[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 92 (Friday, June 20, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S8301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Ms. Mikulski):
  S. 1304. A bill to improve the health of women through the 
establishment of Offices of Women's Health within the Department of 
Health and Human Services; to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Women's Health 
Office Act with my colleague, Senator Olympia Snowe. The Women's Health 
Office Act authorizes and strengthens women's health offices or 
officers at Federal health agencies in the Department of Health and 
Human Services. This legislation will make sure that men and women get 
equal benefit from Federal investments in medical research and health 
care services.
  Today, doctors, scientists, Members of Congress, and the American 
public know that women and men have different bodies and different 
health care needs. Diseases like ovarian cancer and endometriosis 
affect only women. High blood pressure is two to three times more 
common in women than men. Women are four times more likely to develop 
osteoporosis than men. The number of uninsured women has grown three 
times faster than the number of uninsured men over the past 5 years. 
Women make three-quarters of all health care spending decisions for 
themselves and their families.
  For decades, despite these differences, men's health needs set the 
standard for our health care system and our health care research 
agenda. Women were systematically excluded from medical research 
because decisionmakers said that our hormone cycles complicated the 
results. One study on heart disease risk factors was conducted on 
13,000 men--and not 1 woman. But the results of studies like these were 
applied to both men and women. This neglect put women's health and 
lives at risk.
  That's why my colleagues and I took action. More than a decade ago, I 
worked with Olympia Snowe, Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin, and other women in 
the House to get an Office of Research on Women's Health at the 
National Institutes of Health, NIH. In 1993, I worked with these same 
women and Galahads in Congress to make sure that the women's health 
office would stay at NIH by putting it into law.
  This office at NIH has made a real difference in how women are 
treated for certain illnesses. We now know that men and women often 
have different symptoms before a heart attack. Women's symptoms are 
more subtle, like nausea and back pain. Knowing these systems means 
women can get to the hospital sooner and can be treated earlier. 
That's turning women's health research into life-saving information.

  I am proud that there are now women's health offices or officers at 
nearly every Federal health agency at the Department of Health and 
Human Services. Like the one at NIH, women's health offices mean that 
women's health needs are always at the table. These offices at the Food 
and Drug Administration, (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, (CDC), and the Health Resources and Services 
Administration, (HRSA) make sure women are included in clinical drug 
trials, reach out to low-income and minority women to make sure they 
are getting vaccines and cancer screenings, and work with health care 
providers to put research on women's health into practice. Recent 
questions about the risks and benefits of mammography and hormone 
replacement therapy remind us that women's health offices are as 
important as ever.
  Right now, many of these offices and the important work they do could 
be eliminated or cut back without the consent of Congress. That is why 
this bill is so important. This bill would put women's health offices 
into our Nation's law books.
  The Women's Health Office Act does more than protect the status quo. 
It keeps us moving forward on women's health. It gives women's health 
offices a clear, consistent framework throughout the Department. By 
writing them into law, it gives women's health offices the stature they 
need to be strong, effective advocates for women's health within the 
Federal Government. This legislation coordinates women's health 
activities within each agency, to identify needs and set goals. The 
women's Health Office Act centralizes overall coordination throughout 
the Department of Health and Human services, to clarify lines of 
accountability and chart a clear course on women's health. Finally, it 
authorizes funding for these women's health offices or officers, to 
make sure that we put our Nation's priorities in the Federal checkbook 
as well as the Federal law books.
  This bill has strong bipartisan support. During the 107th Congress, 
the Women's Health Office Act passed the Senate Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions, HELP, Committee unanimously as part of a 
comprehensive women's health bill that would have expanded women's 
health research and improved women's access to health care. It also 
passed the House of Representatives overwhelmingly during the 107th 
Congress. I am disappointed that Congress was not able to pass this 
bipartisan legislation, but I am hopeful that last year's momentum will 
help us get to women's Health Office Act signed into law this year.
  I would like to thank Senator Olympia Snowe for leading the way on 
this important legislation. As Dean of the Senate women, I will 
continue to fight to get this bill signed into law and to make progress 
to improve the health of American women.
                                 ______