Thank you, Richard.

Thank you all for being here today.

I would especially like to thank Katherine Skiba of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Frank Aukofer - Chairman of the Press Club's speaker's committee and longtime Washington reporter for the Milwaukee Journal - for asking me to be here.

I am also very pleased and honored to be joined here at the head table by Mr. Harry Pearce, Vice Chairman of General Motors . Mr. Richard Shoemaker, Vice President of UAW . and Mrs. Mary Nachreiner, citizen of Wisconsin.

Many years ago, Benjamin Franklin wrote in his autobiography about his brother starting a newspaper in Boston. The year was 1720 or so and the newspaper was then only the second one to appear in the colonies. Apparently, as Franklin pointed out, many of his brother's friends tried to dissuade him from starting such an enterprise, "one newspaper" - and I am quoting here - "one newspaper being in their judgment enough for America."

My, how times have changed. And I have to say I am glad they did, or it would have made for a very lonely luncheon for me here today at the National Press Club.

Americans love their news, and they seem to be getting more and more of it every day - thanks in part to many of you here in this room . and thanks to the unbelievable advances being made in communications and technology.

Medicine has of course advanced over the years as well. From almost the beginning of time, our expectations of medicine have been the same: to recognize an ailment, explain it, then make it go away . and, from almost the beginning of time, we have been unable to do any of these things. Until less than a hundred years ago, the very idea that a disease could be turned around by treatment was in the realm of dreams.

The transplant capabilities we take for granted today would have astounded someone from Benjamin Franklin's time - indeed, someone from any time over the ages. It is truly one of the great medical success stories of the 20th century . and yet it is one that is severely limited by the availability of donated organs.

When I was Governor of Wisconsin, I was aware of the tremendous advances being made in organ transplantation because I knew our own university hospital was doing a lot of work and research in the area. But the dire need for organs was brought home to me one night when Dr. Hans Sollinger - who is now the chairman of the transplant division at University of Wisconsin Hospital, and who is here with us today - joined me for dinner at the governor's residence. Dr. Sollinger lamented the fact that he had lost a patient that very day because he had been unable to get the necessary organ.

Dr. Sollinger spoke to me that night about the desperate need for more organs . and the need for a high- profile spokesman to lead the effort. So that night I made a commitment - to him, to myself, and to Wisconsin .

To make organ donation a priority, to articulate a vision for our state, and to make a concerted effort to get more people involved and recognized for giving organs. And that is exactly what we did.

On my very first day as Secretary of Health and Human Services, I said that I would make that very same commitment to organ donation on a national level within my first 100 days in office . and I am here today - 75 days later - to do just that.

Today - appropriately enough during National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week - we are launching a new national initiative to encourage and enable Americans to "donate life." This initiative will encourage organ and tissue donation, as well as registration for marrow donation, and the donation of blood.

I am announcing five initial parts of this initiative today - but I want to be very clear that this is only the beginning. My commitment to this issue will not waver. It is too important.

There are currently more than 76,000 Americans on the national waiting list for organs - and that number grows by more than 300 people each month.

Last year alone, more than 5,500 patients died while on that waiting list. That's fifteen people every day . or one person every hour and a half.

The need for organs for transplantation is increasingly outstripping the supply. Ten years ago, about 15,000 organs were transplanted . while the number of people on the waiting list totaled almost 22,000.

Yesterday our department announced, along with the United Network for Organ Sharing, that 22,827 organs were transplanted last year - which represents more than a 50 percent increase over a decade ago. That is encouraging news.

But while transplants have grown 50 percent, the waiting list has grown 250 percent.

The number of cadavaric donors actually increased 2.7 percent last year, to almost 6,000. While this is gratifying and it means we are heading in the right direction, it is not even close to what we need . and what I know we can achieve if we truly dedicate ourselves to letting people know the need is there, and what they can do about it.

Our goal with this initiative is to get the information out there, encourage families all over America to understand the importance of organ donation, and grow the number of donors.

If we can accomplish this, then so many of the challenges we face today involving organ donation will be solved. Disputes over allocation between different states and different regions of the country will be a thing of the past. And fewer people dying while waiting for an organ will be our legacy.

The first part of this initiative is a workplace partnership for life - which we kicked off this morning with an event at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Representatives from 18 different companies and organizations were there - everyone from Verizon and Bank of America to the United Auto Workers and the U.S. Postal Service. Many of these people are here with us today, and I cannot thank them enough for welcoming this opportunity to embrace life - for themselves, for their employees, and their employees' families.

