[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 69 (Wednesday, May 6, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1072-E1073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DAVID WU

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 6, 2009

  Mr. WU. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize May as Asian Pacific 
American Heritage Month, a time when we reflect on the contributions 
that Asian Pacific Americans have made to our country.
  I would specifically like to take this opportunity today to speak 
briefly about the Asian

[[Page E1073]]

Pacific American community and a topic close to my heart: organ 
donation. April was ``Donate Life Month,'' and my colleague, Mr. Costa, 
one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Organ and Tissue Caucus, 
spoke eloquently about the need for everyone, particularly those in 
ethnic minority communities, to become organ donors and to inform their 
families of this important decision.
  Organ and tissue donation is a topic that requires specific, 
culturally sensitive information to be provided to the Asian Pacific 
American community in order to get past the fear and cultural stigma 
associated with donation.
  According to the Department of Health and Human Service's Office of 
Minority Health, the need for transplants is unusually high among some 
ethnic minorities. Some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, 
and liver that can lead to organ failure are found more frequently in 
ethnic minority populations than in the general population. For 
example, Asian and Pacific Islanders, along with African Americans and 
Hispanics, are three times more likely than Caucasians to suffer from 
kidney disease. Some of these diseases are best treated through 
transplantation; others can only be treated through transplantation.
  Successful transplantation is often enhanced by using organs from 
members of the same racial and ethnic group. Generally, people are 
genetically more similar to people of their own ethnicity or race than 
to people of other races. Therefore, matches are more likely and 
timelier when donors and potential recipients are members of the same 
ethnic background.
  Minority patients may have to wait longer for matched kidneys and 
therefore maybe be sicker at the time of transplant or may die waiting. 
Currently there are 7,108 Asian Pacific Americans on organ donor 
waiting lists. While Asians represent 6.4 percent of the current wait 
list, only 3.1 percent of organs donated in 2008 came from Asians. With 
more donated organs from minorities, matches will be found more quickly 
and the waiting time will be reduced.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to recognize the 
contributions of Asian Pacific Americans around the country who are 
addressing this problem. I am deeply grateful for people like Cammy 
Lee, who started the Cammy Lee Leukemia Foundation to help find matches 
for bone marrow transplants, and Dr. Samuel So of the Stanford Asian 
Liver Center and the Jade Ribbon Campaign, whose work addresses the 
high incidence of hepatitis B and liver cancer in Asians and Asian 
Americans through education and treatment.
  Together as a country we recognize Asian Pacific American Heritage 
month, and together we can help increase the rate of organ and tissue 
donation within the Asian Pacific American community, as well as other 
ethnic minority communities.

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