IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 94

Recognizing the generous contribution made by each living person who has

donated a kidney to save a life.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 3, 1999

Mr. NETHERCUTT (for himself, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin,

Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr.

COYNE, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. ENGLISH, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DUNCAN,

Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SHOWS,

Mr. SPENCE, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. THURMAN, and Mr.

WELDON of Pennsylvania) submitted the following resolution; which was

referred to the Committee on Commerce

RESOLUTION

Recognizing the generous contribution made by each living

person who has donated a kidney to save a life.

Whereas kidneys are vital organs that clean the blood by removing wastes, and failed kidneys have lost the ability to

remove these wastes;

Whereas in the United States more than 250,000 patients

with kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease

(ESRD), have died since 1989;

Whereas during 1996, 283,932 patients were in treatment for

ESRD, and an additional 73,091 patients began treatment for ESRD;
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•HRES 94 IH

Whereas the most common cause of ESRD has consistently

been diabetes, because the high levels of blood sugar in

persons with diabetes cause the kidneys to filter too

much blood and leave the kidneys, over time, unable to

filter waste products;

Whereas of the patients who began treatment for ESRD in

1996, 43 percent were persons with diabetes;

Whereas ESRD can be treated with dialysis, which artificially

cleans the blood but which imposes significant burdens on

quality of life, or with a successful kidney transplant operation, which frees the patient from dialysis and brings

about a dramatic improvement in quality of life;

Whereas in 1996 the number of kidneys transplanted in the

United States was 12,238, with 25 percent of the kidneys

donated from biologically related living relatives, 5 percent from spousal or other biologically unrelated living

persons, and the remainder from cadavers;

Whereas from 1988 to 1997, the number of patients on the

waiting list for a cadaveric kidney transplant increased

more than 150 percent, from 13,943 to more than

35,000;

Whereas the annual number of cadaveric kidneys available for

transplant has increased only slightly, from 8,327 in

1994 to 8,526 in 1996, an increase of less than 100 such

kidneys per year;

Whereas from 1988 to 1997, the annual number of kidneys

donated by living persons rose 104 percent, from 1,812

to 3,705; and

Whereas in 1995, the 3-year survival rate for kidney recipients was 82 percent if the donor was a living parent, 85

percent if the donor was a living spouse, 81 percent if the
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•HRES 94 IH

donor was a biologically unrelated living person other

than a spouse, and 70 percent if the kidney was

cadaveric: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) recognizes the generous contribution made

3 by each living person who has donated a kidney to

4 save a life; and

5 (2) acknowledges the advances in medical tech6 nology that have enabled living kidney transplan7 tation to become a viable treatment option for an in8 creasing number of patients with end stage renal

9 disease.

Æ