[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 23 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E352-E353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO ROBERT C. GRAVES, A FOUNDER OF THE NATIONAL MARROW DONOR 
                                PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 1997

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida.  Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I 
report to my colleagues the death of Robert C. Graves, D.V.M., who was 
a founder and the first chairman of the board of the National Marrow 
Donor Program.
  Dr. Graves, who died February 13, 1997, at his home in Fort Collins, 
CO, was one of the most unique people I have every been associated with 
during my service in Congress. A veterinarian and rancher, he was a 
colorful and persuasive individual who decided our Nation needed a 
national registry of potential bone marrow donors. He worked tirelessly 
to create such a registry that today saves lives every day.
  He will be forever remembered for his work to help establish the 
National Marrow Donor Program. He was spurred onward in his drive to 
establish a national registry by his daughter Laura, who received the 
first unrelated marrow

[[Page E353]]

donor transplant in 1979. At that time, there was no centralized 
listing of potential marrow donors. Instead, there were a few small, 
community-based listings of possible donors, many developed around the 
plight of a patient like Laura, suffering from leukemia.
  Although Laura was fortunate enough to find an unrelated matched 
donor, she lost the battle to leukemia. Her father, however, never gave 
up the fight and one day in 1986 we met here in the halls of the U.S. 
Capitol, both on a quest to achieve the same goal--the establishment of 
a national bone marrow registry.
  Together with Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., whose family like that of 
Bob Graves was touched by the need for a bone marrow donor, we found an 
interest in this project with the U.S. Navy. By providing a small 
appropriation in 1986, we gave birth to a national registry, to honor 
all those such as Laura Graves who inspired us to find a way to save 
lives. Bob Graves became the first chairman of the board for the 
National Marrow Donor Program and during its formative months played a 
major role in its organization and in its activation.
  Today, 10 years later, it is with great pride that I report the 
National Marrow Donor Program is a true success story. With more than 
2.5 million volunteers in the national registry, we proved many people 
wrong, including a former Director of the National Institutes of 
Health, who told the three of us that we would never be able to find 
more than 50,000 people willing to sign up for such a national program.
  Bob Graves was a plain spoken but focused man who devoted a good part 
of his life to helping others. He not only worked the Halls of Congress 
and the Colorado State Legislature, but traveled the world to recruit 
foreign nations to be partners with the national registry. In large 
part through his efforts, we now have agreements with 14 other 
countries, which allows bone marrow to cross international borders on a 
regular basis.
  To honor Bob and Laura Graves, the board of the National Marrow Donor 
Program, established the Laura Graves Award, given annually to an 
individual who has contributed greatly to saving lives through 
advancing unrelated bone marrow transplantation. My wife Beverly and I 
are honored to have been a recipient of this award, which is displayed 
prominently in my office. It is a constant reminder of Dr. Robert C. 
Graves, who we were blessed to know as partner in our quest to save 
lives, and as a true friend.
  Mr. Speaker, my deepest sympathy goes out to his wife Sherry and his 
children. They can be consoled by knowing that Bob touched the lives of 
more people throughout the world than he would ever know. Many of those 
people owe their lives today to this crusading rancher from Fort 
Collins, CO who had a vision and never would be deterred until he 
fulfilled that vision and a promise to his daughter.

                          ____________________