[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S12404]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE PROSTATE CANCER RESEARCH STAMP ACT

 Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator 
Snowe in introducing the Prostate Cancer Research Stamp Act of 1997 and 
urge the support of my colleagues. S. 1389 is a companion bill to 
Representative Sherrod Brown's bill, H.R. 2545, which has 41 
cosponsors.
  The Prostate Cancer Research Stamp Act would authorize a new first-
class stamp priced at up to 8 cents above a regular first-class stamp. 
Postal patrons who choose to purchase the prostate cancer stamp will be 
contributing to prostate cancer research at the National Cancer 
Institute. As important, a special prostate cancer stamp will help to 
raise awareness of this disease, promote screening, and save lives.
  Prostate cancer, the most common form of cancer in American men, will 
take 41,000 lives this year, nearly approaching the breast cancer death 
toll of 44,300. One of every eight is at risk of getting prostate 
cancer. Unfortunately, as the number of prostate cancer cases rises 
dramatically, research funding lags far behind what is needed to fight 
this disease. Although prostate cancer accounts for nearly 25 percent 
of diagnosed non-skin cancer, only 3.7 percent of Federal cancer 
research dollars are devoted to fighting it.
  Apart from the important contribution to prostate cancer research, 
the prostate cancer stamp will raise awareness of this disease and help 
to persuade men over age 40 to have annual prostate exams. Prostate 
cancer is detectable, and when found early is often fully treatable 
through several different methods, including surgical removal of the 
prostate and radiation treatment. Men must demand both a PSA blood test 
and a digital-rectal exam as part of their annual medical exam. At the 
recent Senate Aging Committee hearing on prostate cancer, I commented 
that we men are such crybabies that we go out of our way to avoid 
medical tests. The women at the hearing erupted in laughter, but the 
men were pretty quiet. The fact is that prostate cancer can only be 
treated early if it's detected early, and the long list of survivors 
all say that early detection made the difference.
  The sooner we enact this bill and make a postage stamp available, the 
greater the number of men who will get tested; and more testing means 
more men will survive prostate cancer.

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