[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 408 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 408

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should declare 
      lung cancer a public health priority and should implement a 
    comprehensive interagency program that will reduce lung cancer 
               mortality by at least 50 percent by 2015.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 28, 2006

   Mr. Hagel (for himself and Mrs. Clinton) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should declare 
      lung cancer a public health priority and should implement a 
    comprehensive interagency program that will reduce lung cancer 
               mortality by at least 50 percent by 2015.

Whereas lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women, 
        accounting for 28 percent of all cancer deaths;
Whereas lung cancer kills more people annually than breast cancer, prostate 
        cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, melanoma, and kidney cancer 
        combined;
Whereas, since the National Cancer Act of 1971 (Public Law 92-218; 85 Stat. 
        778), coordinated and comprehensive research has elevated the 5-year 
        survival rates for breast cancer to 87 percent, for prostate cancer to 
        99 percent, and colon cancer to 64 percent;
Whereas the survival rate for lung cancer is still only 15 percent and a similar 
        coordinated and comprehensive research effort is required to achieve 
        increases in lung cancer survivability rates;
Whereas 60 percent of lung cancer is now diagnosed in nonsmokers and former 
        smokers;
Whereas \2/3\ of nonsmokers diagnosed with lung cancer are women;
Whereas certain minority populations, such as black males, have 
        disproportionately high rates of lung cancer incidence and mortality, 
        notwithstanding their lower smoking rate;
Whereas members of the Baby Boomer generation are entering their sixties, the 
        most common age for the development of cancer;
Whereas tobacco addiction and exposure to other lung cancer carcinogens such as 
        Agent Orange and other herbicides and battlefield emissions are serious 
        problems among military personnel and war veterans;
Whereas the August 2001 Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group of the 
        National Cancer Institute stated that funding for lung cancer research 
        was ``far below the levels characterized for other common malignancies 
        and far out of proportion to its massive health impact'';
Whereas the Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group identified as its 
        ``highest priority'' the creation of integrated, multidisciplinary, 
        multi-institutional research consortia organized around the problem of 
        lung cancer rather than around specific research disciplines; and
Whereas the United States must enhance its response to the issues raised in the 
        Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the President 
should--
            (1) declare lung cancer a public health priority and 
        immediately lead a coordinated effort to reduce the mortality 
        rate of lung cancer by 50 percent by 2015;
            (2) direct the Secretary of the Department of Health and 
        Human Services to increase funding for lung cancer research and 
        other lung cancer-related programs within a coordinated 
        strategy and defined goals, including--
                    (A) translational research and specialized lung 
                cancer research centers;
                    (B) expansion of existing multi-institutional, 
                population-based screening programs incorporating state 
                of the art image processing, centralized review, 
                clinical management, and tobacco cessation protocols;
                    (C) research on disparities in lung cancer 
                incidence and mortality rates;
                    (D) graduate medical education programs in thoracic 
                medicine and cardiothoracic surgery;
                    (E) new programs within the Food and Drug 
                Administration to expedite the development of 
                chemoprevention and targeted therapies for lung cancer;
                    (F) annual reviews by the Agency for Healthcare 
                Research and Quality of lung cancer screening and 
                treatment protocols;
                    (G) the appointment of a lung cancer director 
                within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
                with authority to improve lung cancer surveillance and 
                screening programs; and
                    (H) lung cancer screening demonstration programs 
                under the direction of the Centers for Medicare and 
                Medicaid Services;
            (3) direct the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with 
        the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to develop a broad-based 
        lung cancer screening and disease management program among 
        members of the Armed Forces and veterans, and to develop 
        technologically advanced diagnostic programs for the early 
        detection of lung cancer;
            (4) appoint the Lung Cancer Scientific and Medical Advisory 
        Committee comprised of medical, scientific, pharmaceutical, and 
        patient advocacy representatives to work with the National Lung 
        Cancer Public Health Policy Board and to report to the 
        President and Congress on the progress and the obstacles in 
        achieving the goal described in paragraph 1; and
            (5) convene a National Lung Cancer Public Health Policy 
        Board comprised of multiagency and multidepartment 
        representatives and at least 3 members of the Lung Cancer 
        Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee, that will oversee 
        and coordinate all efforts to accomplish the mission of 
        reducing lung cancer mortality rate by 50 percent by 2015.
                                 <all>