[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 136 (Friday, October 4, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN RECOGNITION OF THE NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA LIONS EYE BANK FOR 55 
                        YEARS OF RESTORING SIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MATT CARTWRIGHT

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 4, 2013

  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Northeast 
Pennsylvania Lions Eye Bank, whose mission for 55 years has been 
restoring the gift of sight to those with visual impairments. The 
Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Eye Bank serves 37 counties and patients 
at over 60 hospitals, but their work benefits people across the globe. 
If no suitable cornea transplant recipient is found locally, they 
conduct searches nationally and internationally to ensure that all 
transplantable tissue reaches someone in need.
  The Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Eye Bank has helped over 30,000 
people worldwide who were in need of corneal donation and 
transplantation. Specializing in obtaining, evaluating, and 
distributing corneal tissue, they use state-of-the-art technology and 
the highest medical standards to certify that all donated eye tissue is 
completely safe for sight-restoring surgery.
  In addition to facilitating tissue donation, the Northeast 
Pennsylvania Lions Eye Bank provides services for donors, their 
families, hospitals, and transplant surgeons. The Eye Bank helps 
transplant recipients connect with support groups and provides an array 
of educational and informational programs for the public and the 
medical community. They coordinate with other organ and tissue donor 
agencies in Pennsylvania and across the country to provide these 
services.
  Each year over 50,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands more around 
the world suffer from corneal blindness. Since there is no substitute 
for human corneal tissue, all of the Eye Bank's efforts depend upon the 
generosity of voluntary corneal tissue donors. Today I salute the 
Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Eye Bank's efforts to help those selfless 
donors turn their generosity into the gift of sight for thousands of 
visually impaired individuals.

                          ____________________