[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 5, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5785-S5788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           RACE FOR THE CURE

  Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. President, I will not take 40 minutes, but I am very 
pleased to be joined by colleagues in the Chamber today in recognizing 
the 1996 national Race for the Cure. The race, which will take place 
this year on Saturday, June 15, is a unique opportunity to bring 
together the many people whose lives have been touched by breast 
cancer.
  This year, Capitol Hill has an opportunity to play a tremendous role 
in this race. Today is the first on-site Capitol Hill registration, and 
today is also the beginning of something very special in this race. For 
every Capitol Hill participant who registers, the company Eli Lilly has 
generously offered to match their registration fee in the form of a 
donation to Race for the Cure. So for every individual who signs up to 
participate, your contribution to the race will be doubled. In other 
words, one can really make a difference here and have that difference 
amplified.
  For all those who are unfamiliar with Race for the Cure, the race is 
a 5-kilometer run or, in my case, walk that raises money for breast 
cancer research and for early screening for underprivileged women in 
underserved communities in the District, Maryland, and Virginia. The 
race also allows a new generation of women to be made aware of the 
risks associated with breast cancer. Although we still do not have a 
cure, we do have screening devices which can increase the early 
detection that prolongs life. Education and awareness is one of our 
strongest weapons in the fight against breast cancer.

  Today in America, 500 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. 
Most likely, each will be frightened, uncertain of her future, and in 
search of a treatment that, if it cannot cure her, will at least 
prolong her life. Each woman's family and friends, coworkers, and 
caregivers will worry deeply about her.
  Today in America, 150 women will die of breast cancer. Their lives 
will be ended prematurely, their family, friends, coworkers and 
caregivers will be grief-stricken. Listen to the enormity of the 
disease: Fully one out of nine women in this country will get breast 
cancer, one out of nine women. Since 1960, nearly 1 million women have 
died from this disease. With their deaths, millions of their loved 
ones, including children and aging parents dependent upon them, have 
suffered as well. We stagger under these numbers, even as we search for 
the causes and for a cure.
  All women are at risk for breast cancer, with the incidence 
increasing among older women and the mortality rate higher for African 
American women. While other factors that may put a woman at risk are 
being thoroughly investigated, we are still, ourselves, at risk for 
feeling helpless in the face of this killer. I speak about this with 
personal experience. In 1992, my own wife contracted breast cancer. 
Ernestine had a mastectomy and chemotherapy for 6 months. As I sat and 
watched the devastating impact of chemotherapy on her body, I thought 
to myself, 100 years from now people will look back and maybe consider 
this treatment like the leeches of the 18th century, it is so 
devastating. She persevered. It was a trauma for our whole family. It 
was, for me, the moment

[[Page S5786]]

