[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4184]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NATIONAL ORGAN DONOR AWARENESS WEEK

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, this week is National Organ Donor 
Awareness Week. It is a privilege to be part of this important effort 
to increase public awareness about the need for donors. Organ donation 
literally saves lives. It truly is the gift of life.
  As Carl Lewis, the Olympic Gold medalist, told the Labor and Human 
Resources Committee in his testimony this week, ``One thing about organ 
and tissue donation: it is the absolute definition of altruism--giving 
solely for the sake of giving . . . It is an opportunity that is almost 
impossible to find anywhere else you might look. It is the opportunity 
to actually save the life of another human being.''
  Eleven years ago, a Massachusetts constituent, Charles Fiske, came to 
Congress and testified eloquently about the financial and emotional 
ordeal of his family's search for a liver transplant for their 9-month-
old daughter. Out of that testimony came a long-overdue national effort 
to increase the number of organ donors, enhance the quality of organ 
transplantation, and allocate the available organs in a fair manner. In 
1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the National Organ Transplant Act 
into law. Its primary goal was to assure patients and their families a 
fair opportunity to receive a transplant, regardless of where they 
live, who they know, or how much they could afford to pay. We have not 
yet achieved these goals, but we are closer to them today.
  Additional legislation is now pending. The Organ and Bone Marrow 
Transplant Program Reauthorization Act was recently approved 
unanimously by the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, and is 
now awaiting action by the full Senate. That measure will improve the 
current organ procurement and allocation systems by earmarking funds 
for public education, training health professionals and others in 
appropriate ways to request donations, improving information for 
patient, and increasing the role of transplant recipients and family 
members in these efforts.
  Legislation will help, but the shortage of organs for transplantation 
cannot be solved by legislation alone. Our goals can be achieved only 
through broad participation by people across the country.
  Every day, eight Americans die who could have lived if they had 
received a transplant in time. Last year, 3,500 patients died because 
no donor was available, including 173 from Massachusetts. As technology 
for transplants continues to improve, the gap between demand and supply 
will continue to widen. The number of persons needing transplants has 
doubled since 1990. A new name is added to the list every 18 minutes.
  Currently, 45,000 Americans are in need of an organ transplant, 
including 1,400 children. By the end of this year, the total is 
expected to exceed 50,000. Despite the need, fewer than 20,000 
transplant operations will be performed in 1996--because of the 
shortage of donors.
  In part, we are not obtaining enough donors because of the myths 
surrounding organ donation. Many citizens don't know that it is illegal 
in this country to buy and sell organs. There is no age limit for 
donors. Donations are consistent with the beliefs of all major 
religions.
  Except in rare cases such as kidney transplants among close 
relations, virtually all donations actually take place after death, in 
accord with the wishes of the donors and their families. The removal of 
the organs does not interfere with customary burial arrangements or an 
open casket at the funeral, since the organ is obtained through a 
normal surgical procedure where the donor s body is treated with 
respect.
  The decision to become a donor will not affect the level of the 
donor's medical care, or interfere in any way with all possible efforts 
to save patients where the patients are near death. We need to do all 
we can to dispel the myths that contradict these facts.
  Most important, as members of Congress, we can lead by example, by 
signing our own organ donor card. I have done so and I have discussed 
organ donation with my family, so that they know my wishes. Senator 
Frist and Senator Simon have urged all of us in the Senate to sign 
organ donor cards, and over 50 Senators have now done so.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to become organ donors. We must do 
more, and we can do more, to save the lives of those who need 
transplants. Each of us can save several lives by agreeing that we 
ourselves will be donors. And we can save many more lives as other 
Americans learn from our examples and become donors themselves.

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