The aim of this campaign is to provide employers of all sizes and their employees with the opportunity to create a nationwide network of "donation friendly workplaces" . organizations that give people the information, the encouragement and the chance they need to donate life.

You've heard of the United Way? Well, think of this as the donated way . A chance for people to act on their own good intentions through the workplace.

Harry Pearce is the Vice Chairman of General Motors Corporation. He is also a bone marrow transplant recipient, and he has already taken a leading role in working to create donation-friendly workplaces around the country. We are excited that he has agreed to continue his efforts along with us . and the fact that he is joining us gives me a pretty good feeling about the kind of success we are going to see.

I am also happy to have Richard Shoemaker here with us from the United Auto Workers. In their most recent labor/management contracts, the UAW and the big three automakers made provisions in the contract itself to promote organ donation . an idea so simple and so smart I wish I had thought of it myself. It is a national model that I plan to strongly encourage other industries to consider and follow.

And I want to thank the Coalition on Donation and The Marrow Foundation for their help in launching this partnership, and for all the work they do to educate the public about the need for organ, marrow, tissue and blood donations.

And I would like to emphasize once more that this initiative is focused on all donations - whether organ, marrow, tissue or blood. Every day in this country, about 32,000 life-saving blood transfusions take place.

But every day there are also thousands of people who are waiting for tissue transplants . and every year more than 30,000 people are diagnosed with leukemia and other blood disorders, two-thirds of whom will not be able to find a life-saving marrow donor within their own family and will have to turn to the national marrow registry to find a matched donor.

The workplace partnership is dedicated to helping all of these people, all over the country.

Companies that participate in this campaign will of course be able to pursue their own individual programs, but HHS will be developing kits for interested organizations. And we are also creating a "Workplace Partnership Web site" where participating companies can link up to share ideas and practices.

The workplace is one of our best hopes for creativity and participation when it comes to organ donation. Everyone has a contribution to make - from the big corporations to the unions to Joe's Pizza on the corner.

This morning alone, hundreds of people at HHS signed new donor cards. And guess what? I did too.

Part of the new workplace initiative materials we released today is this new simple model donor card. Now, many versions of donor cards exist today, and they are still valid. Whatever you do, don't throw them away!

This card is not meant to replace other cards, but to serve as a model . building on our experience and incorporating elements that we've learned are needed, such as a line to designate whether all organs and tissues may be donated.

The two most important lines on this model card, however - and they are included on most organ donor cards that are out there today - are the two lines for signatures by two witnesses, preferably family members or others most likely to be contacted in an emergency.

I cannot emphasize enough how important this is. Signing an organ donor card, or signing the back of your driver's license is an excellent first step. It means you've declared your choice to be an organ donor.

But by themselves they are not enough.

They can never really guarantee that our wishes will be known. For example, police sometimes carry identification documents away from the scene of an accident. If our families don't know our wishes, then how will they be able to make such a difficult decision at such a traumatic moment?

That is why it is so important that we tell our loved ones now . and that is why this new model card incorporates the proven element of two signature lines.

To help ensure that families and hospitals know an individual's wishes, we need to take a look at other options as well - including organ donor registries.

Sixteen states have now established donor registries, and consensus seems to be growing that registries can provide a means for assuring that a donor's intent is recorded and retrievable when necessary.

However, many questions remain about the most effective registry techniques, whether a national registry is needed, or what is the best way to link existing state registries.

We need to figure out what works, which is why I have asked the Office of Inspector General at HHS to conduct a study of existing registries.

I have also asked the Health Resources and Services Administration - HRSA - to immediately organize a national forum on the potential of donor registries .

A forum that will include the National Governors' Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures to assist us reviewing the potential and effectiveness of donor registries in all states.

Helping individuals make the choice for donation is the first step. The next step is helping to ensure that families and hospitals have access to that decision when the opportunity for donation may arise. We need to learn whether the registry approach should be supported nationwide.

Did you know that family refusal is the most common reason that organs from potential donors are not recovered? National polls indicate that close to 95 percent of all Americans are willing to donate their organs if they are asked . and yet only half of families say "yes" when they are approached.

If we can increase consent for donation, that alone could be one of the most truly remarkable outcomes of this initiative - and I am convinced that we can make it happen.

Losing a loved one is an unimaginable and wrenching loss, but donating part of a loved one's body to someone else can bring incredible comfort to donor families.

