Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, Illinois and many other States have the ability to sign the back of their driver's license to give the gift of life, which is organ donation. That is in addition to the legislation that we have here on the floor today. I am pleased that the House is considering H.R. 399, the Organ Donation Improvement Act. This legislation builds on existing Department of Health and Human Services programs and encourages more Americans to give the gift of life. Medical advances and the generosity of organ and tissue donors enable more than 22,000 Americans per year to receive organ transplants that save or enhance their lives. Despite their self-sacrifice and charity of these donors, this is only a small proportion of the more than 76,000 Americans who are now on the waiting list hoping to prolong their life by finding a matching donor. Tragically, the number of patients waiting for organ transplants rose more than five times as fast as the number of transplant operations in the 1990s, according to an annual report by the United Network for Organ Sharing. As a result, about 5,500 people die in the United States each year, or 15 patients each day, while waiting for a donated heart, liver, kidney or other organ. It is estimated that every 16 minutes a new name is added to this growing waiting list.”