Stephanie Tubbs Jones Organ Transplant Authorization Act of 2008

Floor Speech

STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES ORGAN TRANSPLANT AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - September 23, 2008)

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I too want to thank the subcommittee chairman, Mr. Frank Pallone from New Jersey, for his good work in this important legislation that we are going to vote on. This effort is really a culmination of a lot of people's hopes, desires and dreams to further advance the medical science that has taken place in recent decades on organ transplants.

As a founder and the cochair of the Congressional Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Caucus, I am very pleased to support this measure before us, H.R. 6469, otherwise known thereafter as the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Organ Transplant Authorization Act.

I want to thank my colleague Congresswoman DeGette for her hard work with me on this important legislation, as well as the caucus cochairs, Congress Member Camp, Congress Member CLAY and Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, all champions of transplant communities throughout our country.

This bill reaffirms our Nation's commitment to providing lifesaving care through transplantation, and at the same time it honors our late colleague, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who gave the gift of life by becoming an organ donor after her passing.

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network was created in 1984 as a public-private partnership to facilitate the safe, effective and efficient sharing of organs through donation and transplantation. Since its inception, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which contracts with the United Network for Organ Sharing, has helped facilitate the transplantation of over 435,000 organs. And nearly 53,000 of them have occurred in my home State of California. I know, because I have worked with the transplant community. My good friend, Dr. Sue McDiarmid, who was formerly the president of the United Network for Organ Sharing, and her colleagues have been doing some amazing work at UCLA Transplant Center to serve the needs of our youngest children specializing in pediatric transplantation with the largest record of transplantation that has taken place probably anywhere in the world, giving these young children, and in some cases babies, a second chance at a full life.

Whether it's a kidney transplant that ends a child's need for dialysis or a liver transplant that gives a person a second chance to play catch with his or her daughter or son, the impact of these lifesaving procedures cannot be overstated. With the advancement of medical science today, we are able to do more and more in this gift of life that is so important.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Donnelly). The time of the gentleman from California has expired.

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Mr. COSTA. Still, despite the amazing advances the United Network for Organ Sharing and its partners in the transplant community have made, there is still much work to be done. As has been noted, over 100,000 people are currently waiting for an organ, and the numbers grow each day.

Today, we take an important step toward reducing that number by providing additional resources to continue the increased number of donors to improve and to expand the outreach and to help provide those in need with the access to life-saving organs.

I encourage all of my colleagues to join in honoring Congresswoman Tubbs Jones by supporting this bill and by also following her example in becoming organ donors. After all, it's perhaps the most precious gift we can give. I know because I am one of those who intends to do just that.

I urge an ``aye'' vote on this important measure.

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