[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 116 (Thursday, July 31, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S10668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. EDWARDS (for himself and Mr. Jeffords):
  S. 1536. A bill to provide for compassionate payments with regard to 
individuals who contracted human immunodeficiency virus due to the 
provision of a contaminated blood transfusion, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. EDWARDS. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from Sandra 
Grissom be printed in the Record at the end of my bill, the Steve 
Grissom Relief Fund Act of 2003.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:


                                                     Cary, NC,

                                                    July 31, 2003.
       Dear Senator: The Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 
     1998 compensated individuals with hemophilia who had received 
     contaminated blood products. Unfortunately, it excluded 
     people like my husband, Steven Grissom, who received 
     contaminated blood transfusions while undergoing treatment 
     for leukemia (AML). He died July 31, he was 52. Steven was a 
     veteran, an avid pilot, a loving father, a loyal and 
     honorable husband and a proud American. This year marked our 
     29th year of marriage, seventeen of which my husband was ill 
     with AIDS. Since his death, I have experienced the deepest 
     sadness I have ever known. He represented the best of 
     mankind. He was everything to me.
       For my husband, there were too many trips to the hospital 
     to recall, too many nights when our children and I sat by his 
     bedside, crying, not knowing whether he would open his eyes 
     again, too many pills at incredible cost, too many HMO 
     battles, disabilities, wheelchairs, oxygen . . .
       There are many other victims who, like Steven, became 
     infected with HIV from contaminated blood transfusions. They 
     are children, mothers, fathers, husbands, and wives who 
     relied on the federal government to protect the blood supply. 
     Yet a report issued by the Institute of Medicine found that 
     in the 1980's the government failed to do just that. The IOM 
     found that despite warnings from the Centers for Disease 
     Control, the Food and Drug Administration failed to require 
     blood banks to perform screening tests on donated blood and 
     neglected to require proper screening of blood donors. The 
     FDA failed to require the recall of contaminated products, 
     nor did it require that recipients of contaminated blood 
     products be promptly notified so they could prevent passing 
     the virus to their loved ones.
       People like us deserve the same consideration given to 
     those in the hemophilia community who suffered the same fate. 
     Congress passed legislation in 1998, to help patients with 
     hemophilia who contracted HIV-tainted blood. Those like 
     Steven who received contaminated blood through transfusions 
     were left out.
       My husband may be gone, but I hope that the Steven Grissom 
     Relief Fund Act will be his legacy to the community of 
     Americans with transfusion AIDS, an expression of compassion 
     to a community nearly forgotten.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Sandra Grissom.
                                 ______