. President, I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

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