I know this from firsthand experience with many of these families in Wisconsin.

Soon after I committed to making organ donation a priority in our state, someone came to me with a design for an organ donor medal. We decided to call it the "gift of life" medal, and in the six years that followed we held a ceremony each year to recognize and to celebrate those families who made the decision to share life.

I'm going to be honest with you. Those were six of the toughest events I ever participated in. I'm Irish, you know, and I tend to get a little emotional - and believe me, the tears started flowing almost immediately every year. My tears, the families' tears, the recipients, the audience, my hard-boiled staff. Everyone.

But I also have to say those ceremonies were some of the most rewarding and satisfying experiences I had as governor. They provided us with a chance, as a state, to thank the families for making a decision for life . and a chance for recipients and their families to express their unequalled gratitude.

I am convinced that donor recognition is absolutely crucial to encouraging organ donation .

And the simple fact of the matter is that we owe our thanks and recognition to every family that suffers such a great loss and gives such a tremendous gift.

So, I am supporting efforts to create a national medal recognizing all families who consent to donation, and I pledge today to have a medal program in place by this time next year.

I am also announcing that the Department of Health and Human Services will create a model curriculum for states and counties to incorporate organ donor information into their teenage driver's education classes . again working with the National Governors' Association and the National Council of State Legislatures to help implement them in areas that choose to do so.

This driver education approach also stems from something we did in Wisconsin, a law inspired by Kelly Nachreiner, a teenager who was killed in an auto accident soon after she received her driver's license. Before she died, however, Kelly had signed the back of her driver's license - a selfless decision that allowed her to become an organ donor and to save the lives of two people from Wisconsin and a woman from Kansas.

Kelly's parents wanted to make sure people would remember and follow their daughter's generous act, so they pushed for a bill that would require every student attending a driver education class to receive at least 30 minutes of instruction relating to organ and tissue donation - a bill that I signed into law, and an effort that is helping all Wisconsin teenagers learn about the importance of organ . donation. It is an effort I would like to expand across the country.

Kelly's mother, Mary, has become a tireless and very visible spokeswoman on the issue of organ donation . and I am happy that she is here with us today.

For Mary . for Harry (Pearce) . for Richard (Shoemaker) . for everyone here today: this is only the beginning.

I intend to expand this core initiative in the months to come. We plan to review the potential federal responsibilities for monitoring living donation, which has in recent years become the fastest-growing source of transplanted organs. For donors and transplant patients alike, we at HHS need to ensure the safety and effectiveness of such procedures.

We will also continue to work with other federal agencies and state governments to promote donation awareness efforts like the ones we have outlined today. We need to do everything in our power to make sure that individual's wishes to donate are recorded and carried out.

The President's proposed budget that was released last week includes an increase of $5 million dollars - an increase of 33 percent - in funding for transplant and donation activities at the Health Resources and Services Administration.

This is good news. But all the good ideas for promoting organ donation will not occur only to me or to others involved in this initiative. We need ideas and input from all of you who are dedicated to this issue.

That is why I am so pleased that HRSA today announced the availability of $3 million dollars in new grant funds to support demonstrations of innovative new approaches to increasing organ donation. If you have an idea in mind - submit a proposal. We welcome any new project that might make a difference.

Obviously, this is an issue that I am passionate about.

But how can you not be? It is an issue that is so simple . and yet so important.

As one woman said, "why put organs in the ground when they can save someone's life?" Why hesitate to donate when no one hesitates to receive?

One organ and tissue donor - only one - can help up to 50 people. One person's heart can beat for someone else .

Their lungs can breathe for someone else . their kidneys could free two people from dialysis . their liver could save the life of a patient waiting for a transplant. Corneas can give sight, bones can give mobility, skin can give renewed hope to a burn victim.

Think about it. Five more organ donors every day could mean preventing the deaths of almost everyone who dies each day, waiting.

I've said it before - I don't want you to die. I do want you to sign the card . I want you to talk to your family . and I want you to make your intentions known. Because you never know who you could be helping - or who could be helping you.

And no group is more well-positioned to get this important message out than the media . so I seek and appreciate your partnership in this endeavor as well. There is an old Indian proverb that says "all that is not given is lost."

This is especially true when it comes to organ donation . a gift that is never taken for granted . that is never forgotten . that proves beyond a doubt that out of tragedy can come hope . out of death, new life.

Don't let the chance to say "yes" to life pass you by.

Thank you for asking me to be here today.