[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 106 (Thursday, July 24, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8040-S8041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      STAMP OUT BREAST CANCER ACT

  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending 
amendment be laid aside for up to 3 minutes; and I further ask 
unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate 
consideration of H.R. 1585, which was just received from the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, as long 
as the Chair will recognize the Senator from California following the 
handling of this measure.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's request is so modified.
  Is there an objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1585) to allow postal patrons to contribute to 
     funding for breast cancer research through the voluntary 
     purchase of certain specially issued United States postage 
     stamps, and for other purposes.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am proud to support the breast 
cancer research stamp bill, H.R. 1585, sponsored by Congresswoman Susan 
Molinari and approved in the House of Representatives yesterday on a 
vote of 422 to 3.
  I, along with Senators D'Amato, Faircloth, and the original 51 
cosponsors of my bill, the breast cancer research stamp Act (S. 726), 
have worked very hard to give life to this innovative breast cancer 
research stamp idea, which originated with a physician--Dr. Bodai from 
my State, and I am happy to see it become a reality today.
  At a time when the National Cancer Institute can only fund 26 percent 
of applications, a drop from 60 percent in the 1970's, this legislation 
creates an innovative way for citizens to contribute to breast cancer 
research.
  Under this bill:

  Postal Service would establish a special rate of postage for first-
class mail, not to exceed 25 percent of the first-class rate, as an 
alternative to the regular first-class postage. The additional sum 
would be contributed to breast cancer research.
  The rate would be determined in part, by the Postal Service to cover 
administrative costs and the remainder by the Governors of the Postal 
Service.
  Seventy percent of the funds raised would fund breast cancer research 
at NIH and 30 percent of the funds raised would go to breast cancer 
research at DOD.
  The Postal Service would provide the stamp within a year from the 
date of enactment.
  Within 3 months prior to the stamp's 2-year anniversary, the bill 
requires the Comptroller General to evaluate the effectiveness and the 
appropriateness of this method of fund raising and report its findings 
to Congress.


                         The breast cancer Toll

  There are 1.8 million women in America today with breast cancer. 
Another 1 million women do not know they have it; 180,200 new invasive 
cases will be diagnosed this year.
  Breast cancer kills 46,000 women a year. It is the leading cause of 
death for women ages 35 to 52 and the second leading cause of cancer 
death in all women, claiming a woman's life every 12 minutes in this 
country.
  For California, 20,230 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 
5,000 women will die from the disease. (Source: American Cancer 
Society--cancer facts and figures 1996.)
  The San Francisco Bay area has one of the highest rates of breast 
cancer incidence and mortality in the world. According to the Northern 
California Cancer Center, bay area white women have the highest 
reported breast cancer rate in the world, 104 per 100,000 population. 
Bay area African-American women have the fourth highest reported rate 
in the world at 82 per 100,000.
  In addition to the cost of women's lives, the annual cost of 
treatment of breast cancer in the United States is approximately $10 
billion.
  The incidence of breast cancer is increasing. In the 1950's, 1 in 20 
women developed breast cancer. Today, it is one in eight and growing.
  While we know there is a genetic link to some breast cancers, we do 
not understand the fundamental cause. In hearings I held as cochair of 
the Senate Cancer Coalition, we learned that environmental factors may 
lead to as much as 90 percent of breast cancer. We know that breast 
cancer rates vary between countries and when people migrate, they tend 
to acquire cancer rates closer to those of newly adopted countries 
within a generation.
  Over the last 25 years, the National Institutes of Health has spent 
over $31.5 billion on cancer research--$2 billion of that on breast 
cancer. In the last 6 years alone, appropriations for breast cancer 
research have risen from $90 million in 1990 to $600 million today.
  And the United States is privileged to have some of the most talented 
scientists and many of the leading cancer research centers in the world 
such as UCLA, UC San Francisco, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the Dana 
Farber Institute, and M.D. Anderson. But researchers need funding. 
Science needs nourishment. Without it, promising avenues of scientific 
discovery go unexplored. Questions go unanswered. Cures go 
undiscovered.


