[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 63 (Monday, April 21, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3177-S3178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              BREAST CANCER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, maybe an hour ago, my wonderful assistant 
Janice Shelton said: I have bad news. I said: What is it, Janice? Carol 
Chadburn worked for me for many years. She was my scheduler. She was a 
wonderful woman. She was so happy. She loved to have parties at her 
home

[[Page S3178]]

for staff. She came from Nevada. She was a legal secretary to my friend 
who then was an attorney and later became a justice on the Nevada 
Supreme Court for many years, 18 years. She came back here. Her husband 
was a labor leader. They moved back here from Nevada. He died within 18 
months. He was dead. He was a young man. He just dropped dead. Carol 
kept their home in Centreville. It was a long drive back and forth for 
a long time working for me. She was such a hard worker and was so 
happy.
  Many years after her husband died and her daughter returned to 
Nevada--she raised the girl here--she met a retired colonel, and they 
were married and moved to Florida. She had a wonderful--I don't know 
how many years it has been, maybe 8 years. Time goes fast. I don't know 
how long it has been.
  Janice said to me: I was going to tell you last week that she had 
breast cancer and you should give her a call. She said she died 
yesterday. I feel very bad about that. She was such a good woman and 
worked so hard and found happiness. She was not an old woman--maybe 58, 
59. I don't really know how old she was.
  Every year, hundreds of thousands of women just like Carol are 
diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer will strike approximately 
one in eight American women, and a new case is diagnosed every 2 
minutes. We have made progress in breast cancer diagnosis and 
treatment, but we still do not know the cause. We do not know the 
cause. I don't really know if Carol died from lung cancer or breast 
cancer, but I want to direct my attention today to breast cancer.
  Scientists have identified some risk factors. Those risk factors 
explain fewer than 30 percent of the cases. The Breast Cancer and 
Environmental Research Act that I started with Lincoln Chafee, a former 
Senator from Rhode Island, to establish a national strategy to study 
the possible connection between breast cancer and the environment would 
authorize funding for research.
  Many people believe these cases of breast cancer have something to do 
with the changing environment. The resulting discoveries of this 
research could be critical to improving our knowledge of this complex 
illness, which could lead to better prevention, treatment, and maybe 
even one day a cure.
  Although we first introduced this legislation in 2000, despite strong 
bipartisan support, Congress has yet to act and send this bill to 
President Bush. In the last session of Congress, the bill was reported 
out of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but one of 
our colleagues prevented final passage. This session, we worked in good 
faith to address concerns that may have been raised about this 
legislation. As a result, this legislation, the Breast Cancer and 
Environmental Research Act, was once again reported out of the HELP 
Committee and cosponsored by two-thirds of the Senators, Democrats and 
Republicans.
  It is long past time for the Senate to take up this broadly supported 
bipartisan legislation. Too many women and their families have waited 
for so long. I agree with them, they waited far too long.
  There are examples we can all give, as I talked about Carol, who died 
yesterday of cancer. In January 2007, Nevada lost a lifelong resident, 
somebody who worked so hard on this issue. Her name was Deanna Wright 
Jensen. She was a lobbyist without pay. She just thought something 
should be done. She thought something in the environment was causing 
this illness. I don't know if she was right, but we should find out. 
Many people agree with her. Scientists agree with her. Even as she was 
enduring a grueling regimen of radiation and chemotherapy, she 
continued to remind me and my staff through e-mails and letters about 
the importance of this legislation. In Deanna's words, passing the 
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act is a real opportunity for 
Congress to ``step up for women and breast cancer.'' For her, it is too 
late. She did not want others to have a similar fate.
  One person, one Senator is holding up this legislation. That is why I 
will be asking unanimous consent--I am not going to do it now. We do 
not have a Republican on the floor. But I told staff I am going to come 
back at 3:30 p.m. or thereafter. The Republicans have had adequate 
notice. I cannot make the entire Senate schedule convenient for one 
Senator who is objecting, causing this problem for all the Senate.
  It is time to offer more than words of encouragement to those 
affected by breast cancers. Our wives, sisters, mothers, daughters, and 
friends have waited far too long. I am going to come back maybe at 3:30 
p.m., maybe at 3:45 p.m., but I am going to come back and ask unanimous 
consent to take up this bill, and the Republicans are going to have to 
object to it if they are going to follow the lead of one person holding 
up this legislation.
  Why, Mr. President? Why can't we take up this bill? Why wouldn't the 
minority go along with this effort? That is my concern.

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