[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 76 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 19681-19682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10176]



[[Page 19679]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part VI





The President





_______________________________________________________________________



Proclamation 7185--National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, 1999



Proclamation 7186--National Volunteer Week, 1999
 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 21, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

 ___________________________________________________________________

 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 19681]]

                Proclamation 7185 of April 16, 1999

                
National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, 
                1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Organ donation is one of humanity's most noble 
                expressions of compassion and generosity. It reflects 
                the extraordinary selflessness of the donor and gives 
                the recipient a second chance to experience life's 
                abundant blessings.

                For many people across our country, receiving an organ 
                or tissue transplant means relief from suffering and a 
                marked improvement in the quality of their lives. For 
                others, it literally means the difference between life 
                and death. And the demand for such donations continues 
                to grow. In the last six years, the number of people on 
                the national organ transplant list has doubled, from 
                more than 30,000 in 1993 to more than 62,000 patients 
                today. A new name is added to that list every 18 
                seconds.

                Fortunately, thanks to remarkable medical 
                breakthroughs, each of us has the power to improve 
                these troubling statistics. In December of 1997, Vice 
                President Gore and Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services (HHS) Donna Shalala launched the National 
                Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative to raise awareness 
                of the successes of transplantation and to educate our 
                citizens about the urgent and continuing need for organ 
                and tissue donations. Building on this effort, the 
                Health Care Financing Administration now requires 
                hospitals participating in Medicaid and Medicare to 
                notify organ procurement organizations of all deaths 
                and imminent deaths at their facilities and to train 
                their personnel to discuss donation with the families 
                of potential donors. Judging from the positive impact 
                of similar legislation in Pennsylvania, we anticipate 
                that this new Federal regulation will substantially 
                increase the number of donations throughout the 
                country.

                Becoming a donor is simple, requiring only that we 
                complete and carry a donor card and inform our families 
                and friends about our wish to donate. This second step 
                is a critical one because, according to a new study 
                issued by HHS, almost all Americans would agree to 
                donate their loved one's tissue or organs if they knew 
                their loved one had requested it. Fewer than half would 
                consent if they did not know their loved one's wishes.

                During National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, 
                I urge all Americans to become potential donors. By 
                doing so, we can bring new hope and improved lives to 
                thousands of our fellow citizens and hasten the day 
                when no American on the organ transplant waiting list 
                loses the race against time.

                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 18 through April 24, 
                1999, as 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, the clergy, 
                and all Americans to join me in promoting greater 
                awareness and acceptance of this humanitarian action.

[[Page 19682]]

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-10176
Filed 4-20-99; 8:51 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P