[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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