[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              BREAST CANCER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ACT

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                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 5, 2007

  Mr. CAPUANO. Madam Speaker, more than three million American women 
are currently living with breast cancer. The American Cancer Society 
estimates that this year, approximately 179,000 new cases of breast 
cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States and that 
41,000 women will die from the disease. According to the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH), breast cancer will affect one in eight 
women over the course of their lifetime. Although important advances 
have been made in screening for and treating breast cancer, we still do 
not know what causes this disease, or how to prevent it.
  There is currently a dearth of studies providing conclusive evidence 
regarding the effects of environmental factors such as pesticides and 
other toxins on the development of breast cancer. Further study of 
these and many other factors, suspected of playing a role but not yet 
comprehensively examined, could be invaluable in helping to prevent 
breast cancer.
  Many of us have voiced our support for this critical research by co-
sponsoring the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act over 
several Congresses. The legislation, H.R. 1157 in the 110th Congress, 
would authorize $40 million a year for five years for the National 
Institutes of Health to make grants on a competitive, peer-reviewed 
basis, for the creation of multi-disciplinary Breast Cancer and 
Environmental Research Centers of Excellence. The Centers would be the 
first federally funded entities established specifically to study the 
potential links between breast cancer and the environment. The Centers 
would be required to collaborate with community organizations such as 
those representing women with breast cancer.
  Breast cancer is a disease that has unfortunately touched the lives 
of almost every family in our country. Those of us who have supported 
programs such as the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early 
Detection Program and the DOD Breast Cancer Research program must be 
equally willing to support efforts to uncover the causes of this 
terrible disease. H.R. 1157 is an important piece of legislation and I 
urge my colleagues to support it.

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