[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14891]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS FOR THE AFRICAN AMERICAN BONE MARROW AWARENESS 
                               MONTH ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CAROLYN C. KILPATRICK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 11, 2009

  Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan. Madam Speaker, as I rise today in support 
of the African American Bone Marrow Awareness Month Act, I am reminded 
of two things--the thousands of lives that bone marrow donations save 
each year, and the distance we have to travel to increase the 
participation of minorities, especially African Americans, in the 
National Marrow Donor Program. The African American Bone Marrow 
Awareness Month Act, by urging all Americans to initiate, organize and 
participate in programs to increase the collective consciousness of 
African Americans to become bone marrow donors.
  Since the inception of the National Marrow Donor Program registry, 
over 24,000 people have received bone marrow transplants. African 
Americans make up only eight percent, or 450,000 of the more than six 
million people currently registered in the National Marrow Donor 
Program. Worse, African Americans have received a little more than four 
percent--one out of every 24--of these transplants. While it is 
possible for an African American patient to get a match for a bone 
marrow donor from any racial or ethnic group, the most likely match for 
a transplant is from another African American. All it takes is a single 
drop of blood to help determine a match.
  Madam Speaker, this legislation will encourage all people, but 
particularly African Americans, to organize a bone marrow registration 
drive in their community. The collective work under this legislation 
will promote donor awareness and increase the number of African 
Americans registered with the National Marrow Donor Program throughout 
our nation. I urge all Members of Congress to begin the need for 
awareness, importance and value of bone marrow awareness, and urge its 
quick adoption by Congress.

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