[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 76 (Thursday, June 16, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             BREAST CANCER

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to join 
in the fight against breast cancer. Too many of us have seen our 
friends and family confront breast cancer and the fear and grief that 
comes with it. Too many American women are becoming losers instead of 
winners in the battle against this terrible disease.
  One out of nine women in the United States will develop breast cancer 
in her lifetime. It is the leading killer of women between the ages of 
35 and 52. This year, breast cancer will claim the lives of an 
estimated 46,000 women. In my home State of California, roughly 19,000 
new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year, and nearly 
5,000 women will die.
  We do not know what causes breast cancer. We do not know how to 
prevent it. We do not have a cure. Breast self-examination and 
mammography screening are the only tools women have to detect breast 
cancer early, when it can be treated with the least disfigurement and 
when chances for survival are highest. But even the effectiveness of 
mammography has been questioned.
  Last year the National Cancer Institute revised its guidelines to 
recommend mammograms for women age 50 or older every 1 to 2 years, but 
stated that there was not enough scientific evidence to support 
mammography for women between the ages of 40 and 49.
  However, the NCI's conclusions are opposed by over 21 national 
medical organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the 
American College of Radiology. They recommend that women have 
mammograms every 2 years beginning at age 40, and every year beginning 
at age 50.
  And, they are right. In 1992, 40,000 cases of breast cancer were 
diagnosed in women under the age of 50. Of those cases, 28,900 were 
diagnosed in women between the ages of 40 and 49.
  So you can imagine the panic and the distress women feel when they 
are told that scientists are unsure about the effectiveness of 
mammograms. Who should they believe--the scientists or their own 
doctors? I am not a scientist, but I know that we cannot throw out the 
only hope women have.
  That is why health care reform legislation is so important. The 
President should be praised for including coverage of mammography in 
the guaranteed benefits package. But we must add coverage for women 
under the age of 50.
  The women Senators have spoken out clearly on this issue. I am proud 
that Senator Kennedy's bill, the only health care reform bill to pass 
out of committee in the Senate, covers mammography for women between 
the ages of 40 and 49, in consultation with their physician. It must be 
retained in the final version.
  Mr. President, women with breast cancer face so many uncertainties, 
and it should be our mission to help find answers for the questions 
which we have about this horrible disease. Research is our best hope 
for saving lives in the future and we must invest more in it. We can 
start by passing the National Breast Cancer Strategy Act, which I 
introduced last year.
  My bill authorizes an additional $300 million for research on breast 
cancer funded by the National Cancer Institute, including funding for 
research on new imaging techniques that could replace mammography. This 
would double the amount of funding now allocated to breast cancer 
research. And, in order to attract some of our brightest talent to the 
cause, the bill establishes a scholarship program to encourage 
scientists to enter the field of breast cancer research in exchange for 
repayment of educational loans.
  I also call on my colleagues to support the Harkin-Hatfield 
initiative to create a fund for supporting health research at the NIH, 
which includes the National Cancer Institute. The fund would be 
financed by a 1 percent tax on health insurance premiums and a 
voluntary Federal income tax checkoff in order to increase the NIH 
research budget by 50 percent.
  Research can provide so many answers, but new treatments, drugs or 
devices should meet the highest safety standards. And, women need to be 
protected from those which don't work.
  We cannot forget the 10 million American mothers and their children 
who were exposed to DES between 1947 and 1971--Americans who because of 
this horrible drug are at greater risk for infertility, breast cancer, 
and other diseases. Nor can we forget the victims of silicone gel 
breast implants--many of whom received the implants as a result of 
surgery for breast cancer.
  Product liability legislation now pending before Congress would 
insulate manufacturers from the legal consequences of their mistakes, 
misrepresentations, or broken promises. Women must be able to fight 
back against these horrible outcomes or any others which could arise in 
the future.
  Mr. President, I am here today because the health care needs of 
American women can no longer be swept under the rug and left out in the 
political cold. In health care reform, we must encourage women to have 
mammograms, the only lifesaving tool we have to detect breast cancer 
early. At the same time we must look for ways to improve it, so that 
even younger women can benefit. We must invest in breast cancer 
research, our best hope for saving lives in the future. Finally, we 
must defeat product liability legislation which could prevent women 
from fighting back against unsafe treatments for breast cancer and 
other diseases.

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