[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 4, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S936-S937]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONCERNING THE NEED FOR ACCURATE GUIDELINES FOR BREAST CANCER SCREENING

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the resolution.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be added as a 
cosponsor and urge my colleagues to vote for the resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BOND. I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the resolution. 
The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from South Carolina [Mr. 
Thurmond] is necessarily absent.
  Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Washington [Mrs. Murray] 
is absent because of attending a funeral.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brownback). Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 5 Leg.]

                                YEAS--98

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kempthorne
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith, Bob
     Smith, Gordon H.

[[Page S937]]


     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Murray
     Thurmond
      
  The resolution (S. Res. 47) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, read as follows:

                               S. Res. 47

       Whereas the National Cancer Institute is the lead Federal 
     agency for research on the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and 
     treatment of cancer;
       Whereas health professionals and consumers throughout the 
     United States regard the guidelines of the National Cancer 
     Institute as reliable scientific and medical advice;
       Whereas it has been proven that intervention through 
     routine screening for breast cancer through mammography can 
     save the lives of women at a time when medical science is 
     unable to prevent this disease;
       Whereas the National Cancer Institute issued a guideline in 
     1989 recommending that women in their forties seek 
     mammograms, but rescinded this guideline in 1993;
       Whereas in 1993, it was difficult to have the same degree 
     of scientific confidence about the benefit of mammography for 
     women between the ages of 40 and 49 as existed for women 
     between the ages of 50 and 69 due to inherent limitations in 
     the studies that were conducted as of that date;
       Whereas at that time, the American Cancer Society and 21 
     other national medical organizations and health and consumer 
     groups were at variance with the decision of the National 
     Cancer Institute to rescind the guidelines of the Institute 
     for mammography for women between the ages of 40 and 49;
       Whereas the statement of scientific fact on breast cancer 
     screening issued by the National Cancer Institute on December 
     3, 1993, caused widespread confusion and concern among women 
     and physicians, eroded confidence in mammography, and 
     reinforced barriers and negative attitudes that keep women of 
     all ages from being screened;
       Whereas in 1995, investigators found a 24 percent lower 
     death rate among women who received mammograms in their 
     forties when the world's population-based trials were 
     combined;
       Whereas in 1996, Swedish researchers in 2 studies found a 
     44 and 36 percent lower death rate among women who received 
     mammograms in their forties;
       Whereas a number of studies have shown that breast tumors 
     in women under the age of 50 may grow far more rapidly than 
     in older women, suggesting, that annual mammograms are of 
     value to women in this age group;
       Whereas on January 23, 1997, a panel convened by the 
     National Institutes of Health reviewed these and other 
     compelling studies but decided not to recommend that the 
     National Cancer Institute reissue its earlier guidelines;
       Whereas the Director of the National Cancer Institute and 
     other major national organizations, including the American 
     Cancer Society, expressed surprise and disappointment with 
     this decision;
       Whereas the majority (approximately 80 percent) of women 
     who are diagnosed with breast cancer have no identifiable 
     risk for this disease;
       Whereas breast cancer is the single leading cause of death 
     for women in their forties and fifties, and a leading cause 
     of death for women between the ages of 30 and 60; and
       Whereas more women will be diagnosed with breast cancer 
     this year in their forties (over 33,000 women) than in their 
     fifties: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) adequately designed and conducted studies are needed to 
     further determine the benefits of screening women between the 
     ages of 40 and 49 through mammography and other emerging 
     technologies; and
       (2)(A) the Senate strongly urges the Advisory Panel for the 
     National Cancer Institute to consider reissuing the guideline 
     rescinded in 1993 for mammography for women between the ages 
     of 40 and 49 when it convenes in February; or
       (B) until there is more definitive data, direct the public 
     to consider guidelines issued by the other organizations.

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. LOTT. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. NICKLES. 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. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________