[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5420-S5421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF RED CROSS BLOOD COLLECTING
Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, as the United States fought World War
II, Americans mobilized in support of the war effort like they never
had before. Everyone was trying to find a way to help our troops battle
the Axis and keep the world free and safe. Whether it was children
flattening and saving tin cans that were used for scrap metal, or
people growing fruits and vegetables in ``Victory Gardens'', everyone
tried to find a way to make their own contribution to winning the war
and supporting our men and women in uniform.
It was at this time that the American Red Cross took on the
responsibility of collecting blood that would ultimately be used to
help save the lives of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Army Air
Corpsmen wounded in action. The efforts of the Red Cross were truly a
success as they helped to reduce the death rate among the wounded by
fifty percent.
For the past fifty years, the American Red Cross has been responsible
for administering the Nation's blood supplies and they have done a
commendable job in ensuring that the United States has a ready and
ample reserve of blood for those who need it. Just a few days ago, on
April 30th, American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole helped to
celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of that organization's Biomedical
Services. Her remarks nicely illustrate the contributions and
accomplishments of the Red Cross in administering the Nation's blood
supply. I think that my colleagues and the public would be interested
to read what Mrs. Dole had to say and I ask unanimous consent that her
remarks be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Remarks of Elizabeth Dole
Thank you, Paul, for that kind introduction and ladies and
gentlemen, thank you so much. And special thanks to Donna
Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and David
Kessler, Dean of the Yale Medical School and former
Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration We are
delighted you could be with us today as we mark the 50th
anniversary of the most important of our national reserves:
America's reserve of life, the American blood supply. Thank
you, Donna and David, for your continued leadership, and for
your steadfast dedication to the safety and quality of
American health.
Aren't we thrilled to have Garth Brooks here. Garth, you
have a magical hold on the spirit of our people. What a joy
it is that you would share that bond with us. We are
enormously grateful.
What a day! We are also so very pleased to be joined by the
Oak Ridge Boys! Boys, your music puts the party in the
birthday, and we thank you.
Also, many thanks to the other wonderful celebrities with
us today--Lynda Carter, Kennedy, and William Moses. We
sincerely appreciate your generosity in joining us to
celebrate our 50th birthday of Biomedical Services. And,
welcome to Councilwoman Charlene Drew Jarvis, the daughter of
Dr. Charles Drew, renowned plasma pioneer for the American
Red Cross and leading authority on transfusion. The Charles
Drew Institute honors his memory. Thank you, Charlene, for
your support over the years.
As we observe this 50th anniversary, of American Red Cross
Blood services, it's a time to take satisfaction in our past
and pride in where we've been. The Red Cross started
collecting blood during World War II in order to save
soldiers' lives, and our efforts were credited with reducing
the death rate among these soldiers to half that of their
World War I counterparts. When peace came, we created
America's first nationwide, volunteer blood collection and
distribution system, assuring all our citizens access to one
of the great medical advances of this century.
But health events in the last two decades rocked us to our
very foundations. The age of blood-borne diseases such as
AIDS and new forms of hepatitis swooped down on us with a
vengeance. We knew we could no longer operate at the Red
Cross as we had done for so many years. Which is why this
year, our 50th anniversary, is a year to look forward, rather
than back. Today I take great joy in announcing an historic
achievement:
As the year closes, the American Red Cross will celebrate
the completion of our nearly seven-year, $287 million dollar
transformation of our blood operations. This long-awaited
milestone is the reason I stand here with so much
confidence--and hope--for the future. The accomplishment of
Transformation is a great, triumphant victory in our common
endeavor to expand what is possible in health care.
And I'm also pleased to announce today that, following this
speech, I am leaving on a nation-wide tour of blood drives
and celebrity events to focus attention on the safety
revolution in America's blood supply. Many of our citizens
are still frightened of transfusions, and they should not be!
Many millions still mistrust those red bags of life, and they
must not! We have achieved a new American miracle in blood,
and I will take that message across America. We will
celebrate and we will educate but first, let me ruminate.
When I came to the Red Cross in February 1991, the legal
and financial vulnerabilities of our blood operations
threatened the very
[[Page S5421]]
viability of the Red Cross. The country was pretty worried
about the safety of America's blood supply back then. And as
the person newly responsible for half of it, so was I. Some
of our Board members wanted us to get out of blood banking
altogether, believing our duty to safeguard the rest of our
historic organization demanded that we abandon this mission
field. Between Congressional hearings, media exposes and
enormous regulatory pressure, there were days when I wanted
to get out, too.
Still, the question haunted us: if we left blood banking,
who would fill our shoes? The Red Cross is not a public
agency, but what we do--especially in blood--is a public
trust. We weren't going to let America down. Not on our
watch.
The blood supply was as safe as the current blood systems
and contemporary scientists knew how to make it. But in the
age of AIDS and other blood borne infectious diseases, wasn't
there more we could do? We had to ``think outside the box''
with respect to existing science, blood supply management,
and safety approaches.
We dreamed, in 1991, of where we wanted to go. But we did
more than that. We mustered our courage and embraced
Transformation as our ticket to ride. It was the most
ambitious project the Red Cross had ever undertaken: the
total redesign of how we collect, process, test, and deliver
nearly half of America's blood supply. I dare say it is the
most profound change any non-profit organization has made in
recent memory!
At the time, it felt the way I imagine a Shuttle astronaut
must feel on her first space walk letting go of the ship,
taking her first step into the unknown. It felt as if our
whole organization had let go. . .let go of the security of
status-quo standards, let go of the financial certainty
underpinning our entire operation, let go of what we knew, in
search of what we hoped to find--but knowing that each step
was backed up by a truly exceptional scientific team entirely
committed to forging new frontiers. I feel so fortunate that
Jim Ross with Brian McDonough and each member of his
outstanding team answered my call to complete this challenge.
