[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6426-H6427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ENVIRONMENTAL ESTROGENS AND THEIR LINKS TO BREAST CANCER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Weller). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of May 12, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns] is 
recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, sadly, I am not surprised by an article in 
last Friday's Washington Post regarding yet another environmental 
health risk. The article discusses a new scientific study showing major 
health risk posed by chemicals commonly found in our environment. 
Despite even the best of intentions, a number of unnerving health 
trends are being linked with increased human contamination by chemical 
hormones.
  The chemicals responsible for causing endocrine system dysfunctions 
have been used in common pesticides and industrial chemicals for 
decades. Known as environmental estrogens, these chemicals can actually 
mimic the hormone estrogen that naturally occurs in the human body. 
These synthetic hormones have the capacity to severely alter one's 
endocrine system, leading to an increased risk of major health 
problems, including breast cancer.
  Breast cancer is expected to strike over 180,000 American women in 
1996, and the lifetime risk for the disease has increased from a 1 in 
20 chance in the 1950's to a 1 in 8 chance today. Breast cancer is the 
leading cause of death of women between the ages of 35 and 52, and 70 
percent of newly diagnosed cases have no family history of this deadly 
cancer.
  Environmental estrogens are largely responsible for these alarming 
figures. A recent study by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine showed 
that women with high exposures to DDT had four times the breast cancer 
risk of women with low exposures.
  No matter how careful we are in watching what we eat and drink, 
exposure to chemical hormones is unavoidable in today's world. They 
occur in the herbicides we apply to our lawns, shoe polishes, paints, 
paper products we use every day, and in pesticides on the food we eat.
  While we still have much to learn about toxic chemicals, what we do 
know thus far is cause for major concern and serious action. As a 
member of the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, I am proud to 
have supported the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act amendments in 
the Commerce Committee markup last week. This important legislation 
includes many reform proposals which address the most serious risks 
presented by contaminants in drinking water. The proposed amendments to 
the Safe Drinking Water Act will provide for an estrogenic substances 
screening program. Under this program, substances will be measured to 
determine if they produce effects in humans similar to those produced 
by naturally occurring estrogens.
  In 1971, Congress passed the National Cancer Act, increasing 
resources for cancer research and broadening the mandate of the 
National Cancer Institute, a subsidiary of the National Institutes of 
Health. The infusion of funds following this act led to the genetic 
revolution in cancer and biomedicine in general. Continued funding for 
the NIH represents an investment in research as well as in investment 
to improve the Nation's health.
  To protect the rights of those with identifiable disease 
characteristics like breast cancer in their genetic makeup, I have 
introduced H.R. 2690, the Genetic Privacy Act. This legislation will 
ensure that the new discoveries made in genetic testing research are 
not misused. For example, in the past 2 years, BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 were 
identified as major breast cancer genes. Together they account for 
perhaps 90 percent of familial breast cancer.

  While this finding indeed benefits women, enabling them to take 
necessary preventive measures, negative consequences are also very 
likely. My bill establishes guidelines concerning disclosure and use of 
genetic information with regard to insurability, employability, and 
confidentiality.
  Reducing the burden of cancer can be measured in terms of fewer 
deaths, fewer new cases, increased length of survival, and increased 
quality of life of cancer survivors. While improvements in cancer 
treatment have been made, overall cancer incidence continues to rise, 
emphasizing the formidable task ahead. The goal of a reduced cancer 
burden can only be achieved by the successful translation of 
discoveries to the benefit of all people who are at risk and who have 
been diagnosed with cancer.
  Last weekend marked the seventh annual national race for the cure. 
The race was named ``Doing It For Martha'' in honor of Martha Maloney, 
a long-time staffer of Senator Wendell Ford. The race will serve as a 
reminder to everyone of the impending threat of breast cancer. I was 
proud to have my staff participating as a team in the 1996 race for the 
cure.
  Cervantes once said, ``The beginning of health is to know the 
disease.'' To succeed in the fight against cancer requires that we have 
the vision to recognize new opportunities and the flexibility and 
energy to capture such opportunities for progress. Our responsibility 
is to all people, for cancer threatens all of our lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I firmly believe that a cooperative effort by Congress, 
the scientific community, and regulators will

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yield new findings and beneficial results not only for the 
environmental health of this country, but for the health of current and 
future generations.

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