congressional_record: CREC-1998-11-12-pt1-PgE2309
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CREC-1998-11-12-pt1-PgE2309 | 1998-11-12 | 105 | 2 | CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4328, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1999 | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | ALLOTHER | E2309 | E2309 | [{"name": "Louis Stokes", "role": "speaking"}] | [{"congress": "105", "type": "HR", "number": "4328"}] | 144 Cong. Rec. E2309 | Congressional Record, Volume 144 Issue 152 (Thursday, November 12, 1998) [Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 152 (Thursday, November 12, 1998)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E2309] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4328, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1999 ______ HON. LOUIS STOKES of ohio in the house of representatives Thursday, November 12, 1998 Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support the fiscal year 1999 budget agreement. However, I am disturbed by a provision in the bill that calls for a study--and declares a one year moratorium--on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary's regulations to reduce fundamental unfairness in the nation's organ transplant network. The issues of organ procurement and allocation are of particular importance to the African-American community. Yet, the current organ transplant network is founded on a system that discriminates against patients on the basis of where they live. It is biased, inequitable and particularly unfair to minorities. In fact, according to the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, African- Americans wait twice as long as white Americans for kidney transplants. In 1994, African-American patients waited more than 3 years for a kidney transplant, while white patients waited an average of 1 year and 8 months. Some of the disparity is due to biological matching problems. But not all of it. Minorities are clustered in urban areas with long organ transplant waiting lists. This dire situation is magnified by--what renowned organ transplant surgeon and founder of the national minority organ/tissue transplant education program, Dr. Clive Callender commonly refers to as the ``green screen.'' This is a barrier that prevents patients who lack fiscal resources from being added to the transplant waiting list. Many of them die without having been given the option of transplantation. African-Americans and other minorities are not the only Americans who suffer as the result of an unequitable organ allocation system. Depending on where they live, some of our citizens wait five times longer than others for liver transplants, even though their medical conditions are similar. I believe that the current system, which makes life and death decisions on the basis of geography, is unfair and should be changed. I support the organ transplant regulations issued by the Department on the April 2nd. They provide the best opportunity to reduce geographic bias and put all Americans in need of transplantation, regardless of race or geographic status, on an equal playing field. The HHS rule does not dictate medical policy. Rather, it simply calls upon the community of transplant professionals to devise uniform, fairer policies for the organ transplant network. It requires only that the medical criteria be used as the basis of any new policies for the organ transplant. Through this rule, HHS is taking a stand for fairness. Mr. Speaker, it is for these reasons that I support the Department of Health and Human Services' rule on the organ transplant network. I urge my colleagues to do likewise. ____________________ |