[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   PAT PEDRAJA AND DRIVING FOR DONORS

  (Mr. BILIRAKIS asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a very brave and 
ambitious young man from my district, Pat Pedraja.
  Pat, who is 12 years old, was diagnosed with leukemia in March of 
2006. Like many inflicted with this disease, Pat may need a bone marrow 
transplant to save his life. Unfortunately, there is currently a 
shortage of donors.
  When Pat discovered this shortage, he decided to do something about 
it. He and his family organized ``Driving for Donors'' to help add 
5,000 new donors to the National Marrow Registry Program this year. 
They began traveling the country last month in a ``Donormobile,'' 
working to host successful donor drives in over 30 major cities. 
Tomorrow they will be in Washington.
  I encourage my colleagues to take the time out of your busy schedules 
to help save a life. It only takes a small donation of saliva, taken by 
a cheek swab, and completion of a donor consent form. Please contact my 
office for additional details.

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