[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H13545-H13546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING SENSE OF THE HOUSE THAT THE PRESIDENT SHOULD DECLARE LUNG 
                    CANCER A PUBLIC HEALTH PRIORITY

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 335) expressing the sense of the House of 
Representatives that the President should declare lung cancer a public 
health priority and should implement a comprehensive interagency 
program to reduce the lung cancer mortality rate by at least 50 percent 
by 2015, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 335

       Whereas lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death 
     for both men and women, accounting for 28 percent of all 
     cancer deaths;
       Whereas lung cancer kills more people annually than breast 
     cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, 
     melanoma, and kidney cancer combined;
       Whereas, since the National Cancer Act of 1971 (Public Law 
     92-218; 85 Stat. 778), coordinated and comprehensive research 
     has raised the 5-year survival rates for breast cancer to 88 
     percent, for prostate cancer to 99 percent, and for colon 
     cancer to 64 percent;
       Whereas the 5-year survival rate for lung cancer is still 
     only 15 percent and a similar coordinated and comprehensive 
     research effort is required to achieve increases in lung 
     cancer survivability rates;
       Whereas 60 percent of lung cancer cases are now diagnosed 
     in nonsmokers or former smokers;
       Whereas \2/3\ of nonsmokers diagnosed with lung cancer are 
     women;
       Whereas certain minority populations, such as Black males, 
     have disproportionately high rates of lung cancer incidence 
     and mortality, notwithstanding their lower smoking rate;
       Whereas members of the baby boomer generation are entering 
     their sixties, the most common age at which people develop 
     cancer;
       Whereas tobacco addiction and exposure to other lung cancer 
     carcinogens such as Agent Orange and other herbicides and 
     battlefield emissions are serious problems among military 
     personnel and war veterans;
       Whereas the August 2001 Report of the Lung Cancer Progress 
     Review Group of the National Cancer Institute stated that 
     funding for lung cancer research was ``far below the levels 
     characterized for other common malignancies and far out of 
     proportion to its massive health impact'';
       Whereas the Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group 
     identified as its ``highest priority'' the creation of 
     integrated, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research 
     consortia organized around the problem of lung cancer rather 
     than around specific research disciplines; and
       Whereas the United States must enhance its response to the 
     issues raised in the Report of the Lung Cancer Progress 
     Review Group: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes lung cancer as a public health priority and 
     the importance of taking steps toward reducing the lung 
     cancer mortality rate by at least half by 2015;
       (2) acknowledges the importance of the recommendations of 
     the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group of the National Cancer 
     Institute;
       (3) encourages increased investment for lung cancer 
     research and other lung cancer-related programs;
       (4) supports efforts to develop a broad-based lung cancer 
     screening and disease management program among members of the 
     Armed Forces and veterans; and
       (5) recognizes the benefit of graduate medical education 
     programs in thoracic medicine and cardiothoracic surgery.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Capps) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the resolution now under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 335, and I would 
like to thank the lead cosponsors of the resolution, Ed Whitfield and 
Donna Christensen. I also wish to strongly commend the Lung Cancer 
Alliance and other organizations that have supported this resolution. I 
am so pleased

[[Page H13546]]

we could pass this resolution during Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
  House Resolution 335 calls on the President to declare lung cancer a 
public health priority and encourages a greater investment in lung 
cancer research. This could not come at a more important time.
  We have just seen newly released statistics that show, while overall 
cancer mortality rates are dropping quicker than ever, lung cancer 
mortality rates in women are actually increasing. As our Nation is 
committed to working towards the goal of eliminating all cancer deaths 
by 2015, the statistics for lung cancer are extremely disappointing.
  Mr. Speaker, lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of both men 
and women, yet we are perhaps making the least amount of progress in 
effectively treating it. We must put greater investment into prevention 
and early diagnosis of lung cancer. This is the only way to improve 
outcomes.
  One of the most effective ways to reduce lung cancer incidence is, of 
course, smoking cessation. I am proud of the remarkable achievements 
our Nation has made to encourage smokers to quit, and better yet, to 
teach people never to begin at all.
  Disappointingly, some of America's leading women's magazines don't 
share that goal. As many of you have heard and seen, they continue 
running ads for cigarettes like Camel No. 9 which are clearly targeted 
at young women.
  After years of steady decline, smoking rates have remained stagnant 
from 2004 to 2006. Launching an aggressive marketing campaign targeting 
young people is a terrible step backwards in our national efforts to 
reduce smoking. I hope this resolution today will reinforce our 
commitment to smoking cessation.
  But one of the lesser known facts of lung cancer is that 8 percent of 
men and an astonishing 20 percent of women with lung cancer have never 
smoked. I am very aware of this fact through my own personal experience 
as my daughter became one of these statistics. I think the Nation as a 
whole became more aware with more visible cases, such as Dana Reeve. It 
often takes a high-profile case to propel us into action, and I hope 
that the growing awareness and action over the past 2 years will 
continue to improve our understanding of and our ability to confront 
lung cancer.
  With a greater investment into integrated, multidisciplinary research 
organized around lung cancer, we do have a chance of reducing death. 
Let us use the opportunity of passing this resolution to reaffirm our 
shared commitment to combating lung cancer deaths, truly making it a 
public health priority for our Nation. I urge my colleagues to support 
H. Res. 335.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mrs. Capps. And I also 
want to thank Chairman Dingell and Ranking Member Barton, and others 
who have had a real hand in moving this legislation before us.
  I rise today in support of this resolution, a resolution recognizing 
the impact of lung cancer and the recent recommendations of the Lung 
Cancer Progress Review Group of the National Cancer Institute. This 
group's process is a comprehensive, collaborative, integrated approach 
to control and eliminate lung cancer. The group was tasked with making 
recommendations, strategizing, and reporting on progress made in an 
effort to control and eliminate lung cancer.

                              {time}  1400

  The group was able to identify scientific priorities and needs and 
set forth a national agenda for research on lung cancer.
  This Progress Review Group made the recommendation to foster the 
creation of scientifically integrated multi-institutional research 
consortia organized around the problem of lung cancer rather than 
around specific research disciplines. The recommendation speaks to the 
ongoing work at the NIH as well as in the private sector for cross-
cutting research. And as a Congress, it is our responsibility to endow 
these researchers to best pursue answers. This report clarifies the 
benefits of broad science. Putting disease research into silos so that, 
as so many authorizing bills often do, is not always helpful to the 
greater goal. Let's take these recommendations to pursue a multilevel, 
multidisciplinary science in an effort to find a cure for lung cancer 
or thousands of other diseases that afflict the world. Reducing the 
mortality rate of lung cancer is an objective to which we all can 
subscribe. It is our responsibility to make sure that the scientists 
have the tools and the access necessary to pursue a cure.
  So many of us here have been with someone at a bedside that is 
suffering from this awful disease, one of the worst. It is a great step 
forward that we can pass this legislation, to see the research come 
about, the funding with it, so that some day in fact we will have a 
cure to prevent this tragedy in families across the globe.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAPPS. In closing, I just want to urge our colleagues to pass 
this resolution and to press forward with the research on lung cancer. 
I do this in the name of my daughter and of Dana Reeve and other people 
whose lives have not been saved but who could be promoting others to be 
encouraged to eradicate this most deadly of cancer scourges.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pastor). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 335, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``Resolution expressing the 
sense of the House of Representatives with respect to lung cancer as a 
public health priority and the recommendations of the Lung Cancer 
Progress Review Group of the National Cancer Institute.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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