[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 21, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H4368-H4371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORTING EFFORTS TO INCREASE CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS, TREATMENT, 
                              AND RESEARCH

  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 323) supporting efforts to increase 
childhood cancer awareness, treatment, and research, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 323

       Whereas an estimated 12,400 children will be diagnosed with 
     cancer in the year 2005;
       Whereas cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in 
     children under age 15;
       Whereas an estimated 2,300 children will die from cancer in 
     the year 2005;
       Whereas the incidence of cancer among children in the 
     United States is rising by about one percent each year;
       Whereas 1 in every 330 Americans develops cancer before age 
     20;
       Whereas approximately 8 percent of deaths of those between 
     1 and 19 years old are caused by cancer;
       Whereas while some progress has been made, a number of 
     promising opportunities for childhood cancer research still 
     remain untapped;

[[Page H4369]]

       Whereas limited resources for childhood cancer research can 
     hinder the recruitment of investigators and physicians to 
     pediatric oncology;
       Whereas peer-reviewed clinical trials are the standard of 
     care for pediatrics and have improved cancer survival rates 
     among children;
       Whereas the number of survivors of childhood cancers 
     continues to grow, with about 1 in 640 adults between ages 20 
     to 39 who have a history of cancer;
       Whereas up to two-thirds of childhood cancer survivors are 
     likely to experience at least one late effect from treatment, 
     many of which may be life-threatening;
       Whereas some late effects of cancer treatment are 
     identified early in follow-up and are easily resolved, while 
     others may become chronic problems in adulthood and may have 
     serious consequences; and
       Whereas 89 percent of children with cancer experience 
     substantial suffering in the last month of life: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that the Congress should support--
       (1) public and private sector efforts to promote awareness 
     about the incidence of cancer among children, the signs and 
     symptoms of cancer in children, treatment options, and long-
     term follow-up;
       (2) pediatric cancer research to improve prevention, 
     diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, post-treatment 
     monitoring, and long-term survival;
       (3) policies that encourage medical trainees and 
     investigators to enter the field of pediatric oncology;
       (4) policies that encourage the development of drugs and 
     biologics designed to treat pediatric cancers;
       (5) policies that encourage participation in clinical 
     trials;
       (6) efforts to encourage the incorporation of pain 
     management for pediatric cancer patients into medical 
     education curricula; and
       (7) policies that enhance education, services, and other 
     resources related to late effects from treatment.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Deal) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and to add extraneous material to the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise today in support of House Resolution 323, a resolution 
authored by my colleague, Representative Pryce of Ohio. This resolution 
expresses support for efforts to increase childhood cancer awareness, 
treatment, and research.
  Just uttering the word ``cancer'' conjures up a fearful imagery. All 
of us can name a friend, a neighbor, coworker, or family member whose 
life has been touched by this terrible disease. Many here today have 
gone through or are going through the ordeal of cancer. Thankfully, 
more and more people are continuing to lead full and productive lives 
both during and after cancer. And while it is a tragedy whenever cancer 
takes someone's life, the tragedy is only intensified when cancer cuts 
short the life of a child.
  As a parent and as a grandparent, I can only imagine hearing these 
dreadful news stories that my child or my grandchild may have been 
diagnosed with incurable cancer. That would be a terrible story to 
hear. The impact on families going through such shock and sadness is 
truly profound. Parents would do anything to cure their son or 
daughter.
  All of us long for the day when a cure is found and cancer is 
eradicated from the face of the earth.

