[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 14, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH INITIATIVES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the state of 
public health in America. Although we know more about health hazards 
and the importance of a healthy life-style today than we did 25 years 
ago, our health is actually getting worse in many respects.
  Chronic diseases account for three out of four deaths in the United 
States annually; and 100 million Americans, more than a third of the 
population, suffer from some sort of chronic disease.
  Chronic conditions are on the rise. The rate of learning disabilities 
rose 50 percent in this last decade. Endocrine and metabolic diseases 
such as diabetes and neurologic diseases such as migraine headaches and 
multiple sclerosis increased 20 percent between 1986 and 1995.
  The rising incidence of disease can be attributed partly to the 
environment. This means not only air pollution and the rising 
CO2 levels, which affect the quality of the air we breath, 
but factors such as industrial chemicals and plasticizers, increased 
exposure to low-dose radiation from sources that range from toasters to 
aircrafts, certain medications which affect the hormone production, and 
especially a person's life-style, including the diet, tobacco and 
alcohol use.
  Mr. Speaker, I was proud recently to introduce the Women's Health 
Environmental Research Centers Act, a bill that enhances scientific 
research in women's health.

                              {time}  1330

  There has been a lack of initiatives to especially look at women's 
health in connection with the environment. Women may be at a greater 
risk for disease associated to environmental exposures due to several 
factors, including body fat and size, a slower metabolism of toxic 
substances, hormone levels, and, for many, more exposure for household 
cleaning reagents.
  Over the past decade, evidence has accumulated linking effects of the 
environment on women and reproductive health, cancer, injury, asthma, 
autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple 
sclerosis, birth defects, Parkinson's, mental retardation and lead 
poisoning. Lead and other heavy metals found in the environment have 
been implicated in increased bone loss and osteoporosis in post-
menopausal women.
  In one interesting study in New York, researchers found that women 
carrying a mutant form of a breast cancer gene are at higher risk of 
developing breast or ovarian cancer if they were born after 1940, as 
compared to women with the same mutant genes before 1940. This suggests 
that environmental factors are affecting the rates of incidence.
  The interaction between environmental factors and one's genes also 
affect the susceptibility to disease. This will be a major area of 
research now that the Human Genome Project has been completed and new 
disease-related genes are being found at a rapid pace.
  The evidence is clear and accumulating daily that the by-products of 
our technology are linked to illness and disease and that women are 
especially susceptible to these environmental health-related problems.
  We need health research programs that are specifically targeted 
towards women's health. The passage of the Women's Health Environmental 
Research Centers Act will be a crucial step toward establishing the 
valuable and needed basic research on the interactions between women's 
health and environment.
  The second initiative needed is to increase awareness and access for 
Americans to preventive screening tests for diseases such as cancer. 
Screening will save thousands of lives if it is detected at its 
earliest and most treatable stage.
  I will soon introduce, along with the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. 
Morella), the Colorectal Cancer Screening Act. Often colorectal cancer 
does not present any symptoms at all until late in the disease's 
progression. When discovered through screening tests, benign polyps can 
be removed, preventing colorectal cancer from ever occurring. But, 
unfortunately, fewer than 40 percent of colorectal cancer patients have 
ever their cancer diagnosed early.
  Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the 
United States for men and women combined. An estimated 56,700 people 
will die from colorectal cancer this year; and 135,400 new cases will 
be diagnosed. These newly diagnosed cases that will be divided nearly 
evenly among men and women are particularly tragic because they could 
be prevented.
  Medicare began covering colorectal cancer screening in 1998, and many 
insurers now cover them also. However, all insurers must give enrollees 
access to this life-saving benefit, similar to what has been done for 
mammography screening.
  Finally, I would like to mention that Congress has asked the Centers 
for Disease Control to develop a nationwide tracking network so we can 
begin to draw the critical link between disease and environmental 
toxins, genetic susceptibility and life-style. The Women's Caucus 
followed up with a letter to the CDC director, Jeffrey Koplan, to 
reiterate our interest in this important initiative.
  Although we do not have cures for the most devastating disease that 
affects women, we can minimize our chances of developing them or at 
least prolong the years that we are healthy by the understanding of the 
risk factors, both environmental and genetic, as well as taking control 
of our health by having preventive screening tests before it is too 
late.
  As a public servant and a scientist, I believe that one of the most 
important concerns of Congress should be to help to promote America's 
public health. Congress should commit itself to provide all Americans 
access to medical technologies that save lives, and Congress must 
provide continued funding for scientific research across all 
disciplines.

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