[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 59 (Monday, May 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4788-S4789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                NATIONAL CYSTIC FIBROSIS AWARENESS MONTH

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of and the 
Senate now proceed to S. Res. 115.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 115) designating May 2005 as 
     ``National Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month''.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 115) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 115

       Whereas cystic fibrosis, characterized by chronic lung 
     infections and digestive disorders, is a fatal lung disease;
       Whereas cystic fibrosis is 1 of the most common genetic 
     diseases in the United States and 1 for which there is no 
     known cure;
       Whereas more than 10,000,000 Americans are unknowing 
     carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene and individuals must 
     have 2 copies to have the disease;
       Whereas 1 of every 3,500 babies born in the United States 
     is born with cystic fibrosis;
       Whereas newborn screening for cystic fibrosis has been 
     implemented by 12 States and facilitates early diagnosis and 
     treatment which improves health and longevity;
       Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 
     the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation recommend that all States 
     consider newborn screening for cystic fibrosis;
       Whereas approximately 30,000 people in the United States 
     have cystic fibrosis, many of them children;
       Whereas the average life expectancy of an individual with 
     cystic fibrosis is in the mid-thirties, an improvement from a 
     life expectancy of 10 years in the 1960s, but still 
     unacceptably short;
       Whereas prompt, aggressive treatment of the symptoms of 
     cystic fibrosis can extend the lives of people who have the 
     disease;
       Whereas recent advances in cystic fibrosis research have 
     produced promising leads in gene, protein, and drug therapies 
     beneficial to people who have the disease;
       Whereas this innovative research is progressing faster and 
     is being conducted more aggressively than ever before, due in 
     part to the establishment of a model clinical trials network 
     by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation;
       Whereas the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation marks its 50th year 
     in 2005, continues to fund a research pipeline for more than 
     2 dozen potential therapies, and funds a nationwide network 
     of care centers that extend the length and the quality of 
     life for people with cystic fibrosis, but lives continue to 
     be lost to this disease every day; and
       Whereas education of the public on cystic fibrosis, 
     including the symptoms of the disease, increases knowledge 
     and understanding of cystic fibrosis and promotes early 
     diagnosis: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates May 2005 as ``National Cystic Fibrosis 
     Awareness Month'';
       (2) calls on the people of the United States to promote 
     awareness of cystic fibrosis and actively participate in 
     support of research to control or cure cystic fibrosis, by 
     observing the month with appropriate ceremonies and 
     activities; and

[[Page S4789]]

       (3) supports the goals of--
       (A) increasing the quality of life for individuals with 
     cystic fibrosis by promoting public knowledge and 
     understanding in a manner that will result in earlier 
     diagnoses;
       (B) encouraging increased resources for research; and
       (C) increasing levels of support for people who have cystic 
     fibrosis and their families.

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