[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 112 (Monday, September 9, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8388-S8389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  STATEMENTS ON SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 324--CONGRATULATING THE NATIONAL FARMERS UNION FOR 
100 YEARS OF SERVICE TO FAMILY FARMERS, RANCHERS, AND RURAL COMMUNITIES

  Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Lugar, Mr. 
Daschle, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Nelson 
of Nebraska, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Allard, Mr. Feingold, Mr. 
Bayh, Mr. Crapo, Mrs. Carnahan, Mr. Bingaman, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
Jerffords, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. DeWine, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. 
Breaux) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry:

                              S. Res. 324

       Whereas the National Farmers Union celebrates its 
     centennial anniversary in 2002;
       Whereas during its 100 years of service to rural America, 
     the National Farmers Union has faithfully promoted the 
     organization's mission of education, legislation, and 
     cooperation as identified by its founders and proclaimed in 
     its triangular symbol;
       Whereas the National Farmers Union represents nearly 
     300,000 family farmer and rancher members across the United 
     States;
       Whereas the National Farmers Union epitomizes the spirit 
     and energy of hundreds of thousands of family farmers, 
     ranchers, rural advocates, and communities;
       Whereas the National Farmers Union remains dedicated to 
     protecting and enhancing the quality of life for rural 
     America;
       Whereas the National Farmers Union has been instrumental in 
     the establishment and progress of the farmer-owned 
     cooperative movement; and
       Whereas the National Farmers Union strives to improve rural 
     America through proactive support and proposals to enhance 
     rural economic development, educational opportunities, 
     resource conservation, market competition, domestic farm 
     income, and international cooperation: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate commends and congratulates the 
     National Farmers Union for a century of dedicated service to 
     the farmers, ranchers, and rural communities of the United 
     States.
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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 138--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
 THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SHOULD CONDUCT OR SUPPORT 
  RESEARCH ON CERTAIN TESTS TO SCREEN FOR OVARIAN CANCER, AND FEDERAL 
HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS AND GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL HEALTH PLANS SHOULD COVER 
   THE TESTS IF DEMONSTRATED TO BE EFFECTIVE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. REID (for himself and Ms. Cantwell) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                            S. Con. Res. 138

       Whereas ovarian cancer is a serious and under recognized 
     threat to women's health;
       Whereas ovarian cancer, the deadliest of the gynecologic 
     cancers, is the fourth leading cause of cancer death among 
     women in the United States
       Whereas ovarian cancer occurs in 1 out of 57 women in the 
     United States;
       Whereas approximately 50 percent of the women in the United 
     States diagnosed with ovarian cancer die as a result of the 
     cancer within 5 years;
       Whereas ovarian cancer is readily treatable when it is 
     detected in the beginning stages before it has spread beyond 
     the ovaries, but the vast majority of cases are not diagnosed 
     until the advanced stages when the cancer has spread beyond 
     the ovaries;
       Whereas in cases where ovarian cancer is detected in the 
     beginning stages, more than 90 percent of women survive 
     longer than 5 years;
       Whereas only 25 percent of ovarian cancer cases in the 
     United States are diagnosed in the beginning stages;
       Whereas in cases where ovarian cancer is diagnosed in the 
     advanced stages, the chance of 5-year survival is only about 
     25 percent; and
       Whereas ovarian cancer may be difficult to detect because 
     symptoms are easily confused with other diseases and because 
     there is no reliable, easy-to-administer screening tool: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
     through the Director of the National Institutes of Health--
       (A) should conduct or support research on the effectiveness 
     of the medical screening technique of using proteomic 
     patterns in blood serum to identify ovarian cancer, including 
     the effectiveness of using the technique in combination with 
     other screening methods for ovarian cancer; and
       (B) should continue to conduct or support other promising 
     ovarian cancer research that may lead to breakthroughs in 
     screening techniques;
       (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should 
     submit to Congress a report on the research described in 
     paragraph (1)(A), including an analysis of the effectiveness 
     of the medical screening technique for identifying ovarian 
     cancer; and
       (3) if the research demonstrates that the medical screening 
     technique is effective for identifying ovarian cancer, 
     Federal health care programs and group and individual health 
     plans should cover the technique.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I rise today for myself and Senator 
Cantwell to submit a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the 
Congress that the Secretary of Health and Human Services should conduct 
or support research to improve early detection of ovarian cancer. 
Specifically, our resolution encourages continuing and accelerating the 
development of an ovarian cancer screening test currently underway 
through a public-private partnership including the National Cancer 
Institute and the Food and Drug Administration.
  Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers and the 
fourth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. 
Ovarian cancer occurs in 1 out of 57 women, and an estimated 13,900 
American women died from ovarian cancer in 2001 alone.
  Currently, approximately three-quarters of women with ovarian cancer 
are diagnosed when they are already in advanced stages of the disease, 
and only one in five will survive five years. However, if the disease 
is caught early, the five-year survival rate jumps to 95 percent. Thus 
providing a way to routinely identify the disease in its ``Stage 1'' 
phase could have a dramatic impact in what is now a very deadly cancer. 
No screening test exists that can accurately detect ovarian cancer in 
the early states when it is highly curable.
  In the February 2002 issue of The Lancet, scientists from the Food 
and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute reported that 
patterns of protein found in patients' blood serum may reflect the 
presence of ovarian cancer. Using an innovative testing approach, 
analyzing patterns of blood protein rather than identifying single 
blood biomarkers, researchers were able to differentiate between serum 
samples taken from patients with ovarian cancer and those from 
unaffected individuals.
  However, this research finding was only a first step. Before the 
scientific community will agree that protein screening is an accurate 
and beneficial tool, additional multi-institutional trials must be 
completed.
  Patients would certainly be more willing to be tested if all that it 
involved were a simple, finger-stick blood test, thus eliminating the 
need for surgery, biopsy, or other painful, invasive, or risky 
procedures. The critical advantage of such as screening test is early 
detection, finding the disease when it is most treatable. Of course, 
early detection of ovarian cancer will save health care costs, but, 
more importantly, it will save lives.
  This is why I am submitting this resolution. Our resolution 
encourages the Department of Health and Human Services to rapidly 
evaluate the efficacy of this cutting-edge work in the area of testing 
for ovarian cancer. If the screening tests are proven effective, the 
public must have the widest

[[Page S8389]]

possible access to them. Toward that end, the resolution provides that 
they be covered by Federal health care programs and group and 
individual health plans.
  Representatives Steve Israel, and Rosa DeLauro, both tireless leaders 
on cancer research and health issues, introduced this resolution, in 
the House of Representatives. Through their efforts and bi-partisan 
support, H. Con. Res. 385 was passed by the House of Representatives on 
July 22. The resolution deserves the Senate's prompt attention, and I 
urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

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