[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 16 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Pages 687-688]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6886--National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, 1996

April 19, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Thousands of lives have been saved by the miracle of organ and 
tissue transplantation, a medical procedure made possible only by the 
extraordinary generosity of those who agree to donate and the profound 
compassion of their loved ones. Recipients are often able to resume 
normal lives after their transplants, working and caring for their 
families, and many children are in school today due to a donated liver 
or bone marrow. Still, the need for organs far exceeds the number 
donated, and many Americans wait--and some will die waiting--for 
suitable organs or tissues to become available.

[[Page 688]]

    Although our Nation has a potentially adequate supply of organs and 
tissues, there are more than 45,000 patients on the national transplant 
waiting list, and some 2,000 new names are added each month. We must 
educate all Americans about transplantation and its successes and raise 
public awareness of the urgent need for increased donation. All of our 
citizens should know that by completing a donor card and carrying it, 
and particularly by making family members aware of the wish to donate, 
they may save the health, or even the life, of someone in need.
    Americans are a caring people, and our Nation's citizens have always 
reached out to one another in times of trouble. Organ donation is a 
unique example of the spirit of giving, and many who have lost loved 
ones have found comfort in knowing that their loss means the promise of 
life for others. This week and throughout the year, let us recognize the 
advances made in organ and tissue transplant techniques, honor those who 
have already pledged their organs, and encourage people to make the 
life-giving decision to donate.
    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 21 
through April 27, 1996, 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 get involved.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day 
of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:20 a.m., April 22, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
April 23.