[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 162 (Thursday, October 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S15312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONAL MAMMOGRAPHY DAY

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today, I would like to call attention to a 
day of critical importance to women across this Nation--National 
Mammography Day.
  America's women are facing a devastating crisis, and its name is 
breast cancer.
  It is a devastating crisis that targets women's lives, their 
confidence in health care, their work, their friends and their 
families.
  It is a crisis that results in approximately 182,000 new cases of 
breast cancer being diagnosed each year, and 46,000 deaths.
  Breast cancer is a crisis that has become the most common form of 
cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among American 
women--an estimated 2.6 million in the United States are living with 
breast cancer, 1.6 million have been diagnosed, and an estimated 1 
million women do not yet know they have breast cancer.
  It is a crisis in which one out of eight women in our country will 
come to develop breast cancer in their lifetimes--a risk that was one 
out of 14 in 1960. In fact, this year, a new case of breast cancer will 
be diagnosed every 3 minutes, and a woman will die from breast cancer 
every 11 minutes.
  It is a crisis that has tragically claimed the lives of almost 1 
million women of all ages and backgrounds since 1960. This is more than 
two times the number of all Americans who have died in World War I, 
World War II, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, and the Persian Gulf 
war, and 48 percent of these deaths occurred in the past 10 years 
alone.
  Finally, it is a crisis that has become the leading cause of death 
for women aged 40 to 44, and the leading cause of cancer death in women 
aged 25 to 54.
  But what really hits home for this Senator is the fact that my mother 
died of breast cancer when I was only 9 years old, as well as the fact 
that 900 Maine women were diagnosed with breast cancer last year.
  This is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Maine women, and 
this represents more than 30 percent of all new cancers among women in 
Maine.
  We all know these statistics, we live with them every day of our 
lives and face them with a growing concern and deepening sorrow, and 
they are a constant reminder of the work that remains to be done.
  But we know that they represent more than just numbers--each number 
represents the life of a mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, daughter, 
wife, friend, or co-worker. They are the fabric of our families, our 
communities, our States and our Nation.
  As a former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, 
I have joined other members of that caucus in working diligently to 
bring the respect and action that is needed to the struggle against 
breast cancer.
  In past years, we have introduced and passed vital legislation to 
help us win this struggle--and that has included the Women's Health 
Equity Act, which in 1993 included the National Breast Cancer Strategy 
Act, which established a National Breast Cancer Commission--an 
interagency office on breast cancer--and authorizes $300 million for 
increased breast cancer research at NIH.
  The WHEA also contained the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality 
Prevention Act Reauthorization, which provides much-needed grants to 
States for mammograms and pap-smears for low-income women and was 
passed by Congress and signed into law in late 1993.
  And we also passed the NIH Revitalization Act, which authorized 
increased funding for clinical research on breast, cervical and other 
reproductive cancers in women.
  But these are just the first steps in our crusade to find a cure for 
breast cancer and to bring relief and comfort to its victims and their 
families.
  Our fight goes on. We need more funding. We need more research. We 
need more education and awareness of breast cancer and its causes. We 
need more understanding. We need more compassion. And we need a cure.
  Yet despite these frightening statistics, we know that with early 
detection and regular screening, a survival rate of over 90 percent can 
be achieved. Unfortunately, these statistics reveal that not enough 
women are taking advantage of preventive measures with proven 
benefits--such as mammograms. In fact, the Director of the National 
Cancer Institute announced yesterday that ``one of the biggest barriers 
to reducing breast cancer mortality is lack of information.''
  Given that such a promising survival rate is associated with early 
detection and treatment, it is essential that we be relentless in our 
efforts to increase public awareness of this terrible disease. The 
lives of our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends may well depend on 
our ability to educate them about the importance of mammograms.
  This year, I submitted Senate Concurrent Resolution 8, expressing the 
sense of Congress on the need for accurate guidelines for breast cancer 
screening for women ages 40-49. However, on this day, National 
Mammography Day, there are things we can all do to ensure there are no 
more victims of breast cancer, but only survivors. Talk to the women in 
your family and your home States about the importance of breast cancer 
screening. Tell them to arrange for a physical, including a clinical 
breast exam. Tell them to schedule a mammogram for themselves or a 
loved one. Talk to them. Talk to them today. Tell them not to wait.
  Mrs. KASSEBAUM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to 
the resolution appear in the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 177) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 177

       Whereas, according to the American Cancer Society, one 
     hundred eighty-two thousand women will be diagnosed with 
     breast cancer in 1995, and forty-six thousand women will die 
     from this disease;
       Whereas, in the decade of the 1990's, it is estimated that 
     about two million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, 
     resulting in nearly five hundred thousand deaths;
       Whereas the risk of breast cancer increases with age, with 
     a woman at age seventy having twice as much of a chance of 
     developing the disease than a woman at age fifty.
       Whereas 80 percent of the women who get breast cancer have 
     no family history of the disease;
       Whereas mammograms, when operated professionally at a 
     certified facility, can provide a safe and quick diagnosis;
       Whereas experts agree that mammography is the best method 
     of early detection of breast cancer, and early detection is 
     the key to saving lives; and
       Whereas mammograms can reveal the presence of small cancers 
     of up to two years or more before regular clinical breast 
     examination or breast self-examination (BSE), saving as many 
     as one-third more lives: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate designate October 19, 1995 as 
     ``National Mammography Day.'' The Senate requests that the 
     President issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the 
     United States to observe such day with appropriate programs 
     and activities.

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