[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 36 (Thursday, March 10, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S1545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            EYE DONOR MONTH

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, March is National Eye Donor Month--
a month--to honor those who have restored sight to blind or vision-
impaired Americans across the country.
  For the last 28 years, since National Eye Donor Month was first 
established in 1983, the eye donor community has raised public 
awareness about the need for eye donation.
  Every March for each of the past 28 years, our Nation has honored 
dedicated individuals who work tirelessly at hospitals, medical 
centers, doctors' offices, and eye banks across the country to educate 
the public on the need for cornea donations and work with the 
transplant teams.
  We continue to give thanks to eye donors--and their families--who 
offered one last remarkable gift because they had the foresight to 
become organ donors.
  Eye donation provides a precious second chance at clear vision for 
those with ocular diseases. Approximately 11.4 million Americans 
experience severe visual problems that are not correctable by glasses. 
A parent or grandparent cannot see their children or grandchildren play 
a little league game or walk across the stage at graduation. And many 
children experience momentous life events--and everyday happenings--
without the eyesight that many of us take for granted.
  Thankfully and miraculously, through eye donation and corneal 
transplants, vision that has been lost to disease or injury or 
infection can be restored. Since 1961, more than 700,000 corneal 
transplants have been performed to restore sight to children as young 
as 1 day old and adults as old as 103. And corneal transplants are 
highly successful; 90 percent of all corneal transplant operations 
effectively restore sight to the patient. Each year, eye banks across 
the country provide 52,000 corneal grafts for transplantation.
  Ohio's Central Ohio Lions Eye Bank, COLEB, in Columbus performed 
corneal transplants for 340 patients in 2010. COLEB gave these 340 
patients an opportunity to regain their sight and, with that, the 
ability to see their loved ones again--or for the first time. In 
southern Ohio, the Cincinnati Eye Bank for Sight Restoration, Inc., 
partnered with physicians at the University of Cincinnati to establish 
programs for public and professional education as well as conduct 
ocular medical research. The Cincinnati Eye Bank is able to serve 30 
hospitals in southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and eastern Indiana. 
In northern Ohio, the Cleveland Eye Bank, which serves nearly 5 million 
people and more than 60 hospitals in northern Ohio, created the Lasting 
Legacy program to honor the families of eye donors by publicly 
recognizing the donors' amazing gift of sight.
  Simply put, corneal transplants--made possible through eye donors--
change people's lives.
  But more must be done. Some 1,600 Ohioans each year could have their 
sight restored through corneal transplants but are unable to because 
there are not enough organ donors.
  I encourage all Americans to consider becoming eye donors. Even those 
without 20/20 vision or who have cataracts can donate. In Ohio, you can 
become an eye organ donor when you renew your driver's license. It is 
that easy.
  I also urge my colleagues to work with local eye banks and the Eye 
Bank Association of America to promote the precious gift of eye 
donation. While 700,000 people have had their sight restored since 
1961, tens of thousands more are waiting.
  During this year's Eye Donor Month, I thank all those who continue to 
promote and advocate for eye donation and the gift of sight it gives.

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