[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 139 (Wednesday, September 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9952-S9953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH

  Mr. BROWN. On August 6, Alexa Brown, an 11-year-old from Clyde, OH, 
died of brain cancer. Alexa was an active, happy, and beautiful little 
girl. Her courage in the face of such tragic circumstances was 
inspiring.
  Unfortunately, Alexa's battle with cancer is not an isolated case. 
Cancer is the No. 1 cause of nonaccidental death in children. It is 
responsible for more deaths from ages 1 to 19 than asthma and cystic 
fibrosis and AIDS combined.
  In northwest Ohio and the area around Clyde, 19 other children have 
been diagnosed with a form of invasive cancer in the last decade. 
Public health officials are trying to get to the bottom of the 
environmental origins of this cancer cluster, as it is called, but in 
too many cases we simply don't know enough about the disease to reach 
any definitive conclusions.
  It is this lack of knowledge and it is heartbreaking stories such as 
that of Alexa Brown that persuaded us in Congress to unanimously pass 
the Caroline Price Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act last year. That 
bill, named after former Ohio Representative Deborah Pryce's 9-year-old 
daughter who died of cancer, established a national patient registry 
for pediatric cancer patients at the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention as well as authorized additional funding for pediatric 
cancer research at the National Institutes of Health. After passing 
that bill, it may have been tempting to just claim victory, but today, 
14 months later, there is still much to be done to fully realize the 
goals of that legislation.
  The Senate version of the Labor, Health and Human Services 
appropriations bill does not yet include the direct funding authorized 
by the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act. The House 
bill does. That is why today, on the last day of Childhood Cancer 
Awareness Month, Senator Voinovich and I sent a letter to appropriators 
urging that the final Labor-HHS package include $10 million 
specifically--specifically--for pediatric cancer research.

[[Page S9953]]

  Currently, the National Cancer Institute spends less than 4 percent 
of its budget on pediatric cancer. An extra $10 million would boost 
that percentage and help our effort to get to the bottom of this deadly 
problem. It would give hope to those in Clyde, OH, and northwest Ohio 
and across my State and across this great country who have seen 
cancer's destruction firsthand.
  I had a chance to meet with Alexa's family just a few days after 
their daughter passed away. You can imagine, it was a very emotional 
time for them and for their neighbors and for their friends at church 
and for their friends throughout Clyde and that part of the State. But 
even in their state of mourning, Alexa's mom and dad stressed the 
importance of making sure other families don't have to go through the 
same thing. I think our colleagues couldn't agree more.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

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