[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 21, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4564-S4565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SENATOR KENNEDY AND THE WAR ON CANCER

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, in about 20 minutes, I know we are 
going to turn pay tribute to Lyndon Baines Johnson. This is LBJ Day in 
the Capitol, and there are many speeches that will be made, there are 
many celebrations, there is a huge reunion of the LBJ family and his 
former staff people and supporters and Cabinet officers, and I am going 
to speak in that designated hour. But right now, in morning business, I 
would like to speak about another great Senator. I wish to speak about 
my colleague, Senator Ted Kennedy.
  We all know we got a shock yesterday; that Senator Kennedy has been 
diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, and he has just been released 
from the hospital. We are all so grateful he has been able to go to the 
comfort of his own home with his family as they are deciding how the 
treatment will go forward. But I wish to take a moment to talk about 
something we have been working on together.
  If I could think of one word for Senator Ted Kennedy, it would be 
``fighter.'' He is a fighter for the causes in which he believes. In 
his 46 years as a Senator, he has fought on behalf of the American 
people, waging so many battles to advance the causes of justice, 
opportunity, and peace. Now, he is set to wage the greatest fight of 
his life, and in that fight he has the support and prayers of all his 
colleagues and all the American people.
  Senator Kennedy's startling diagnosis comes the week after he and I 
announced our commitment to renew the war on cancer. For the last 
several months, Senator Kennedy and I have been working on a bill to 
evaluate our progress on cancer research and treatment, address our 
shortcomings, and renew our commitment to eradicating this disease. 
There is no other person I would rather be working with on this 
initiative--now more than ever.

  Senator Kennedy's diagnosis is such a poignant reminder that the 
battle has not been won. On May 8, the committee he chairs--the Senate 
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee--held a hearing to 
discuss the Kennedy-Hutchison bill. Advocates and survivors of cancer 
such as Lance Armstrong and Elizabeth Edwards spoke about the need for 
progress and reform in all areas of cancer research and treatment. In 
the 37 years since the national declaration of the war on cancer, the 
age-adjusted mortality rate for cancer is still very high. When it is 
compared to the mortality rates of other chronic diseases, it is 
extraordinarily high. While there have been substantial achievements 
since the crusade began, we are far from winning this war. Let's look 
at the statistics.
  Today, one out of two men and one out of three women will develop 
cancer in their lifetime. In my home State of Texas, approximately 
96,000 people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer and 35,000 are 
expected to die of cancer in 2008 alone. The NIH, the National 
Institutes of Health, estimates the overall cost of cancer to our 
Nation in 2007 was $219 billion.
  These grim statistics should not belie the wealth of knowledge we 
have gained over the years, but it is time for legislation to address 
the shortcomings in the structure of cancer research and treatment. 
Senator Kennedy and I are leading the effort to renew our war on 
cancer. We want to continue our search for cures, more effective 
treatments, and better preventive measures. The cancer community must 
embrace a coordinated assault against this disease. We must start 
looking at more cooperative efforts that focus on the big picture. The 
bill Senator Kennedy and I will introduce is targeted at the following: 
removing barriers currently hindering our progress in cancer research 
and treatment; improving access to early detection measures and cancer 
care; reducing disparities in cancer treatment; increasing enrollment 
in clinical trials--this is a very important part that I think is one 
of the keys we are missing; and encouraging additional opportunities 
for cancer research and more cooperative cancer research.
  Our bill will encourage the movement of medications and treatment 
from the laboratory to the bedside more quickly. It is time we started 
sharing more information. There is great research being done at many of 
our institutions--some in my home State of Texas and some in his home 
State of Massachusetts are the very best; in Maryland at Johns Hopkins; 
in Minnesota. We have wonderful research institutions. But we are not 
sharing the information enough. We need to

[[Page S4565]]

make sure this is a wholesale war and we are all in the same army, that 
we are marching in the same direction, and that we are coordinated in 
doing that.
  As Senator Kennedy wages his own personal war on this dreaded 
disease, he will also be leading America's war on cancer with the 
Kennedy-Hutchison bill that we will introduce in the Senate. So many 
times Senator Kennedy has been the voice for the American people. He 
will truly be the voice for this bill to renew the war on cancer at 
this very difficult time in his life.
  I know he is going to be standing on this floor, he is going to be 
negotiating this bill, he is going to be relentless in making sure it 
goes through with bipartisan support. We will work with the President--
he will work with this President--because I have seen how he has worked 
with President Bush to further public education.
  Senator Kennedy and I are going to renew the war on cancer with a new 
vigor and we are going to do it together, and he is going to pass this 
legislation. I know he will be by my side in his fight and in his fight 
for the American people. We are going to support him at this time in 
every possible way.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I intend to speak about Senator 
Kennedy at a later time in more depth. Certainly there have been a lot 
of Senators who have said a quiet little prayer for the complete 
recovery of Senator Kennedy that would include other colleagues, some 
of whom we do not even know about. Certainly we know about the 
recurrence of the cancer in the Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Specter. 
We certainly know of the physical health challenges the President pro 
tempore, Senator Byrd, is going through. Since this is a Senate family, 
perhaps the world at large doesn't understand that political 
differences, just as in a real family, can keep people separated. But 
when there is a time of need and healing, the family comes together. 
That is certainly the case in what we feel about Senator Kennedy, 
Senator Specter, Senator Byrd. But I will be speaking about that later.

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