[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 82 (Monday, June 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S5784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER TREATMENT ACT OF 1999

  Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I would like to take this opportunity to 
speak about S. 662, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act of 
1999. I urge the distinguished majority leader, Senator Lott, to act 
quickly to bring this bill to the floor. We have no excuse for delay in 
providing life-saving treatment to women who have been diagnosed with 
breast and cervical cancer.
  As many of you in this body know, this is an issue I take very 
seriously. My only two sisters both had breast cancer and died from the 
disease. Sadly, they contracted breast cancer at a time when regular 
mammograms and improved treatment methods were not widely used or 
available.
  Over the past several years, we have made a great deal of progress 
against breast cancer, but there is still a long way to go. In 
particular, we've been able to secure significant increases in funding 
of research to understand the causes and find treatments for breast 
cancer.
  Look how far we have come. Almost a decade ago, when I looked into 
the issue of breast cancer research, I discovered that barely $90 
million was spent on breast cancer research.
  That is why in 1992, I offered an amendment to dedicate $210 million 
in the Defense Department budget for breast cancer research. This 
funding was in addition to the funding for breast cancer research 
conducted at the National Institutes of Health. My amendment passed 
and--overnight--it doubled federal funding for breast cancer research.
  Since then, funding for breast cancer research has been included in 
the Defense Department budget every year.
  Today, I am proud to say, between the DoD and NIH, over $600 million 
is being spent on finding a cure for this disease.
  Scientific researchers are making exciting discoveries about the 
causes of breast cancer and its prevention, detection, diagnosis, 
treatment, and control. These insights are leading to real progress in 
our war against this devastating disease. We know better than ever 
before how a healthy cell can become cancerous, how breast cancer 
spreads, why some tumors are more aggressive than others, and why some 
women suffer more severely and are more likely to die of the disease.
  For example, discovery of the BRCA1 gene has led us to better 
identify women who are at risk of breast cancer, so the disease can be 
caught early and treated. And of course the development of cancer-
fighting drugs like tamoxifen owes a great deal to our federal research 
investment.
  But our success in building our research enterprise will be pointless 
if breakthroughs in diagnosis, treatment, and cures are not available 
to the public.
  That is why, a decade ago, as chairman of the Senate Labor, Health 
and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, I worked 
to create a program, run by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, to provide breast and cervical cancer screening for low-
income, uninsured women.
  This program is run nationwide and is tremendously successful. In 
Iowa, almost 9,000 women have been screened.
  Nationally, more than one million low-income American women have been 
screened. Of these, more than 6,000 were diagnosed with breast cancer 
and 500 with cervical cancer.
  This program is a great success. But it is only the first step. 
Congress must now provide the next critical piece: funding for 
treatment services once a woman has been diagnosed with breast or 
cervical cancer. Too often, women diagnosed through this program are 
left to scramble to find treatment solutions.
  I recently heard about this terrible problem from one of my 
constituents. Her name is Barbara. Five years ago, Barbara was 
diagnosed with breast cancer through the CDC's program. Uninsured, she 
struggled to find treatment. Several doctors refused to treat her 
because she lacked insurance. Eventually, through a hodgepodge of 
sources and some volunteer services in Iowa she was able to receive 
chemotherapy. But today, she owes over $70,000 in medical bills. She 
writes, ``My bills are so high I often wonder if I should quit 
treatment so I will not saddle myself and my family with so much 
debt.''
  Barbara is one of the lucky ones. Many women who have been diagnosed 
through this program do not get treated at all.
  The Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act has 70 Senate cosponsors 
from both parties.
  Its companion bill, H.R. 4386, has passed the House of 
Representatives with a vote of 421-1. There is no excuse for any 
further delay in the Senate. We should get this legislation through, 
combine it with the House bill, and get it to the President for his 
signature as soon as possible.

  I note for the record, the original cosponsor of this bill was our 
now departed colleague, Senator John Chafee. He was the original 
sponsor. It has 70 cosponsors. Those who worked so long with John 
Chafee admired him so much. I think it would be a fitting tribute to 
him to get this bill through as soon as possible and get it to the 
President for his signature.
  This is S. 662, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act of 1999. 
As I said, its companion bill passed the House 421-1. I think we should 
pass it as soon as possible. That is why I am taking this time to talk 
about it, to encourage our distinguished majority leader to bring it to 
the floor as soon as possible.

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