                         Citizen Contributions

  The breast cancer research stamp bill allows anyone who chooses to, 
to conveniently contribute to Federal research and to finding a cure 
for the breast cancer epidemic. It is an innovative idea originating 
with an American citizen and I am very grateful for the support of the 
House yesterday.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
  Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, as chairman of the Governmental Affairs 
Committee, which has oversight responsibility for the U.S. Postal 
Service, I want to comment on H.R. 1585. This measure directs the 
Postal Service to issue a semipostal stamp, at a price of up to 8 
additional cents per first-class stamp, to raise funds for breast 
cancer research. Clearly this measure has the votes to pass; a similar 
measure passed the Senate last week by a vote of 83 to 17. But I want 
the record to reflect my strong disagreement with it. I think it is a 
bad idea for several reasons. It will create a precedent for 
congressional authorization for the issuance of many other fundraising 
postal stamps for many other worthy causes. As all Members are aware, 
the Postal Service has plenty of challenges on which it should 
concentrate. Not all costs of undertaking this new program are 
quantifiable, and we will be distracting the Postal Service from its 
responsibility of providing the best delivery service at the lowest 
price. Note that it is likely that we will soon see an increase in the 
cost of mailing a first-class letter. If Congress believes additional 
funds should be spent for this or another purposes, Congress should 
appropriate the funds directly. That is our responsibility.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I want to convey my strong support for 
the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act, H.R. 1585. I may have created 
confusion on this point by voting last week against an amendment 
offered by my friend Senator Feinstein of California when

[[Page S8041]]

