[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 19, 1994)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 18471-18472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-9550]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 19, 1994]


  


                        Presidential Documents 


Federal Register
Vol. 59, No. 75
Tuesday, April 19, 1994

____________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President
                Proclamation 6672 of April 15, 1994

 

Nancy Moore Thurmond National Organ and Tissue 
                Donor Awareness Week, 1994

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Perhaps the most precious legacy that one human being 
                can bestow upon another is the gift of life. The 
                unselfish decision to donate one's organs after death 
                is an act of generosity that can mean the beginning of 
                new life for others. Advanced medical knowledge and 
                techniques have allowed bone marrow transplants to 
                bring hope and healing to children with leukemia; the 
                gift of a new heart, lung, or liver has enabled many 
                terminally ill Americans who would otherwise have died, 
                to live longer, fuller lives. A new kidney has provided 
                improved health, and the donation of a cornea has 
                restored the miracle of sight. Unfortunately, however, 
                many people still wait, and many people still die 
                waiting for a suitable organ to become available.

                Today there are more than 34,000 patients on the 
                national transplant waiting list, and a new patient is 
                added to the list every 20 minutes. The gap between the 
                number of patients on the waiting list and the number 
                of donors continues to widen, and many more will 
                needlessly die. The United States has the potential to 
                maintain an adequate supply of donor organs. To fulfill 
                that potential we must increase public awareness of the 
                urgent need for donation. All Americans need to know 
                that by completing a donor card and carrying it, and by 
                discussing with their families their wishes to donate, 
                they may give the blessing of life to other Americans 
                in need of organs for transplantation.

                One year ago, on April 14, 1993, a tragic auto accident 
                claimed the life of Nancy Moore Thurmond, the 
                beautiful, gifted, and caring young daughter of Senator 
                Strom Thurmond and his wife, Nancy. Their courageous 
                decision to donate her organs so that others might live 
                was in accordance with Nancy's wishes and, even in 
                death, has enabled the promise of her young life to 
                continue. The Thurmond family, along with others who 
                have made the same magnanimous gesture for their loved 
                ones, can find some measure of comfort in knowing that 
                they have, indeed, bequeathed the gift of life.

                The Congress, by Public Law 103-30, has designated the 
                week beginning April 17, 1994, as ``Nancy Moore 
                Thurmond National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness 
                Week'' and has authorized and requested the President 
                to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the 
                United States to observe this week with appropriate 
                programs, ceremonies, and activities.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week 
                of April 17 through April 23, 1994, as Nancy Moore 
                Thurmond National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness 
                Week. I urge all health care professionals, educators, 
                the media, public and private organizations concerned 
                with organ donation and transplantation, and all 
                Americans to join me in promoting greater and more 
                widespread awareness and acceptance of this 
                humanitarian cause.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and eighteenth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)>

[FR Doc. 94-9550
Filed 4-15-94; 2:06 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P