A joint resolution to designate the month of November 1983 as "National Christmas Seal Month".
PL 98-154 (S.J.Res.188), enacted 11/16/1983

PUBLIC LAW 98-154—NOV. 16, 1983 
97 STAT. 985 
Public Law 98-154 
98th Congress 
Joint Resolution 
To designate the month of November 1983 as "National Christmas Seal Month". 
Nov. 16, 1983 
[S.J. Res. 188] 
Whereas chronic diseases of the lung afflict well over seventeen 
million Americans, cause more than two hundred thousand 
deaths annually, at a cost to the Nation of more than $48.8 billion 
each year in lost wages, productivity, and in direct costs of 
medical care; 
Whereas leading the fight in the voluntary sector to prevent illness, 
disability, and death from lung disease is the American Lung 
Association—the Christmas Seal People—a nonprofit public 
health organization supported by individual contributions to 
Christmas Seals and other donations; 
Whereas chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases have been among 
the fastest rising causes of death—an 87 per centum increase in 
the past ten years. Almost seven million Americans, including two 
million two hundred and fifty thousand children, suffer from 
asthma; 
Whereas, two and one-half million people have emphysema, while 
seven million eight hundred thousand suffer from chronic bron-
chitis. And it is expected that lung cancer will surpass breast 
cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among American 
women during this decade; 
Whereas the American Lung Association, the Nation's first national 
voluntary public health organization, was founded in 1904 as the 
National Tuberculosis Association to combat TB when this lung 
disease was known to nearly every American family and one in 
seven deaths resulted from tuberculosis. Beginning in 1907, 
Christmas Seals were used to raise funds through private contri-
butions to provide education to Americans about the disease; 
Whereas, in its early years, the National Tuberculosis Association 
pioneered in school programs aimed at motivating our young 
people to establish healthful living patterns. That tradition re-
mains strong as the American Lung Association, through its 
community Lung Associations, helps educate the public, patients, 
£md their families about lung diseases; sponsors community action 
programs for good lung health; underwrites medical research; 
supports education for physicians and other health care workers; 
wages vigorous campaigns against cigarette smoking and air pol-
lution. The primary source of funding for more than seventy years 
has been Christmas Seals. This year, Christmas Seals will be in 
sixty million homes. Tuberculosis has been subdued considerably, 
but not eradicated in the one hundred and two years since the 
discovery of the tubercle bacillus by Doctor Robert Koch. The 
disease is still responsible for one in one thousand deaths—many 
among children. The American Lung Association continues to 
work with Congress to better distribute resources to control tuber-
culosis and work toward its eradication; 
97 STAT. 986 
PUBLIC LAW 98-154—NOV. 16, 1983 
Whereas the American Lung Association works with the National 
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a major component of the Na-
tional Institutes of Health, to support research, training, and 
demonstration programs relevant to the lung, as well as the 
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the 
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, in addition 
to the Tuberculosis Program of the Centers for Disease Control, 
the Office of Smoking and Health, and the Office of Health 
Promotion; and 
Whereas the American Lung Association continues to cooperate 
with Federal agencies to bring about a decrease in the serious 
problem of lung disease, a mission to which its volunteers and 
staff are committed: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
National 
States of America in Congress assembled. That the month of Novem-
S h " ^ 
^^ 1^83 is designated as "National Christmas Seal Month" and the 
President of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a 
proclamation calling upon all Government agencies and the people 
of the United States to observe the month with appropriate activi-
ties supporting the Christmas Seal program. 
Approved November 16, 1983. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S.J. Res. 188: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 129 (1983): 
Oct. 27, considered and passed Senate. 
Nov. 4, considered and passed House.