that I realized that sometimes catastrophe can overtake the best laid 
plans and that every day has to be lived to its fullest because one 
cannot take tomorrow for granted.
  That is kind of the secondary benefit of this whole experience, 
learning that every day must be lived to the fullest extent possible 
because one does not know about tomorrow. But one thing my wife feels 
very strongly, having come out of the treatment with flying colors, 
being cancer-free now for over 3 years, is that she does not consider 
herself a victim of breast cancer. She considers that she has triumphed 
over breast cancer. Early detection and more research for a cure will 
allow millions of other women to have that feeling as well; that they, 
too, have triumphed over breast cancer.
  So, remembering that the women who battle this disease are our wives, 
sisters, mothers, daughters, and friends, I am proud to join the 
estimated 30,000 other runners, walkers, rollerbladers and wheelchair 
participants, who will participate in the Race for the Cure on June 15. 
Today I ask all of my colleagues and the staff who work on Capitol Hill 
to consider participating in the race on June 15. There are already 55 
registrants from the Bradley office. Last year I think we were No. 1. 
Registration is simple. In-person registration is available for all 
Hill participants today. Let me repeat that. Registration is available 
today at the Reserve Officers Association Building, which is on the 
corner of First Street and Constitution, right across from the Hart 
Office Building.
  Registering for the race will be one of the easiest tasks you can do 
today. Frankly, participating in the race on June 15 will be one of the 
most rewarding. If you have not done it, I urge you to do it. It will 
be a morning that you will not forget, and your efforts could really 
make a difference.
  I yield the floor.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I commend my colleague from New Jersey 
for setting aside the time this morning to talk about the issue and the 
commitment that we have to conquering breast cancer, which is the 
largest killer of women between the ages of 35 and 54 in this country. 
I thought it was poignant to hear my colleague, Senator Bradley, talk 
about this issue not only as a women's health issue, which it very much 
is, but as the family issue that it is. He talked about the fact that 
there was a trauma in his whole family. Of course there was. This is a 
disease that affects men, it affects children and families as well as 
the women in this country.
  Two of the leaders in the Senate on this issue have been Senators 
whose wives have had breast cancer, Senator Bradley and Senator Mack of 
Florida. I am pleased they have taken this leadership role and joined 
with all of the women in the Senate--eight of us, soon to be nine--that 
all have had instances in our families or among our friends of women 
who have had to battle this terrible disease, one which I think we are 
on the cusp of solving. I thank the Senator from New Jersey and the 
Senator from Florida and all the women who have come together to 
understand the importance of conquering breast cancer.
  I want to talk a little bit about my own history with the Komen 
Foundation. The history of the Komen Foundation is written on this 
piece of paper. It says, ``In 1982 Nancy Brinker established the Susan 
G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation with only a few hundred dollars of 
her own and a shoe box full of friends' names.''
  Mr. President, my name was in Nancy Brinker's shoe box. I was one of 
those that Nancy called together to put on the first Race for the Cure 
and the first luncheon in Dallas, TX, in 1983. I was a friend of Nancy 
Brinker, who is one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known. 
I will say that this history of the Komen Foundation grossly 
underestimates Nancy's monetary commitment, her time commitment, and 
her number of friends. She had friends all over the United States as 
well as in Dallas, because she was such a giving person.
  Because she had the experience of sitting with her 36-year-old sister 
who died of breast cancer before her very eyes, she made the commitment 
to her sister at that time that she would spend her life trying to 
educate and research this issue so this would not happen to other 
people. So, 13 years later, I never thought I would be standing on the 
Senate floor, talking about the Race for the Cure in Washington, DC, 
but in fact that is exactly what has happened. This has spread like 
wildfire, because so many families in this country are affected by 
breast cancer and, frankly, because we have not done enough to 
highlight and focus on the research that is necessary to beat this 
disease.
  In the last 2 years, I want to point out, Congress has been committed 
to promoting women's health care issues. Breast cancer research and 
funding has increased over 10 percent per year in the last 2 years. The 
National Institutes of Health funding for breast cancer has increased 
over the last 2 years, and last year Congress directed the National 
Cancer Institute to set aside a portion of its budget to be used for 
research grants and projects to further the national action plan on 
breast cancer.
  We developed the National Women's Health Information Clearinghouse in 
1995 and 1996, and Congress appropriated $2.1 billion for the space 
station, which is the sole environment possible for studying certain 
aspects of breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis.
  A lot of people do not realize that you cannot create the antigravity 
conditions in space on Earth. You cannot do it. So the space station 
has given us a new outlet to look at breast and ovarian cancer cells 
and to look at the bone loss in osteoporosis, all three of which are 
unique to women.
  Osteoporosis is not exclusively a woman's disease, but it does hit 
women the hardest. These are best able to be studied in the 
microgravity conditions in space. That is one of the reasons why I am 
so committed to the space station and the importance of space station 
research for getting to these women's health issues that we have not 
been able to conquer heretofore.
  So I commend the Komen Foundation for all they have given to save 
lives in this country. Let's talk about the way that they have saved 
lives. Just by their education efforts, they have told women all over 
our country of the importance of self-examination for early detection, 
because we find many times women can detect, before they even go for 
their annual mammogram, that they have a lump that they need to have 
checked out. This is, in fact, what saved Nancy Brinker's life. Because 
she had been so educated in the need for early detection because of the 
death of her sister, Susan G. Komen, it did save her life. But Nancy 
has gone on with the Komen Foundation to save thousands of women's 
lives because they now know the importance of an annual mammogram after 
the age of 35 and the importance of self-examination. This is the most 
important thing the Komen Foundation has done.
  But in addition to this, the Komen Foundation has also provided 
millions of dollars for research through their luncheons and their 
races for the cure for breast cancer. The research funding goes 
directly to the doctors who are trying to discover what causes breast 
cancer so that we can find the cure.
  So the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which started only 13 years ago, 
and which is going to have its annual Race for the Cure in Washington, 
DC, has done so much, as well as the hundreds of thousands of 
volunteers who come to the races, who pay their entry fee, who 
volunteer to help coordinate the races, have really given to this 
project of trying to find the cure for breast cancer.
  I want to say that the Vice Presidents of the United States have been 
a very big part of this. Vice President Dan Quayle and his wife, Mrs. 
Quayle, started by highlighting and focusing the Washington Race for 
the Cure. I am proud to say that Vice President Al Gore and his wife, 
Tipper, have continued that tradition, and they will be leading this 
year's Race for the Cure in Washington.
  This just helps us bring in the 25,000 people who are now going to 
run in the Race for the Cure, and all of this money goes to heightening 
the awareness of women about the need for early detection, and it goes 
to the research that will get to the cause of this dreaded disease so 
that we will be able to find the cure.

