[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 150 (Friday, October 31, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1245
    AN EXTRAORDINARY MONTH FOR WOMEN IN THE HOUSE AND IN THE COUNTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Emerson). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton] is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, this has been an extraordinary month for 
women in the House and in the country, and I want to say a few words 
about women in both places; first, about women in the House, and then 
about two issues that concern women throughout the country.
  On October 21 the women of the House, those who belong to the Women's 
Caucus, and that is virtually all of us, had our first ever gala. That 
gala was given to raise funds for Women's Policy, Inc., and it was a 
most successful event, with the President and the First Lady and the 
Secretary of State all coming to pay tribute to 20 years of achievement 
by women in Congress.
  We set an extraordinary bipartisan example. The gentlewoman from 
Connecticut, Mrs. Nancy Johnson, is the Republican cochair this year. 
Last year the gentlewoman from New York, Mrs. Nita Lowey was the 
Democratic cochair, and the gentlewoman from Maryland, Mrs. Morella, 
was the Republican cochair. They kept the caucus alive and bipartisan, 
and we were pleased to follow in their wake this year.
  The caucus simply gets things done. It gets things done any way it 
can. Sometimes it is by getting policies changed; sometimes it is by 
getting laws changed. And what does the caucus have to show for 20 
years from the work we have done? More women getting mammograms, and 
therefore a decrease in breast cancer and cervical cancer; the 
Pregnancy Discrimination Act; the Violence Against Women Act. It is a 
roster to be proud of.
  But as it turns out, October was the awareness month for two concerns 
that women across the country have given the caucus as their own 
priorities, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Domestic Violence Month.
  The Women's Caucus this very year waged a battle for mammograms for 
women over 40. This was in the tradition of the Women's Caucus, when it 
looked as though we were about to get a reversal in policy on that very 
issue. The science did not support a reversal, and we were able to get 
it changed based on the science.
  We pride ourselves in not getting changes like that not on political 
grounds, and using the data that is provided us by Women's Policy, 
Inc., we were able to help turn that decision around. Now women at 40 
should get a mammogram every year or every other year.
  This is an important issue. It is important to have the focus of 
women in Congress on it, because since the early seventies the 
incidence of breast cancer has increased by 1 percent a year, and we do 
not know why. All we know is that we have to do something about it.
  Actually, if mammograms are high quality they can spot breast cancer 
in women over 50 at a rate of 85 to 90 percent of the incidence of 
cancer. So we have made a lot of progress.
  While we focused on the threat to women at 40, the fact is that I 
want to remind everybody that it is women who are over 50 who are at 
greatest risk for breast cancer. If women aged 50 to 69 have regular 
mammograms, they can reduce their chances of death from breast cancer 
by one-third, and gradually, by bringing attention to this dreaded 
disease, we have been able to do something about it.
  I do want to put into the record risk factors that are more specific 
than what we usually hear. These are the risk factors: Having had a 
previous breast cancer; a specific, identified genetic mutation that 
may make one susceptible to breast cancer; a mother, a sister, or a 
daughter, or two or more close relatives with a history of breast 
cancer, and that could be even cousins; a diagnosis of other types of 
disease that are pinpointed to predispose one to breast cancer; that is 
to say, breast disease that predisposes one to breast cancer; dense 
breast tissue, which makes it difficult to read a mammogram; and having 
a first child at age 30 or older.
  Madam Speaker, this was also Violence Against Women Month. By 
observing and talking about this terrible epidemic in our country, we 
are finally bringing it out of its special closet. Some 3 out of every 
100 women in this country have been severely assaulted by a partner, 
that is, not simply a slap, but severely assaulted. They had to go to 
the emergency room or get medical treatment.
  Madam Speaker, I hope what the Women's Caucus has done helps us all 
to understand the value of the caucus to bring our attention to 
problems such as these.

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