[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 16 (Monday, April 25, 1994)]
[Pages 821-822]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Proclamation 6672--Nancy Moore Thurmond National Organ and Tissue Donor 
Awareness Week, 1994

April 15, 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.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:06 p.m., April 15, 
1994]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
19. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.

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