[[Page S5787]]

  I am very proud to say that this is a woman's issue upon which all of 
us can agree. We must find the cure, and I commend the thousands of 
volunteers around this country who have taken up the cause.

  I will just add that I had a wonderful experience this past Saturday 
doing the start of the Race for the Cure in Plano, TX. It just does 
your heart good to see the women who wear the pink visors. The women 
who wear the pink visors are the breast cancer survivors, and they have 
the number of years since they had detected breast cancer put on their 
visors. There were a number of those out there, and there were the 
people who wear the tags on their bags that said, ``I am running in 
memory of my mother,'' ``my grandmother,'' ``my sister.'' The men and 
women who run are generally running with spirit and heart because they 
have been affected in some way by this disease.
  I was able to witness the women's 5K, and the men's 5K, and then the 
children's 1K. We had toddlers who were still in their strollers. We 
had toddlers who were barely walking. But we had a spirit out in Plano, 
TX, that is something I see every time I attend a Race for the Cure.
  So I urge my colleagues to participate on June 15. I urge anyone in 
America who has not been to a Race for the Cure to go to one. If you do 
not have one in your hometown, start one. This is a cause upon which we 
can all agree and something that will bring us together and eventually 
solve this dreaded disease that affects the women, the men, and the 
children in families across America.
  Thank you, Mr. President, and I yield the floor.
  Mr. AKAKA addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kyl). The Senator from Hawaii.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise with others of my colleagues in the 
Senate in support of the sixth annual National Race for the Cure, which 
will be held in Washington, DC, on Saturday, June 15, this year.
  Race for the Cure, as has been noted, is a breast cancer benefit run 
sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The 
foundation was established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker in honor of her 
sister who died of breast cancer at the age of 36.
  Since its creation, the foundation, through events such as Race for 
the Cure, has raised millions of dollars to promote education, promote 
awareness, promote research, and promote early detection of the 
disease.
  Three-fourths of the money raised goes toward local treatment and 
screening activities, while one-fourth of the funds goes to the Komen 
Foundation to fund national research activities.
  The statistics on breast cancer remain startling, Mr. President. This 
year, an estimated 44,000 women in our country will die from breast 
cancer, and another 184,000 will be diagnosed with the disease. I 
continue to have great concern over the high incidence and low survival 
rates for this disease among minority and low-income women. I remain 
particularly concerned that the Native Hawaiian women have the highest 
incidence of breast cancer among all racial and ethnic groups in this 
country.
  While the cause of breast cancer remains unknown and the disease is 
not fully understood, significant advancements have been made in the 
management of breast cancer. As with many of the life-threatening 
illnesses, early detection of breast cancer, coupled with appropriate 
and timely followup, remains the most effective method to ensure 
successful treatment and improved survivability. However, Mr. 
President, much work remains. Many women do not know how to conduct 
self-examinations, and many would benefit from a screening mammogram. 
Some of them do not seek it because of fear, because of cost or even 
because of lack of access.
  In closing, Mr. President, I encourage my colleagues and their staff 
and families to participate in the 1996 National Race for the Cure. All 
of us have families or friends who have battled breast cancer.

