[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2273-S2274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Corzine, 
        and Mrs. Boxer):
  S. 569. 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. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today, on International Women's Day, 
to introduce the Women's Health Office Act with my colleague, Senator 
Barbara Mikulski.
  Historically, women's health care needs have been ignored or poorly 
understood, and women have been systematically excluded from important 
health research. We heard just this week about a landmark example. One 
federally-funded study examined the ability of aspirin to prevent heart 
attacks in 20,000 medical doctors, all of whom were men, despite the 
fact that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. When 
a benefit was found in men, many physicians assumed that the same 
protective effect applied to women. Just this week, after research on 
women was finally conducted, we learned that the effect of aspirin on 
women appear to be quite different. We are simply not protected in the 
same way men are protected. It is tragic that so much of our medicine 
has been based on such assumptions.
  Today we recognize that both genders should benefit equally from 
medical research and health care services. Yet equity does not yet 
exist in health care, and we have a long way to go. Knowledge about 
differences in women--in symptoms of disease, and in appropriate 
measures for prevention and treatment--frequently lags far behind our 
knowledge of men's health.
  We must also recognize that some diseases--such as ovarian cancer and 
endometriosis--affect only women. Other diseases affect women 
disproportionately--such as osteoporosis. We also see differences in 
health care access between men and women. These simply must be 
reflected in our health policy.
  It is for these reasons that we are again introducing the Women's 
Health Office Act. This legislation provides permanent authorization 
for offices of women's health in five federal agencies: the Department 
of Health and Human Services; the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; the Health 
Resources and Services Administration; and the Food and Drug 
Administration. Currently only two women's health offices in the 
Federal Government have statutory authorization; the Office of Research 
on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health and the Office 
for Women's Services within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration.
  With some offices established, but not authorized, the needs of women 
could be compromised without the consent of Congress. We must create 
statutory authority for these offices, to ensure that health policy 
flows from fact, not assumption. Improving the health of American women 
requires a far greater understanding of women's health needs and 
conditions, and ongoing evaluation in the areas of research, education, 
prevention, treatment and the delivery of services--and this bill will 
ensure that.
  I must also note today, on International Women's Day, that of all the 
disease threats to women, few rival the threat of AIDS. Increasingly, 
the face of the individual with HIV-infection is a woman's. Tragically, 
it is often the woman's husband who places her at risk, yet in many 
societies, the status of women makes her use of prevention difficult. 
One promising way to counter the risk of HIV infection is the 
development of an effective microbicide--a typical product which women 
could use to reduce their risk of contracting HIV. A number of 
scientists are working to develop such a product. If successful, this 
could prevent millions of infections, and would be a practical means of 
prevention in much of the world where options for women are so few. For 
this reason I again join Senator Corzine today in introducing the 
Microbicides Development Act. This legislation will establish a 
coordination of this development at the NIH to reduce the toll of AIDS. 
Just today we read of a promising new microbicide which appears to show 
great promise. We must ensure that the promise of microbicides become 
reality for millions of women. This research is spread over multiple 
Institutes at NIH, and definitely will benefit from the coordination 
and integration which this Act will instill.
  Today, on a day when we recognize both the achievements and 
contributions of women, it is fitting, that we provide the support and 
opportunity to facilitate the continued progress of women, I call on my 
colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, which will ensure 
better health for our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, both here 
and abroad.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. 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. Women are four times more likely to develop 
osteoporosis than men and according to some estimates, half of all 
women over 50 will fracture a bone because of osteoporosis in her 
lifetime.
  Despite these differences, men's health needs have set the standard 
for our health care system and our health care research agenda. Women 
have been systematically excluded from medical research because 
decision-makers said that our hormone cycles complicated the results. 
One study on heart disease risk factors was conducted on 13,000 men--
and not one women. But the results of studies like these were applied 
to both men and women. This neglect puts 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 symptoms 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

[[Page S2274]]

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 lawbooks.
  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 lawbooks.
  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.

                          ____________________