[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 101 (Tuesday, July 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S7224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                SUSAN G. KOMEN BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION

 Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I am pleased to pay tribute to 
the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which is celebrating its 
20th anniversary. The organization literally grew from a shoebox full 
of names in Dallas, TX, to the Nation's largest private source of 
funding for breast cancer research and community-based outreach 
programs.
  Our current U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary, the Hon. 
Nancy Brinker, is the founder of the Komen Foundation. As a founding 
member of the organization, I can recall the very first meeting we held 
in Nancy's living room. She is a woman of conviction, with talent and 
energy to match. While it is too soon to tell, I believe the 
establishment and launching of the Komen Foundation will be Nancy 
Brinker's most remarkable legacy to humankind.
  When her older sister Suzy died of breast cancer at the age of 36, 
Nancy set out to keep the promise she had made to Suzy: to do 
everything in her power to eradicate breast cancer as a life-
threatening disease. Today, 20 years after the Komen Foundation's 
inception, we recognize the ``Power of Promise'' Nancy made that day.
  I am proud to have worked for the Komen Foundation in the Senate, and 
mark today's celebration by noting the truly great things people can do 
when they answer a call, see a need, and set out to make things 
different.
  Twenty years ago, breast cancer was a term rarely spoken in public, 
and a subject that almost never appeared in newspapers or magazines. 
There were no self-help books and those who survived the disease did 
not readily share their stories. What is worse, breast cancer was 
viewed as a certain death sentence. Few treatment options existed at 
the time, and those that did were drastic and disfiguring.
  At its inception, the Komen Foundation began to educate people and 
help them recognize the seriousness of breast cancer in our society. 
People began giving of themselves as volunteers and as financial donors 
so that research into new breast cancer treatments, screening, and 
educational outreach efforts could be funded.
  The Komen Foundation boasts over 100 affiliate groups in cities 
across the U.S., three European affiliates and a cadre of 75,000 
dedicated volunteers, many of whom are survivors. In the past two 
decades, the Foundation has raised more than $450 million for research, 
education, screening and treatment programs--many of which reach into 
traditionally medically underserved areas. The Komen Race for the Cure 
had over 112 races this year with 1.2 million runners and walkers 
participating. Each race event is an occasion of hope and survivor 
pride for participants and their supporters.
  On the 20th Anniversary of the Komen Foundation, let us all renew our 
promise in the fight against breast cancer so that one day we will have 
something miraculous to celebrate: the end of breast cancer as a life-
threatening disease.

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