  In particular, this sixth annual race has special meaning for those 
of us in the Senate. This year's race is dedicated to the memory of 
Martha Moloney, a longtime aide to Senator Wendell Ford who lost her 
valiant fight against breast cancer last November.
  Continuing the fight against breast cancer is the most appropriate 
way to honor Martha's memory and to recognize the heroic efforts of 
millions of women and their families confronting this disease.
  Mr. President, this is one of those dreaded diseases in our country. 
We all need to support the race 100 percent and participate in all of 
these activities.
  Thank you very much, Mr. President.
  Mr. KEMPTHORNE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. KEMPTHORNE. Thank you very much.
  Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues this morning in 
expressing support for the National Race for the Cure. I want to 
acknowledge and salute the Senator from New Jersey, Senator Bradley, 
for encouraging us to take a few moments this morning to focus on this 
very important issue.
  It is particularly appropriate for those of us in Congress to 
acknowledge the importance of battling this disease. We represent a 
wide variety of constituencies across this great Nation, and in so 
doing we bring to this Chamber particular regional beliefs and 
attitudes. But unlike the people that we represent, breast cancer is a 
problem that knows no geographic boundaries.
  It does not stop at congressional districts or at State lines. All of 
us, regardless of where in the Nation we hail, need to acknowledge the 
toll that breast cancer is taking on women throughout the country and 
indeed across the world.
  A brief look at some statistics should give us all reason to pause. 
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women between the ages 
of 35 and 54. One in eight women in the United States will develop 
breast cancer. Three-fourths of those women have no known risk factors, 
thus making accurate and adequate detection efforts a must for all 
women.
  In Idaho we are fortunate enough to be well below the national age-
adjusted average for incidences of breast cancer. Despite this, every 
year approximately 700 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in 
Idaho. In 1994 alone, 155 women lost their lives against this disease, 
against this killer.
  There is, however, some light at the end of the tunnel. The Federal 
investment in breast cancer research prevention and treatment has 
increased dramatically in recent years. This has helped us move closer 
toward discovering what causes the disease.
  We are also able to detect breast cancer sooner and thus improve 
survival rates for those stricken with the disease. When caught early, 
thanks to the research to date, the prognosis for recovery is very 
positive. Increased education and mammography screenings are just two 
of the things that we can do to make that survival rate even higher in 
the future.
  I would like to acknowledge those who are working so diligently to 
make the National Race for the Cure a success. Those who are 
publicizing the event, those who are registering participants, and 
those who will take part by either running in the race or by providing 
support and services to the runners.

  On a personal note, I would like to thank my wife Patricia for her 
efforts in building Team Idaho's role in the Race for the Cure. 
Patricia and I have been blessed in that our families have not had to 
face breast cancer. But my wife lost both of her parents to various 
forms of cancer, including her mother when Patricia was only 6 months 
old. Because of this, my wife Patricia has committed herself to doing 
what she can to see that other children will not face the loss of a 
mother at such a tender age.
  As we get closer to the actual date of the race, I encourage all 
Senate offices to do their part to help this tremendous cause. Capitol 
Hill registrations will be taking place for the next 2 days. The 
registration fees and donations will play a significant role in our 
work against breast cancer. At the same time, the heightened awareness 
about breast cancer generated by the Race for the Cure will hopefully 
encourage earlier detection and treatment.
  On Saturday, June 15, Team Idaho will be there to do its part to 
fight

[[Page S5788]]

breast cancer. My wife Patricia, our daughter Heather, son Jeff, 
numerous dear friends, and great staff will be there as Team Idaho 
joins with so many other participants in our efforts in this Race for 
the Cure to find the ultimate cure for breast cancer.
  With that, Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________