In 1993, the Food and Drug Administration imposed a consent
decree on our blood services operations. But as David will
tell you, we were already more than two years into
Transformation. The consent decree was basically a
codification or ratification of our far-reaching plan, with
timelines and milestones for measuring our progress. And
today, as we conclude Transformation, we also are wrapping up
our last requirements under the decree.
With the completion of Transformation this year, we will
have forced ourselves from the mind set of always doing
things the way we had done them before. We already have left
behind our days in the comfort of industry averages to become
the undisputed leader in blood banking. Once we were weighed
down with 53 non-standardized blood centers running 28
computer systems in a patchwork quilt of regions, each with
its own operating procedures and business practices. Today we
have one set of operational procedures, one set of business
practices, and one state of the art computer system--which
gives us the best national donor deferral system and the
largest blood information data base in the world for
transfusion medicine research.
We determined that today's demands were best met in high-
volume, state-of-the-art, centralized labs, so we replaced
our 53 testing facilities with 8 state of the art, high-tech
laboratories that today are the leading centers of their kind
in the world. This enables us to quickly incorporate medical
technology as it evolves.
Perhaps most importantly, today we no longer fear finding
our own faults. We actively seek them out, report them and
then fix them, ourselves. We hired a leader in quality
assurance who created an independent program, providing more
than 200 experts to audit and consult with all of our fixed
sites. We actively monitor for more than 150 possible
deviations in manufacturing. And our folks, can and on
occasion have shut down a process immediately, when they have
found a serious deviation from standard operating procedure.
In short, we have a new, centralized management structure,
a new information system, and the best quality assurance
program in existence. We have consolidated and modernized
testing and have strictly standardized procedures and
training across our system. As a matter of fact, we now run
the highly acclaimed Charles Drew Biomedical Institute--and
provide leadership to the entire blood banking community.
We have moved to a position of leadership in an industry
which has achieved phenomenal success in the face of
frightening odds: In 1991, an American's risk of HIV
transmission from a blood transfusion was one in 220,000.
Today, it is nearly one in 700,000--more than a three-fold
reduction in risk. I'd say that is worth cheering about,
wouldn't you?
Today, I can say what I could not seven years ago: the Red
Cross is in the blood business to stay. We are sure of our
mission and we know how to fulfill it. No longer an
organization constrained by yesterday's technology, we
operate today with the gleaming precision and efficiency of
what is still, for most in the world, only tomorrow's
possibilities. We offer Cadillac quality coupled with Volvo
security. Don't get me wrong: every car on the lot meets the
government standard for safety. But like Cadillac and Volvo,
we have set standards of our own.
Unlike car companies, however, we don't do what we do for a
profit. The pins on our lapels and the patches on our sleeves
remind us daily that we are in this business to fulfill a
national trust, to live up to our moral commitment to do the
best we can to ensure the well-being of the American people.
We are also reaching out to the rest of the world, sharing
the lessons we have learned from Transformation to help
improve the safety and reliability of the world's blood
supply.
Of course, modernization and improvement is a process that
must never end. As David Kearns, the former chairman of
Xerox, once said, ``In the race for quality, there is no
finish line.'' This could never be more true than in the
blood banking business. We're determined to remain not only
the industry leader in quality and safety, but to place
ourselves in the forefront of new product development.
At our world-class Holland Laboratory, Red Cross physicians
and scientists are evaluating and monitoring possible threats
to the blood supply and working on many other new, cutting-
edge technologies--some of which we will share with you
today.
But all this technology wouldn't be worth a thing without
the Red Crossers who make it work for America. They are the
reason and the inspiration for our service. We have 1.3
million volunteers, 32,000 paid staff, and 4.3 million blood
donors--that's 20,000 donors every day--I'd like to stop just
a minute to give those quiet heroes a loud round of applause.
Yes, after 50 years in Blood Services--and spending the
last seven years transforming them, the American Red Cross
has much to celebrate. In addition to enhancing blood safety,
our investment has given us the knowledge and confidence to
shape our own future.
Before Transformation, the Red Cross and other blood banks
around the country waited for signals from the FDA that
change was required. Today, the Red Cross is a leader of
change. While Transformation the program is nearly complete,
Transformation the process will be never ending.
There is a story I love about Supreme Court Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes. When Justice Holmes was in his 90s, he took a
trip on the Pennsylvania Railroad. As he saw the conductor
coming down the aisle, he began patting his pockets, looking
for his ticket. The conductor, recognizing the famous jurist,
said, ``Don't worry, Mr. Justice. I'm sure you'll find your
ticket when you leave the train, and certainly the
Pennsylvania Railroad will trust you to mail it back later.''
Justice Holmes looked up at the conductor with some
irritation and said, ``My dear man, the problem is not, where
is my ticket. The problem is, where am I going?''
Ladies and gentlemen, the American Red Cross knows where
it's going! As we have led the nation in blood
transformation, so we will set a new credo of business for
businesses of the heart. But more than that, we are dedicated
to saving and improving every life we can. We at the Red
Cross want to be the model for non-profits in the next
century. The status quo is no longer our milieu. Well into
the new millennium, the Red Cross will seek out the cutting
edge; we will be the people who question the range of
possibilities--in blood banking as well as in every other
aspect of our mission.
But we know we cannot accomplish all of our dreams by
ourselves. We need the time and money, the brainpower and the
lifeblood of Americans like you. Together, we will continue
to imagine the unimaginable and attain the unattainable.
Together, we will be privileged to touch, and in so doing
transform, the millions of individual lives we are dedicated
to serve.
On behalf of our entire Red Cross family, thank you for all
you've done, and for all you continue to do. And on this
special day, thanks for coming to our party.
____________________