[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 23, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      STAMP OUT BREAST CANCER ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. VIC FAZIO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 22, 1997

  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of H.R. 1585, sponsored by myself and my colleague, Susan Molinari. I 
seem to have developed quite a history with the idea of an experiment 
whereby the American people would contribute to public health causes 
through the voluntary purchase of a U.S. postage stamp.
  In May of 1996, Dr. Ernie Bodai--one of my constituents and the chief 
of surgery at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Sacramento, CA--
came to my office with an innovative proposal. Dr. Bodai's idea 
involved a bill to establish a special first-class postage stamp priced 
at 1 cent above normal first-class postage. The stamp would be 
purchased voluntarily, with the additional penny going toward breast 
cancer research. As a result of Dr. Bodai's unflagging personal effort, 
I was pleased to introduce the Breast Cancer Research Stamp Act in the 
104th Congress. That piece of legislation gained the support of 86 
Members of the House of Representatives.
  This year, I reintroduced this bill in the 105th Congress, and H.R. 
407 has the support of 125 of my colleagues. Thanks to some energetic 
and tireless efforts by several compassionate groups within the breast 
cancer advocacy community and a special thank you to my colleague, 
Susan Molinari, we are considering today H.R. 1585, the Stamp Out 
Breast Cancer Act of 1997. H.R. 1585 remains true to the idea of the 
American public participating in the search for a cure for breast 
cancer. H.R. 1585 also ensures that money raised by the breast cancer 
research stamp will not replace current Federal funding levels. It will 
add to it.
  H.R. 1585 provides a workable and realistic framework for a 
cooperative effort between the Postal Service and the American public 
to take place. Questions have been raised--how much money could be 
raised by the sale of a stamp priced above the normal first-class 
postage rate? And how much would such an endeavor cost the Postal 
Service to administer? H.R. 1585 sets up a demonstration project to 
answer these questions. After 2 years, the General Accounting Office 
will provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of this project. And 
after 2 years, perhaps there will be additional money from the stamp 
going toward breast cancer research at the National Institutes of 
Health and the Department of Defense.
  I want to thank Representative McHugh, chairman of the Postal Service 
Subcommittee, for working out the details of this bill so that we may 
finally put this project into place. And I want to thank again my 
colleague, Susan Molinari, for her effort and commitment to seeing that 
this bill and this cause moves forward in the House of Representatives. 
We have made tremendous progress in raising money, awareness and 
spirits in the battle against a disease that has devastated the lives 
of millions of loved ones, but we still have a long way to go. I know 
that we will get there, through the support of legislators in Congress 
and the grass roots support in our communities.
  By passing H.R. 1585, we will enable the people of the United States 
to demonstrate a spirit of volunteerism to advance our successes in 
finding a cure for breast cancer. I urge my colleagues to vote to 
suspend the rules and pass this important piece of legislation.

                          ____________________