                              {time}  1315

  With advances in science and medicine, we are getting closer every 
day. But while research for many forms of cancer is vibrant and moving 
steadily forward, childhood cancer research lags behind in many ways. 
Promising avenues for research remain unexplored. There are several 
reasons why this is true. First, because childhood cancer is rare, it 
doesn't receive the same attention as more common adult cancers.
  Second, as a further consequence of this rarity, there is less known 
about the causes of childhood cancer. This hinders efforts to create 
effective treatment and prevention strategies.
  Finally, because children's young bodies are still developing, they 
present special problems for administering the powerful cancer 
therapies that are often used on adults.
  The purpose of the resolution before us today is to draw public 
attention to these issues and to call for increased public and private 
efforts to address the problem of childhood cancer.
  One issue that deserves our attention is the lack of professionals 
specializing in childhood cancer. We need to encourage more health 
professionals and students to enter this important field. Work with 
children who have cancer is a very difficult job and the burnout rate 
is high. It takes a very special combination of compassion and 
toughness for a caregiver to remain at a child's side as cancer takes 
its toll on his or her body.
  We need caring people of many backgrounds, including physicians, 
nurse practitioners, data managers, research assistants and other 
health care professionals to take childhood cancer research and 
treatment forward. These professionals can ensure that as many children 
as possible are able to reap the benefits of research through clinical 
trials and other opportunities.
  While the job of working with childhood cancer patients is tough, the 
payoff is high. Every ray of a child's smile and every extra day a 
family spends with their loved one can make all the difference.
  Another issue we should consider very carefully is the availability 
of cutting edge cancer treatments. Experts say the future of cancer 
research lies in targeted treatments that are specially engineered to 
treat an individual person's cancer. These are the so-called designer 
cancer treatments. Designer treatments can attack a cancerous tumor 
while saving healthy cells in the body. This approach offers the hope 
of a cure with fewer side effects.
  With the availability of such treatments, there is less need for 
children to endure difficult chemotherapy and other harsh treatments 
that may cause severe and lifelong side effects such as blindness and 
hearing loss.
  While designer cancer treatments hold great promise, they require 
high-tech equipment and a host of specialty trained professionals to 
make them a reality. Each drug is specially tailored for an individual 
patient, making the drugs labor intensive and prohibitively expensive 
to produce.
  While we should continue to explore both public and private options 
to provide these drugs to as many children and adults as possible, we 
should resist the temptation to impose price controls that would 
discourage these cutting-edge technologies from coming to fruition. 
Price controls of all kinds are ineffective in lowering the price of a 
product and cause more harm than good. Rather than getting the drugs to 
more people, they will cause fewer drugs to be manufactured and 
everyone's access will be diminished.
  Through research, public awareness, education and wise public policy, 
we can make strides in the fight against childhood cancer. With this 
resolution, we are calling attention to the problem of childhood cancer 
and supporting efforts to improve its diagnosis and treatment.
  Again, I commend Ms. Pryce for her leadership on this issue, and I 
encourage my colleagues to support this important resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I also would like to thank my Ohio colleague, 
Congresswoman Deborah Pryce, for introducing this legislation. Ms. 
Pryce has been instrumental in raising awareness of childhood cancers 
and promoting the research needed to overcome them.
  Every year, more than 12,000 children in our country are diagnosed 
with cancer. More than 2,000 of them lose their lives. Although 
survival rates are increasing and great progress has been made to 
develop new diagnostics and treatments and cures, cancer remains the 
number one disease killer of children. There is, of course, no tragedy 
comparable to the loss of a child. If we can prevent cancer from taking 
the life of a child, then we must prevent cancer from taking the life 
of a child.
  This resolution calls for Congress to support public and private 
sector efforts to promote awareness about the

[[Page H4370]]

