HR 9131

1	House Resolution
2	A resolution designating April 2009 as "Donate Life Month"
3	in Florida.
4
5	WHEREAS, one of the most meaningful and generous gifts that
6	a human being can bestow upon another is the gift of life, and
7	WHEREAS, a new patient is added to the national patient
8	waiting list for an organ transplant every 10 minutes, and
9	WHEREAS, more than 101,000 Americans are currently on the
10	national waiting list for organ transplantation, of whom nearly
11	3,700 are in Florida, and
12	WHEREAS, an average of 18 people die every day awaiting an
13	organ transplant and approximately one million people could
14	benefit from lifesaving tissue transplants each year, and
15	WHEREAS, Donate Life Florida is a nonprofit community
16	service organization dedicated to empowering the public to save
17	and enhance lives through organ and tissue donation, and
18	WHEREAS, the state supports Donate Life Florida's
19	lifesaving mission, and
20	WHEREAS, in 1983 the United States Congress authorized and
21	requested the President to issue a Proclamation designating a
22	week in April as National Organ Donation Awareness Week and, in
23	1986, expanded the Proclamation to National Organ and Tissue
24	Donation Awareness Week, and
25	WHEREAS, former United States Secretary of Health and Human
26	Services Tommy Thompson declared April 2003 as National Donate
27	Life Month, NOW, THEREFORE,
28
29	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
30	Florida:
31
32	That April 2009 is recognized as "Donate Life Month" in
33	Florida, and all Florida residents are encouraged to consider
34	giving life through organ donation and to sign up on Florida's
35	organ and tissue donor registry when renewing their driver
36	license or state identification card.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.