[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H3838-H3839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING CINDY JENSEN OF ROCKFORD, IL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Manzullo] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, so much has been written, and so many 
discussions have taken place about how quickly life seems to pass us by 
in these modern times. We are always trying to make time for the parts 
of our lives we hold most precious: our families, our children, our 
spouses.
  It is never until we are faced with our own mortality that we stop to 
realize the sweetest parts of our lives, a nectar that sustains us and 
refreshes our thirst to be connected to the human race. Life has 
meaning. All of our lives have meaning. We are all born and nurtured 
and educated for a purpose. We tend to forget that. We tend to forget 
that one so important lesson.
  I have been reminded of this lesson by witnessing the journey of a 
constituent from Rockford in the 16th District of Illinois, Cindy 
Jensen, who for years has battled a liver disease and is now recovering 
from her third liver transplant in the last 4 months. She has 
not surrendered life during this difficult time. She has remained 
positive and has taken each day at a time.

  Cindy has demonstrated the type of courage and faith that few of us 
ever experience. She and her family have allowed the people of the city 
of Rockford to share in her journey, not out of self-interest but to 
engage us in discussion of a much greater human cause--the importance 
of organ donation. There is no greater demonstration of the importance 
of life than when someone is faced with a life-threatening illness and 
still maintains the courage of her conviction that there is a greater 
good.
  Cindy Jensen's purpose in life has become a mission of education. She 
has reminded us that we all share life.
  In yesterday's Rockford Register Star, Judy Emerson distilled the 
soul of Cindy Jensen. I would like to share some of that essence with 
you. Keep in mind that these quotes came from Cindy just a week after 
her third liver transplant.
  ``There's been a good reason for all of this,'' Jensen said Monday.

       I know that when I hear people say they never considered 
     being a donor and now they will be. I hear people say they 
     stopped praying and now, they pray all the time. Other people 
     have said, ``You've given me my faith back.''

  In spite of everything--or, maybe, because of it--her own faith 
remains intact.
  ``This liver is going to work beautifully,'' she said firmly on 
Monday. ``God has brought me too far for it to be any other way.''
  Mr. Speaker, I include at this point in the Record the complete 
column by Judy Emerson from the April 24, 1996, Rockford Register Star:

[[Page H3839]]

                 Jensen Staying Focused on Her Mission

       Even if Cindy Jensen weren't a friend, I'd admire her 
     courage. Jensen, who had a third liver transplant last week 
     at University Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wis., granted 
     a television interview a few days later.
       Anyone who knows Jensen knows it's not like her to go on TV 
     without makeup. Yet there she was, lying in her hospital bed, 
     so weak her voice was barely a whisper. Cindy will forgive me 
     for saying it, but I've seen her looking better.
       Seriously, though, it's all a part of the mission, Jensen 
     says. Her intention in granting media access every step of 
     the way during her ordeal was to encourage organ donation. 
     She invited cameras into the operating room as her diseased 
     liver was removed and replaced. When she was unable to do 
     interviews, her daughter, Andrea' and son, David, did them. 
     By letting the public get to know her family during Jensen's 
     life-or-death crisis, she personalized organ donation and 
     showed why it is so important.
       How like Jensen to turn something so difficult into 
     something positive. Her campaign to educate the public about 
     organ donation began several years ago, when she learned she 
     suffered from primary biliary cirrhosis, a disease that 
     causes the liver to deteriorate and, eventually, stop 
     functioning.
       She organized an annual organ fair at CherryVale Mall, and 
     even as her own health deteriorated, she knocked herself out 
     to ensure the event's success. Her positive attitude and 
     smile make it easy for her friends to forget she was sick.
       Finally, her condition became critical and a transplant was 
     absolutely necessary. She went to University Hospital Jan. 2 
     for the first transplant. A blocked duct kept that liver from 
     functioning properly, and she had a second transplant in 
     early February. That liver never worked well for some 
     unexplained reason, and Jensen's condition was deteriorating. 
     She needed a third transplant to live.
       ``I was dying,'' Jensen said Monday from University 
     Hospital. ``I knew I was running out of time.''
       A week after the procedure, Jensen is convinced she got her 
     miracle. All indications are that this liver is functioning 
     well, said Bob Hoffmann, the hospital's procurement and 
     preservation director.
       Jensen, meanwhile, is concentrating on getting strong 
     enough to attend her own fundraiser Sunday at the Clock Tower 
     Resort. The event is to help cover medical expenses, which 
     haven't been totaled yet, but are expected to be hundreds of 
     thousands of dollars.
       The $25 tickets are on sale through 5 p.m. Friday at the 
     Clock Tower box office. The event, which begins at 4:30, 
     features a silent auction, pasta dinner and dancing to the 
     music of Wayward Wind.
       People who can't attend the event but who want to make a 
     contribution may send it to: Cindy Jensen Trust Fund, 5601 
     Knollwood Drive, Rockford, IL 61107.
       ``There's been a good reason for all of this,'' Jensen said 
     Monday. ``I know that when I hear people say they never 
     considered being a donor and now they will be. I hear people 
     say they stopped praying and now, they pray all the time. 
     Other people have said, `You've given me my faith back.' ''
       In spite of everything--or, maybe, because of it--her own 
     faith remains intact.
       ``This liver is going to work beautifully,'' she said 
     firmly on Monday. ``God has brought me too far for it to be 
     any other way.''

  Mr. Speaker, we come to the floor of this ennobled Chamber often more 
full of vitriol for our own political advantage. We seem to forget that 
we are not here at cross purposes, rather that we are here for a common 
cause. We are here because we want to create jobs. We are here because 
we want to lessen the tax burden on the American people. We are here 
because we want to balance the budget. We are here because we all want 
our children to grow up well educated in a safe, clean, healthy 
environment. There is not one of us that comes to this well or enters 
the doors of this House Chamber who wants anything less. We simply have 
differences on how to reach those common goals.
  We demean ourselves with the ugliness of partisanship. We are all 
guilty of that from time to time. In doing so, we, too, forget what is 
most important about our mission here.
  I have taken this time today because I think that it is imperative 
that we remind ourselves of what is important--selflessness, courage, 
and the greater good.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the House, I would like to wish a speedy 
recovery for Cindy Jensen.

                          ____________________