African American Bone Marrow Awareness Month

Floor Speech

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Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, this resolution will bring more attention to the crucial need for more minorities to become bone marrow donors. I am pleased to be joined by my colleague, Senator ISAKSON of Georgia, and my good friend, Representative CAROLYN CHEEKS KILPATRICK, in supporting this important endeavor.

According to A Bone Marrow Wish Foundation, bone marrow transplants can cure over 70 life-threatening diseases such as leukemia. About 70 percent of patients will need a nonfamily member to donate healthy marrow.

Generally, minority patients will need a match from someone who shares the same ethnicity. But finding a successful match can be a huge challenge: although there are more than 6 million potential donors registered, only 450,000 are African Americans.

I know from firsthand experience how important such a donation can be. Last year, any chief of staff, who is Latina, made a donation to a 9-year-old child with leukemia.

I urge all of my colleagues to join us in encouraging more Americans to learn more about bone marrow donation and perhaps consider being a donor themselves.

I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support from the National Marrow Donor Program be printed after my remarks.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD

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