[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S778-S779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                 NATIONAL DONOR DAY: FEBRUARY 14, 1998

   Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, Saturday, February 14, has a 
special significance: it is the first National Donor Day to promote the 
Five Points of Life, gifts that we can give others to help save lives. 
The Five Points of Life are whole blood, platelets, bone marrow, 
umbilical cord blood, and organ/tissue transplants; gifts of these 
valuable resources have been responsible for saving numerous lives.
  The National Donor Day was developed by a partnership of the Saturn 
Motor Company, one of the leading corporations in my home state of 
Tennessee, and the United Auto Workers. The National Donor Day has the 
strong support of the Department of Health and Human Services and the 
enthusiastic cooperation of other volunteer associations, such as the 
American Red Cross, America's Blood Centers, National Marrow Donor 
Program, National Minority Organ/Tissue Transplant Education Program, 
the Transplant Recipients International Organization, Coalition on 
Donation, and Rotary International.
  On National Donor Day, February 14, all Saturn automobile dealerships 
will be participating in a program to promote donation of the Five 
Points of Life. Blood donor drives will be conducted, and registration 
forms will be available to sign up as an organ donor or bone marrow 
donor.
  This type of public/private partnership is the key to solving the 
shortage of donors. The stocks of whole blood and platelets have to be 
constantly replaced so their life-saving components will be available 
to the millions who use them. There are over 56,000 people on the 
waiting list for organ transplants, and ten die each day because organs 
are not available to save their lives. The National Marrow Donor 
Program has over 2.6 million people registered, but still there are 
many people who need bone marrow donation who are unable to find a 
suitable match among these individuals. Medical science has developed 
ways to save peoples' lives by using these resources, but unless 
everyone helps by offering the gift of Five Points of Life, all the 
skills of our doctors and physicians are for nought.
  In response to this need for the Five Points of Life, people from all 
over the country are stepping up to meet the call. Tom Meredith from 
Nashville is a donor dad whose tragedy at the loss of two children was 
somewhat alleviated by the thought that their donated organs benefitted 
97 people. Dr. Kenneth

[[Page S779]]

Moritsugu, an Assistant Surgeon General of the United States, is a 
donor husband and donor dad who tells movingly how organs donated by 
his wife and daughter, who were killed in separate traffic accidents, 
brought life to many others.
  Mr. President, this altruism in the face of despair is a challenge to 
us all to become donors and give a gift of the Five Points of Life. I 
only wish all of you had the chance to see first-hand, as I have, the 
look of joy on the face of a child who, after receiving a transplant, 
no longer has to gasp for breath. As we give gifts of love to our 
spouses and sweethearts this Saturday, Valentine's Day, let us promise 
to give another gift of love to others we may not even know, the 
greatest gift of all, the gift of life.

                          ____________________