Expressing support for designation of April as "National Donate Life Month" and expressing gratitude to all Americans who have registered to be organ and tissue donors.

Bill: 118-hres-333
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-21]
Introduced: 2023-04-27
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Commemorative events and holidays

Congressional tributes

Health personnel

Organ and tissue donation and transplantation
Latest action: action_date: 2023-05-05
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-04-27
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p> This resolution expresses support for the designation, goals, and ideals of National Donate Life Month.</p>

tv_txt: IV 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 333 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 27, 2023 Mr. Costa (for himself, Mr. Bucshon , Mr. Correa , and Mr. Murphy ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce RESOLUTION Expressing support for designation of April as National Donate Life Month and expressing gratitude to all Americans who have registered to be organ and tissue donors.

Whereas, as of March 2023, 104,234 individuals were on the official waiting list managed for organ donation by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network established under section 372 of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 274 ), commonly referred to as the national transplant waiting list ; Whereas, in 2022, over 42,800 transplant procedures were performed with organs from over 14,900 deceased donors and over 6,400 living donors, yet on average, 17 people die each day while waiting for an organ donation; Whereas over 169,000,000 people in the United States are registered to be organ and tissue donors, yet the demand for donated organs outweighs the supply of organs made available each day; Whereas, on September 9, 2022, the United States reached the historic milestone of over 1,000,000 transplants performed, more than any other country in the world; Whereas, in 2022, a record was set for the number of deceased donor organ transplants performed in a single year, for the ninth consecutive year, and annual records were also set for liver, heart, and lung transplants, with total kidney transplants exceeding 25,000 for the first year ever; Whereas transplantation is the therapy of choice, and frequently the only option, to ease patient suffering, restore patient health, and allow patients to lead more productive lives; Whereas modern medicine has progressed to allow exponentially more successful transplant surgeries to be performed; Whereas scientific breakthroughs in the field of living donations have allowed a living donor to donate a kidney or a portion of the liver to save the life of another individual; Whereas in addition to addressing public health concerns, there are also enormous financial savings to the United States health care system that can be realized by increasing organ donation and transplantation nationally; and Whereas April is traditionally recognized as National Donate Life Month : Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1) supports the designation, goals, and ideals of National Donate Life Month ; (2) expresses its support and gratitude to all Americans who have registered to be organ and tissue donors; (3) acknowledges the grief of families who face the loss of loved ones and commends the families who, in their grief, choose to donate the organs and tissues of deceased family members; (4) recognizes the generous contribution made by each living individual who has donated an organ or tissue to save and enhance the life of another individual; (5) encourages those Americans who are not already donors to consider their organ, blood and tissue donation options; (6) commends the medical professionals and organ donation and transplantation experts who have worked to improve the donation process to increase the number of deceased and living donors and thus save more lives; (7) encourages States, localities, and territories of the United States to support the goals and ideals of National Donate Life Month by issuing a proclamation to designate National Donate Life Month ; and (8) supports the many public events that will be conducted in April in every State to thank donors and donor families, to publicize the organ shortage, and to educate individuals on the benefits of becoming an organ and tissue donor.