[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 143 (Wednesday, October 22, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8981-H8982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say thank you to colleagues 
of mine who have joined this evening to speak out on the fight against 
breast cancer.
  October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is a time when we 
honor all of the women who are fighting this deadly disease, we 
remember those who we love who have lost the fight, and we renew our 
commitment to trying to find a cure.
  It is time to take stock of where we are in the fight against cancer. 
Are we committing sufficient resources for biomedical research to find 
a cure? Do women who have been diagnosed have access to the care that 
they need in order that they can heal properly?
  I am very, very pleased that the appropriations committee that I sit 
on is poised to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health 
by at least $700 million so researchers can continue their quest for 
the causes of this disease and find an effective treatment that will, 
at longlast, give us the cure that we have been looking for.
  Also the Department of Defense, along with NASA, is putting state-of-
the-art technology to use in improved mammograms to increase the rate 
of earlier detection, which is clearly a key.
  Unfortunately, all too often the answer to the second question, do 
women have access to the care that they need, is a resounding no. More 
and more often managed-care organizations are forcing patients home 
just hours after a mastectomy. In fact, a study by the Connecticut 
Office of Health Care Access proved that the average length of stay for 
breast cancer patients in Connecticut is dramatically decreasing. Most 
disturbing, it is decreasing faster for mastectomies than for other 
inpatient discharges.
  This is really unacceptable. These are real women, women who are 
undergoing traumatic surgery, who are then sent home while they are 
still in pain, groggy from the anesthesia and with drainage tubes 
stitched to their skin.
  It is not every day that you come face-to-face with your own 
mortality in a very profound way, as you do when you face a cancer 
diagnosis. It is not too much to ask for a mere two days in the 
hospital as you recover from this kind of surgery.
  Congress needs to act to stop this practice. That is why, along with 
Congresswoman Marge Roukema of New Jersey and Congressman John Dingell 
of Michigan, I introduced the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. The 
bill would require insurance companies to cover 48-hour hospital stays 
for women who undergo a mastectomy and a 24-hour stay for those 
undergoing a lymph node dissection. The patient and her doctor, not an 
insurance company, can decide if a shorter stay is appropriate.
  My home State of Connecticut and a number of other States have passed 
legislation to give women a 48-hour hospital stay. However, 125 million 
Americans are covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 
ERISA. These plans are exempt from State law, so we need to work 
together here in the Congress to pass Federal legislation to ensure 
that every woman is protected.
  This measure has wide bipartisan support, 195 cosponsors, Democrats 
and Republicans. Congress has yet to act on this important bill. Nor 
has it moved on another piece of legislation that is so important to 
breast cancer patients, and that is the Reconstructive Breast Surgery 
Benefits Act, which was introduced by my friend and colleague, the 
gentlewoman from California, Anna Eshoo. Congresswoman Eshoo could not 
be with us here tonight, and I will include her remarks for the record.
  Americans understand the need for this legislation. In fact, through 
the breast cancer care petition, which is an on-line petition drive 
which we have initiated, thousands of Americans are speaking out and 
calling for hearings on these bills.

                              {time}  1715

  Not only can they sign a letter, but they can leave their own stories 
of their own experiences about breast

[[Page H8982]]

cancer. Over 6,000 people have signed this petition. Hundreds of women 
and men, survivors and their families, have left very moving stories 
that are more eloquent than anything that I could say.
  Just a quick example that has been posted on the petition, from a 
Nebraska resident. I quote:

       As the director of a breast cancer screening program, I 
     have felt close to the medically underserved women who are 
     our clients as they daily struggle with the painful choice of 
     taking care of their own good health and buying cereal for 
     their kids. There are real tears being shed by real women 
     every day. They are your neighbors, your colleagues, your 
     kids' teachers, the clerk at the grocery store. Breast cancer 
     survivors have enough to deal with. Do the right thing, pass 
     this legislation, and help make the tears fewer for those who 
     will follow us until a cure is found.

  One New York resident simply wrote, ``During the most devastating 
time in my life I should not have to fight with the insurance 
company.''
  We all pray for the day when we find a cure for cancer. Until then, 
we must ensure that those suffering from this disease get the care they 
need and the care they deserve. I call on the Congress to pass the 
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the statement by the 
gentlewoman from California, Ms. Anna Eshoo, on this legislation.
  The statement referred to is as follows:

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