Senate candidate says he’ll push for national organ donor registry

The democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate is calling for a national registry of organ donors. Art Small received a liver transplant in 2001 and says it saved his life. But he says more than 84-thousand Americans are on a waiting list for a new organ, and 18 a day die because there aren’t enough organs.He says half the time when people sign up to donate their organs, their family says no after they die. He says the national registry would let people sign up and that’s all it would take. Small says his liver transplant also shaped his positions on public health policy. Small says if elected, he’ll push Congress for a universal healthcare program. He says the only reason he’s alive today is that he had a good insurance policy. He says he spent a lot of time in the hospital thinking about people who don’t have insurance and lose everything. Small says voters are concerned about candidates, so he wants to be up-front about his liver transplant.He says, “Obviously, I no longer leap tall buildings with a single bound,but I’m in excellent shape.” He says he’s in much better shape than he was three years ago when “I almost checked out.” Small is running against incumbent republican Charles Grassley. Small is 70, and one month younger than Grassley.