incidence of childhood cancer, its signs and symptoms, its treatment 
options and its long-term follow-up care. The resolution also calls for 
increased public and private investment in childhood cancer research, 
incentives to encourage health care providers to enter pediatric 
oncology, and incentives to spur development of better pediatric drugs 
and remedies. There is no more important fight than the fight against 
childhood cancer.
  I think the legislation we just passed on the reauthorization of GME 
for Children's Hospitals, coupled with Ms. Pryce's legislation here, 
will really matter to children in this country. I am proud to be a 
cosponsor of this resolution. I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to 
the author of this resolution, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce).
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Deal for making this 
a priority, and Ranking Member Brown. I appreciate your words and I 
associate myself with both of your remarks, and I rise today as a voice 
for the thousands of families across America who have been touched by 
pediatric cancer.
  Each day, two classrooms full of children are diagnosed, two 
classrooms, and I rise today for the children who will be diagnosed 
today and for their families who love them.
  This week, we celebrate Gold Ribbon Days, a time for children and 
their families to come to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about 
pediatric cancer. Some of those children are fighting their own 
battles. To them, we offer support. Some of these families have lost 
their children to cancer. To them, we offer compassion. And to some of 
those children who are survivors, they offer us hope.
  This morning, I had a chance to spend time with the children and 
families in town for Gold Ribbon Days. We held a rally right outside 
the Capitol to tell our stories. We celebrated the fact that this body 
today would be considering this important resolution that will help 
raise awareness, education and research. Those families are so 
thankful, Representative Deal. Thank you so much for allowing us this 
time.
  We also celebrated the premier tonight of the much anticipated 
documentary called ``A Lion in the House.'' This film, produced by two 
brilliant Ohio filmmakers, is extraordinary. It offers an unprecedented 
look at the cancer journey of five young people and their families over 
a 6-year period. For those of us who have traveled on our own journey, 
this film depicts our experiences, our struggles and our pain. For 
those of you who have not traveled on this journey, this film will give 
you empathy and compassion.
  Never before has such a delicate and serious topic like childhood 
cancer been brought to the public's attention in such a powerful and 
meaningful way; real families sharing stories, the very, very private 
moments, the highs and the lows, the roller coaster of never knowing 
what lies around the corner, the confusion, the frustration and the 
darkness, the joy and the pain, the love and the loss.
  The families we meet in the film, their resilience, courage and 
wisdom, remind us that while it is human nature to question the sanity 
and injustice of why such a tragedy has befallen those of us who have 
been touched by pediatric cancer, we must find a way to channel our 
pain and our anger into action to change the course of this disease. 
That is what Gold Ribbon Days is all about, and this resolution is part 
of our action plan.
  I want to recognize and thank the pediatric cancer organizations, the 
advocates, the children and their families who are waging their own 
battle against cancer. They are the tireless soldiers in our army, and 
until we rid the world of the scourge that is childhood cancer, we must 
keep up our strong army and we must keep up the fight, and we shall.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have one final speaker. I am 
pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul).
  Mr. McCAUL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of 
this resolution to fight childhood cancer. I would like to especially 
thank Congresswoman Pryce for her leadership and strong dedication to 
this issue, which I can't think of any issue more important than this 
one.
  My father died from this disease, but no parent should ever have to 
bury a child. As the father of five, I wake up every morning thanking 
God for the health and happiness of my children. Not all parents are as 
fortunate.
  Unfortunately, cancer is the number one killer of children in this 
country today, and it destroys not only these innocent victims, but 
their families as well.
  In too many cases, the moms, the dads, the sisters and brothers of 
children with cancer must stand by a hospital bed and watch helplessly 
as this horrible disease consumes the life of an innocent child.
  Two of my constituents, Tim and Donna Culliver, lost their son Adam 
to childhood cancer. Faced with the loss no parent could put into words 
and a lifetime of pain they will feel forever in their hearts, they 
bravely have chosen to honor Adam by leading the fight to cure 
childhood cancer and by courageously working to ensure that no other 
mom or dad has to suffer as they did. And we should help them.
  We can and must increase the funding for childhood cancer research. 
Underfunding this cancer research delays the goal of finding a cure for 
children like Adam Culliver. This is an investment we cannot afford to 
pass up. Unlike many of the investments that we make here in the 
Congress, this one will actually save the lives of innocent children.
  Every day we do get closer to a cure. Three out of four children who 
are diagnosed with cancer will survive the disease, but that is not 
good enough. The loss of one child to this disease is too much.
  Congresswoman Pryce and I have introduced legislation called the 
Conquer Childhood Cancer Research Act, which provides for $100 million 
in desperately needed grants for childhood cancer research, and I urge 
all my colleagues to show their support for this important bill.
  I spent the last 2 days with the families whose children have been 
afflicted by this terrible disease. They gave me a baseball bat that 
was signed by children at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston. The 
fortunate thing is that some of the children who signed that bat are 
survivors. The unfortunate thing is some of the children who signed 
that bat no longer are alive.
  I want to take that bat and get our bill passed through the Congress, 
and, once and for all, defeat childhood cancer.
  Many of my colleagues' offices will be visited today by the families 
who have suffered through this nightmare. I urge them to listen to the 
compelling stories the families have to tell and imagine how you would 
feel if you were in their place, and find the compassion in your hearts 
to help. This is an issue that no Member of Congress should say no to.
  I ask you to fight for these families so no more families will have 
to suffer again.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, children are one-third of our 
population and all of our future. If our American way of life fails the 
child, it fails us all. Today, we have the opportunity to ensure the 
best healthcare, research and treatment is provided for our children 
suffering with cancer. Our investment in children will benefit not only 
their future, but ours as well.
  At present, 12,400 children have been diagnosed with cancer. 
Typically, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children 
under age 15. In 2005, cancer took the lives of 2,300 children. Our 
limited resources for childhood cancer have hindered the recruitment of 
investigators and physicians into the field of pediatric oncology. Not 
long ago, cancer was seen as a death sentence. But today we have hope 
as survival rates climb and new treatments are on the horizon.
  Both public and private sector investments must be made to improve 
prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, post-treatment 
monitoring, and long term survival. We should provide incentives to 
encourage the development of drugs and therapies to treat pediatric 
cancers. Our American citizens deserve the best in healthcare and we 
must ensure that they get it.
  Let us continue to work together to fight childhood cancer and pass 
this bill.