the Senate was considering the Treasury-Postal Service-general 
Government appropriations bill. I was concerned about initial reports 
that the Postal Service would have technical problems raising the 
projected funds. However, passage of today's legislation both solves 
those problems and properly authorizes the program. As a supporter of 
the war on cancer 26 years ago and the author of the pilot program 
which grew into the Centers for Disease Control's breast and cervical 
cancer screening program, I am very pleased to see this legislation 
enacted. The bottom line is that we need public awareness and research 
funds, and this legislation provides both. Again, I commend my friend 
Senator Feinstein for her energetic efforts on this front and am 
pleased to support this bill.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be 
considered read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be placed 
in the Record at the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 1585) was passed.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from 
California for yielding. I think it is just gratitude at this time 
because there is no one who has worked harder than Senator Feinstein in 
terms of the attempts to bring forward this passage.
  This will permit the Postal Service to go forward with a program that 
will pay for it itself and dedicate 70 percent of the net proceeds to 
cancer research at NIH and give the other 30 percent to the Department 
of Defense.
  We worked together on this with the House, and I think it is a great 
testimony to the dedication of bringing people together for a sole 
purpose.
  I yield the floor.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California is recognized.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I also want to thank the Senator from 
New York for his help on this matter.
  We have had a true bipartisan effort with Ms. Molinari and Mr. Fazio 
in the House and Senators D'Amato, Faircloth and Feinstein in the 
Senate. This bill passed the House on suspension. I believe it is an 
excellent bill. I think it will get the job done in a way in which we 
can all be proud.
  The bill is slightly different than the bill that we introduced as an 
amendment on the fiscal year 1998 Treasury-Postal appropriations bill 
last week. This bill provides for up to 25 percent of the cost of a 
first-class stamp to be attached, the extra amount added to be used for 
breast cancer research. Of the amount of funds raised, 75 percent would 
go to the NIH, and the remainder to DOD.
  It is something that is widely supported by virtually every medical 
and cancer association in the United States.
  Let me say one thing. Breast cancer is the No. 1 killer for women 
between the ages of 35 and 52 in this Nation today. It used to be 1 out 
of 20 women. Today it is one out of every eight women in the United 
States will come down with breast cancer. It is extraordinarily 
serious. This is a unique public/private partnership, the first time it 
has been tried, a pilot, if you will. I know it has been hotlined. I am 
grateful for the results. I thank the Senator from New York so very 
much for his work and support and the pink ribbon he is wearing on his 
lapel, and I believe the women of America, all of us, also thank every 
Member of this body.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill has been passed.
  Mr. BUMPERS. Will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I certainly will.
  Mr. BUMPERS. We debated this in the Appropriations Committee, as we 
know, for a short time. We voted on it the other day--a different 
proposition. I am not clear on the difference between the amendment the 
Senator is offering now and the one that was overwhelmingly passed in 
the Senate the other day. That was carried--a 1-cent increase in the 
32-cent stamp, with the extra penny going to breast cancer research. 
This one, as I understand it--does this amendment take part of the 32 
cents or does it also carry an increase in the 32 cents?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. The amendment we are to be on is a Commerce, State, 
Justice amendment that I have sent to the desk involving the ninth 
circuit split. But before we start that, it is my understanding the 
bill has passed on the breast cancer stamp, and I would be very happy 
to discuss it.
  Mr. BUMPERS. I did not realize the parliamentary situation. Could the 
Senator just take a minute to explain?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I will be very happy to.
  One of the problems with the 1-cent stamp is the uncertainty of the 
post office that the administrative costs will be fully covered by the 
additional 1 cent. The legislation which passed the House, authored by 
Susan Molinari and Dick Fazio, on suspension, essentially provides that 
it can be up to 25 percent --that would be about 8 cents, determined by 
the Board of Governors--so that the full cost of administering it is 
covered. The Board of Governors within a short period of time will set 
the actual amount, whether it is 1 cent, 2 cents, 3 cents or 4 cents, 
and I actually feel is a much better way of doing it. I think it will 
end up producing more money. I think it will give the post office fewer 
ulcers. I think it will be carried out forthwith. This has passed the 
House, and with the passage here today we can get the show underway.
  The Board of Governors must, within 1 year of the enactment of the 
bill, issue the stamp.
  Mr. BUMPERS. The Senator mentioned 25 percent. Is that 25 percent of 
32 cents or is that 25 percent of something else?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. It is 25 percent of a first-class stamp which right 
now is 32 cents.
  Mr. BUMPERS. So 25 percent of that goes to the Postal Service to 
administer this program?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. No. No. It allows an optional first-class stamp, up 
to 25 percent of the cost of a first-class stamp. In other words, it 
could add 8 cents onto it, on an optional basis. There would still be a 
32-cent stamp. Then there would be this breast cancer stamp. All right. 
The Board of Governors in their deliberation would make a decision of 
administrative cost and then out of the 8 cents or 4 cents or 6 cents 
or 2 cents, whatever they decide, those administrative costs would come 
out of that additional amount.
  Mr. BUMPERS. I follow you. And the rest of it then would go to the 
Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. That is correct.
  Mr. BUMPERS. I thank the Senator.
  Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield for a moment?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I would be happy to.
  Mrs. BOXER. I thank the Senator for her leadership on the breast 
cancer stamp. I was proud to be one of the cosponsors of the stamp. I 
know how hard she worked. I know it took many, many hours of work. I 
was sitting in the Appropriations Committee when the committee chose to 
await action on the floor. I know that a couple of the senior members 
of the committee were not that enthusiastic. But I do feel that what 
the Senator says is right. This bill, this freestanding bill that we 
have now passed, takes the best of both worlds. I am very excited about 
it. I congratulate my friend. I can't wait to go to the post office and 
buy that stamp. If all the American people just think about buying a 
few of those stamps during the year, we will be able to put so much 
more into research. It is just a great concept. I thank my colleague 
for her leadership.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank the Senator from California for her comments. 
I thank the Senator for her help, and I think all of us can be very 
proud if we just await Presidential signature. It is a fine thing.

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