[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 15 (Monday, April 12, 2004)]
[Pages 562-563]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7769--National Donate Life Month, 2004

 April 8, 2004

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first successful organ 
transplant in the

[[Page 563]]

United States. Since that time, organ and tissue transplantation have 
significantly increased, and last year, more than 25,000 Americans 
received an organ transplant. National Donate Life Month provides the 
opportunity to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation and the 
importance of sharing your decision to donate with your family.
    While medical advances are enabling Americans to receive lifesaving 
transplants, there are not enough donors to help everyone in need. Last 
year, close to 6,000 Americans died while waiting for organ transplants. 
Currently, more than 84,000 of our citizens are on the waiting list for 
a donation, and approximately 30,000 people will be diagnosed with 
diseases that a bone marrow transplant could cure.
    My Administration is committed to increasing organ and tissue 
donation. I have included nearly $25 million in my 2005 budget proposal 
for organ procurement and transplantation efforts at the Department of 
Health and Human Services and nearly $23 million to support a bone 
marrow donor registry. In addition, we continue to increase donations 
through the ``Gift of Life Donation Initiative.'' This campaign 
encourages businesses and organizations to make information on donation 
available to their employees, volunteers, and members, provides donor 
cards for individuals to carry with them, promotes the development of 
donor registries, and encourages States to educate teenagers on donation 
through their drivers' education classes. To make organ donation more 
viable, I recently signed into law the Organ Donation and Recovery 
Improvement Act. The Act authorizes the awarding of grants for travel 
reimbursement to potential donors and helps to increase public awareness 
and education about organ donation programs.
    After a person decides to be a donor, one of the most important 
things he or she needs to do is talk with family members about this 
decision. Many opportunities are missed each year because families do 
not know what their loved ones wanted. During National Donate Life 
Month, we honor our Nation's organ and tissue donors and their families. 
Their decision to share the gift of life through America's donor 
programs serves as a positive example for all our citizens.
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, 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 2004 as National 
Donate Life Month. I call upon our citizens to sign an organ and tissue 
donor card and to be screened for bone marrow donation. I also urge 
health care professionals, volunteers, educators, government agencies, 
and private organizations to help raise awareness of the important need 
for organ and tissue donors in communities throughout our Nation.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of 
April, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
eighth.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9:19 a.m., April 9, 
2004]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
12.