[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 150 (Friday, October 31, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9842]
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 North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, October is National 
Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Why is the issue so important? It is 
important because breast cancer is the most common major cancer for 
women. Every 3 minutes, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with 
breast cancer.
  This devastating disease is the second leading cause of death among 
cancer victims overall. Today there are more than 2.6 million women 
living with breast cancer, women who struggle daily against the ravages 
of this killing disease. Of those 2.6 million American women, 71,000 of 
them are in North Carolina. Many of these aforementioned women are 
undiagnosed, do not know they have the disease.
  Fortunately, through research developments, we have effective methods 
of detection that are improving steadily. However, no technique, no 
matter how effective, can diagnose women who do not have adequate 
access to health care.
  Each year on average 182,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. 
Of that total, 16,000 are Afro-American and over 4,900 of them are from 
North Carolina.
  While the prognosis is good for many women with breast cancer, it 
often proves fatal for those women whose cancer is not discovered until 
it is very late in their lives.
  Mr. Speaker, the losses we have as a Nation suffered are staggering 
as a result of this. Each year on average nearly 44,000 women succumb 
to breast cancer; 44,000 mothers, sisters, daughters, spouses, partners 
and friends. Mr. Speaker, 5,200 of those women are, again, Afro-
American women; 1,200 of them are from my home State of North Carolina.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot stress enough how critical it is to study this 
insidious disease further, for 80 percent of women diagnosed with 
breast cancer do not fall into any known high-risk category, so they do 
not know they have it.
  This is an issue for all of us, not just those with a family history 
of breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer has been rising 
steadily since 1940, but none of the experts have been able to 
ascertain why. We do not know how to cure this disease or even how to 
prevent it. Significant strides have been made in detection and 
treatment of breast cancer, but we still have a long ways to go.
  The economic impact on the United States is incredible. Breast cancer 
costs the United States over $6 billion annually in medical care and 
the loss of productivity.
  Mr. Speaker, two of my colleagues in Congress, the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro] and the gentlewoman from California [Ms. 
Eshoo], have begun an Internet petition drive calling for improved 
insurance coverage for breast cancer. Those who wish to add their name 
to the list should use the following address: http://
breastcare.shn.com.
 Mr. Speaker, we must be committed to finding a cure for this cancer 
as well as many other devastating diseases. We all can help because 
cancer, indeed, claims many of our loved ones.

                          ____________________