    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
    [Pages 555-556]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 6992--National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, 1997

    April 19, 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

    [[Page 556]]

    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.
        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.
                                                William J. Clinton

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:58 a.m., April 22,
    1997]

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