[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 78 (Wednesday, April 23, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 19891-19892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10711]



[[Page 19889]]

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Part VI





The President





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Proclamation 6992--National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, 1997

Proclamation 6993--National Wildlife Week, 1997

Proclamation 6994--National Park Week, 1997
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 78 / Wednesday, April 23, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 19891]]

                Proclamation 6992 of April 19, 1997

                
National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, 
                1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Giving life to another through an organ or tissue 
                transplant is one of the most selfless human acts. The 
                person choosing to become a donor usually receives no 
                tangible thanks and gains no fame or glory from the 
                gesture. And yet the decision to sign a donor card does 
                give the donor a quiet, inner fulfillment in the 
                knowledge that he or she may one day help save a life, 
                bringing new joy to another person and their family. 
                Often, for many Americans, this sense of fulfillment is 
                sufficient thanks.

                Today, more than 50,000 Americans are on the national 
                transplant waiting list and about 2,000 more people 
                need transplants every month. Unfortunately, even 
                though this country has an adequate supply of 
                individuals who qualify as organ donors, many people 
                have still not chosen to become one. Patients in truly 
                desperate circumstances are depending on their fellow 
                Americans to choose to become organ and tissue donors.

                Stunning advances in transplant research and technology 
                have made miracles possible, but we must do our part to 
                make the dreams of people awaiting transplants become 
                reality. Many Americans are unaware of the national 
                shortage of organ donors, and all of us must work 
                together to spread the word.

                Let us take advantage of our enormous power to save a 
                life or to enrich the quality of life for those who 
                otherwise face endless pain, torment, or death. I urge 
                every American to respond to the urgent call for organ 
                and tissue donors by signing a donor card immediately. 
                Let us also reach out to educate our fellow Americans 
                about the importance of organ and tissue donations. We 
                must work with our religious communities and community 
                organizations to spread this important message. The 
                Federal Government has already established partnerships 
                with the Union of Hebrew Congregations and the Congress 
                of National Black Churches in an effort to educate 
                congregations and clergy across our Nation through 
                sermons, Sunday school programs, and community events. 
                We should do more.

                We should recognize that our greatest ambassadors for 
                organ and tissue donation are donors, donor families 
                and recipients. Their personal stories have motivated 
                and inspired others, and we should take better 
                advantage of these great resources. Taken together, 
                these and other efforts will save the lives of 
                countless loved ones. And we should take the 
                opportunity to recognize and celebrate Americans who 
                donate these gifts of life.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim April 20 through April 26, 
                1997, as National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness 
                Week. I call upon health care professionals, educators, 
                the media, public and private organizations concerned 
                with organ donation and transplantation, and all the 
                people of the United States to observe this week with 
                appropriate activities and programs that promote organ 
                donation and invite new donors to become involved.

[[Page 19892]]

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-10711
Filed 4-22-97; 10:58 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P