[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S10018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          BREAST CANCER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ACT OF 2007

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1157, which was received 
from the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1157) to amend the Public Health Service Act 
     to authorize the Director of the National Institute of 
     Environmental Health Sciences to make grants for the 
     development and operation of research centers regarding 
     environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of 
     breast cancer.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times 
and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no 
intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 1157) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am pleased that both chambers of Congress 
passed the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act this week.
  Every year, hundreds of thousands of women in this country receive 
the diagnosis of breast cancer. Breast cancer will strike approximately 
1 in 8 American women in her lifetime, with a new case diagnosed every 
2 minutes.
  We have made remarkable progress in the area of breast cancer, but we 
still do not know what causes breast cancer. Scientists have identified 
some risk factors, but those factors help explain fewer than 30 percent 
of cases.
  The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act would help to 
establish a national strategy to study the potential links between the 
environment and breast cancer and would authorize funding for such 
research. The resulting discoveries could be critical to improving our 
knowledge of this complex illness, which could lead to new treatments 
and perhaps, one day, a cure.
  Too many women have wanted too long for this legislation to become 
law. Since former Senator Lincoln Chafee and I first introduced 
legislation in 2000, it is estimated that 2 million women have been 
diagnosed with breast cancer and almost 300,000 have died. One of these 
women, a lifelong Nevadan named Deanna Jensen, championed this 
legislation and stayed in regular contact with my staff, even while 
enduring a grueling regimen of radiation and chemotherapy. Sadly, 
Deanna Jensen lost her battle with cancer on January 7, 2007.
  Last session, I had hoped that this legislation would finally become 
a reality. It was reported out of the Senate HELP Committee, and 
despite overwhelming bipartisan support for this legislation, the 
Republican majority would not schedule floor time to consider this 
bill. On several occasions, I tried to pass this legislation by 
unanimous consent, but with every attempt, one Senator objected and 
prevented the Senate from passing this important legislation.
  This year, thanks to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions--
HELP--Committee Chairman Kennedy's leadership and that of Senators 
Clinton and Hatch, the Senate HELP Committee reported this bill 
favorably. However, the minority continued to object to our efforts to 
pass this legislation by unanimous consent. On more than one occasion, 
I proposed that we consider this legislation under a time agreement 
that would have permitted a reasonable number of germane amendments and 
a recorded vote on the bill. Those offers were also rejected, in spite 
of the fact that over two-thirds of the members of the Senate were 
cosponsors of this bill.
  Over the past several months, this legislation has been the focus of 
negotiations between the bill sponsors in both chambers and those 
members whose strong concerns have prevented this legislation from 
advancing for so long. The resulting compromise is a strong step in the 
right direction and will finally set us on the path towards obtaining a 
better understanding of the relationship between the development of 
breast cancer and the environment. I am pleased that we were able to 
pass this legislation this week and hope the President will sign it 
into law without further delay.

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