[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S6198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself and Ms. Snowe):
  S. 1415. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act and the Social 
Security Act to improve screening and treatment of cancers, provide for 
survivorship services, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Finance.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am honored to join with the 
distinguished Senator from Maine, Ms. Snowe, to introduce the Cancer 
Screening, Treatment an Survivorship Act of 2007.
  Last summer, Lance Armstrong came to Iowa to testify at a field 
hearing on cancer research. He is a national hero for winning the Tour 
de France 7 years in a row. But he has become a national treasure as 
America's No. 1 advocate for cancer research, detection, and treatment. 
I deeply appreciate his advocacy and tireless efforts to fight this 
disease. Lance is one of the millions of people across America who has 
been touched by cancer.
  The bill I am introducing today is personal with me. I have lost 4 of 
my 5 siblings to cancer. And, with better detection and screenings, 
perhaps my siblings would have had a better outcome.
  I believe passionately in doing our best to prevent cancer, by 
encouraging appropriate lifestyle choices. But I am equally passionate 
about the need to do a better job of detecting cancer as early as 
possible, so we have a better chance of beating it.
  And that is the aim of the Cancer Screening, Treatment, and 
Survivorship Act of 2007. We have simple goals: To detect cancer 
earlier. To reduce cancer mortality rates. To improve the quality of 
life for those diagnosed with cancer. And, yes, to save health care 
dollars.
  As I said, my hope is that the bill we are introducing today will 
take us to the next level and begin addressing survivorship and people 
that are living with this chronic disease. Together, we can work to 
improve the quality of life for those diagnosed with cancer and save 
lives. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that this 
legislation is passed and signed into law.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I am pleased to join my colleague, 
Senator Harkin of Iowa, to introduce the Cancer Screening, Treatment 
and Survivorship Act of 2007. This legislation will help us to realize 
a long-held vision--to see cancer conquered within our lifetimes.
  Today nearly half of all Americans can expect to suffer from an 
invasive form of cancer. So it is indisputable that cancer research, 
screening, and treatment should continue to be a high public health 
priority. Many have called for an elimination of cancer death and 
suffering by 2015, and I supported that ambitious goal along with 91 of 
my Senate colleagues. Yet it is concrete action which is required if we 
are to make progress towards that objective.
  Indeed, we have already seen remarkable progress in the diagnosis and 
treatment of cancer. Today, for example, more women are surviving 
breast cancer. Early diagnosis and modern treatments are saving lives. 
We have even seen that drug treatment can substantially reduce the 
recurrence of breast cancer.
  And it is the strides which we have made in scientific discovery is 
fueling those advances. Senator Harkin and I both worked to support the 
doubling of NIH funding--and the landmark work to map the human 
genome--and today we sit poised to make the progress of which 
generations have dreamed.
  Yet, no matter what we learn, no matter what cures are developed--
without access to screening and treatment, no cure is possible. And if 
one does not even know that the need for cure exists, no action can be 
taken. So cancer is one of a number of areas where we see stark 
disparities in health.
  That is why I have joined with Senator Harkin to introduce this 
legislation. As co-chairs of the Senate Prevention Coalition, we 
recognize that if we are to fundamentally improve both the quality and 
the cost of health care, we cannot continue to use a band-aid approach. 
Indeed to address illness late is only to increase the risk that 
individuals will not survive, and that we will provide only the most 
expensive tertiary care.
  So we need a new approach--a new mind set. Part of that is 
prevention, but not just prevention of the disease, but also avoidance 
of the negative consequences of disease.
  In no case is this so clear as with cancer. Because we know that 
early detection is so crucial to successful treatment, and this 
legislation recognizes that.
  Under our legislation we will see cancer screening extended to those 
who today, too often are without such care. This act would provide 
grants to states to employ screening programs to detect cancer early--
when it is most treatable. Under our legislation, the HHS Secretary 
will examine those diagnostics which meet the standards of the U.S. 
Preventive Services Task Force and select those with highest promise in 
order to see that we can reduce the toll of cancer.
  Those receiving grants will see that the public's awareness of 
screenings improves, that health professionals receive additional 
training in cancer detection and control, and that as new and better 
diagnostics are developed, Americans will have access to those advances 
without regard to their inability to pay. That is the first step in 
reducing the toll of cancer.
  Those who do receive a positive diagnosis as a result of this act 
will obtain treatment referrals, and states will have the option to 
provide treatment to those individuals without access to care under 
Medicaid. States which elect to do so would receive an enhanced Federal 
match to provide the very treatment which we know not only saves lives, 
but reduces costs as well.
  I know that some will argue that we cannot afford to add additional 
coverage to Medicaid. Yet to that I must answer that without coverage, 
many will simply see their disease progress, and ultimately end up 
Medicaid-eligible--but at a point when therapy is so much less 
effective. The cost of such deferral of care in both lives and health 
expenditures is enormous. So I hope that many states will elect to 
cover treatment, just as many already have for those women screened 
under the Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening program today.
  This is a milestone moment, because today we begin to move forward in 
how we address cancer--giving the HHS Secretary the authority to work 
in cooperation with the states to see that we work to see every 
American has access to screening and treatment for cancer.
  The step we are taking forward today is the product of so much work 
through the years. And this week, as cancer advocates--including Lance 
Armstrong and representatives of his foundation--press for action to 
achieve our vision of ending cancer in our lifetime, I am heartened by 
the promise before us.
  I hope my colleagues will join us in support of this legislation so 
we may soon achieve the vision of our long war on cancer.

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