[[Page H4371]]

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 
323, which supports efforts to increase childhood cancer awareness, 
treatment, and research. Childhood is supposed to be a carefree and 
exciting time filled with joy and wonderment. Too many children, 
unfortunately, spend their childhood fighting for their lives against 
cancer. Cancer takes the lives of up to 2,300 children each year. It is 
imperative that we do more to combat childhood cancer.
  The number of childhood cancer survivors is growing. Progress is 
being made but more must be done. This positive trend must be 
increased.
  To do so, efforts to increase childhood cancer awareness, treatment, 
and research must continue. Increased public awareness of childhood 
cancer will help increase public and private sector investment in 
childhood cancer research. More and broader investment will improve 
prevention, treatment, and long-term survival for cancer patients.
  H. Res. 323 provides policies that encourage the development of 
pediatric treatments and enhances educational resources related to 
cancer treatments. By supporting H. Res. 323, we demonstrate our 
support for providing cancer patients adequate resources in medicine 
and education.
  The recent and tragic passing of a young girl, a daughter of Guam, 
brought this issue to the forefront of the minds of my constituents. 
Justice Taitague, a 5-year-old who suffered from leukemia, passed away 
in February 2003. Her best chance for life was a marrow transplant. The 
first-ever marrow drive on Guam was held as a result of the efforts of 
Dr. Thomas Shieh, president of the Guam Medical Society, the Hawaiian 
Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and the National Marrow Donor program. This 
``Drive for Justice'' registered 3,400 donors in 3 days. Awareness of 
the need to address childhood cancer is high on Guam. But more must be 
done.
  We must continue to promote awareness of, research on, and treatment 
for childhood cancer research. We must also increase funding to support 
those activities. I strongly support H. Res. 323, as it will help raise 
awareness of the need for continued investment of financial resources 
and intellectual energies toward combating childhood cancer. I urge my 
colleagues' support.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, 
and ask this Congress to pass the Pryce legislation.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I too yield back and urge the 
adoption of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Deal) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 323, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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