[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 39 (Thursday, March 25, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S3172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ORGAN DONATION

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, it has been a satisfying day. Shortly, I 
will finish the day with a third issue which means a great deal to me. 
I will be asking unanimous consent for action on a bill that promotes 
organ donation, and for other purposes. I would like to close on that 
third topic.
  The bill is called the Organ Donation and Recovery Improvement Act. 
For the 10, 12, to 15 years before I came to the Senate, that is what I 
had the privilege of doing, transplanting hearts and lungs together, 
for end stage disease, for people who would otherwise die but had the 
opportunity and blessing to be able to have taken out those diseased 
organs--out of somebody who otherwise would die usually within 3 to 6 
months, and replace those with organs that would allow them to live 10, 
15, 20, or 40 years.
  It is marvelous what American medicine and science can do generally, 
but also that the good Lord allows that miraculous procedure to happen 
today. It was only imagined not too long ago.
  This particular bill, which we will be passing shortly, represents 
the most significant reforms to organ donation in over a decade. It 
improves research, improves public awareness, and helps us improve the 
process, which makes organ transplantation possible. It is not hard to 
take the diseased organs out. The real challenge we have is finding the 
available, appropriate organs to transplant, actually implant into that 
chest. That is the shortage. People are dying every day, waiting for a 
heart, waiting for a lung, waiting for kidneys, a liver, or a pancreas, 
and the problem is the shortage of donors. But in truth, there are 
plenty of donors out there. It is how you get this potential supply to 
meet this huge demand. Right now, the supply is too small. When the 
demand is high, all these people are dying. If we increase the supply, 
these people begin to live. It is as simple as that. This legislation 
moves us in that direction.
  I want to applaud the work of Senator Chris Dodd, our colleague from 
Connecticut, who helped lead the fight to pass this legislation in the 
Senate, and also our colleague from New Hampshire, Judd Gregg, chairman 
of the Health, Education, Labor, Pensions Committee, for his support. 
This particular bill that will pass tonight was passed by the House of 
Representatives yesterday. I recognize the leadership of Representative 
Bilirakis and Billy Tauzin, who have been instrumental in leading this 
initiative in the House.
  Organ donation is one of the most challenging issues we face today 
because of this supply-demand issue. The real supply is bigger than the 
realized supply, and that is what this bill sets out to achieve. About 
82,000 to 84,000 people are waiting today for an organ to become 
available. Many will become available tonight--hopefully, a lot--
tomorrow, and every day. But it is not enough. You have people dying.
  I will be speaking principally, using figures on America, the U.S. 
While organ donations increased by 7.5 percent since 2002, it is a 
small increase. The 84,000 people waiting have far outstripped that in 
terms of the number of people added to the waiting list. By improving 
public awareness to encourage organ donation, we literally save lives, 
hundreds and thousands of lives.
  This legislation takes a comprehensive approach. It will not solve 
the problem, but it is a comprehensive approach to increase organ 
donation and, at the same time, improving the overall efficiency of the 
organ donation process. I believe patients and families will soon 
benefit from this very important legislation tonight.

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