[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 26, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S4470]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NATIONAL BRAIN TUMOR AWARENESS MONTH

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Judiciary 
Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate 
proceed to S. Res. 537.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 537) designating May 2010 as 
     ``National Brain Tumor Awareness Month.''

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be 
agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be 
laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 537) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 537

       Whereas 62,000 Americans are diagnosed with a primary brain 
     tumor each year and 150,000 more are diagnosed with a 
     metastatic brain tumor that results from cancer spreading 
     from another part of the body to the brain;
       Whereas brain tumors are the leading cause of death from 
     solid tumors in children under the age of 20 and are the 
     third leading cause of death from cancer in young adults ages 
     between the ages of 20 and 39;
       Whereas brain tumors may be malignant or benign, but can be 
     life-threatening in either case;
       Whereas 612,000 Americans have been diagnosed and are 
     living with a brain tumor;
       Whereas the treatment of brain tumors is complicated by the 
     fact that more than 120 different types of brain tumors 
     exist;
       Whereas the treatment of brain tumors presents significant 
     challenges because of--
       (1) the location of brain tumors in an enclosed bony canal;
       (2) the difficulty of delivering treatment across the 
     blood-brain barrier;
       (3) the obstacles to complete surgical removal of the 
     tumors; and
       (4) the serious edema that results when the blood-brain 
     barrier is disrupted;
       Whereas brain tumors have been described as a disease that 
     affects the essence of ``self'';
       Whereas brain tumor research is supported by a number of 
     private nonprofit research foundations and by institutes at 
     the National Institutes of Health, including the National 
     Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Neurological 
     Disorders and Stroke;
       Whereas important advances have been made in understanding 
     brain tumors, including the genetic characterization of 
     glioblastoma multiforme, 1 of the deadliest forms of brain 
     tumor;
       Whereas advances in basic research may fuel the research 
     and development of new treatments;
       Whereas daunting obstacles still remain to the development 
     of new treatments, and no strategies for the screening or 
     early detection of brain tumors exist;
       Whereas a need for greater public awareness of brain tumors 
     exists, including awareness of the difficulties associated 
     with research on brain tumors and the opportunities for 
     advances in brain tumor research and treatment; and
       Whereas May, when brain tumor advocates nationwide unite in 
     awareness, outreach, and advocacy activities, would be an 
     appropriate month to recognize as National Brain Tumor 
     Awareness Month: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates May 2010 as ``National Brain Tumor Awareness 
     Month'';
       (2) encourages increased awareness of brain tumors to honor 
     those individuals who have lost their lives to brain tumors, 
     as well as those individuals who are living with brain 
     tumors;
       (3) supports efforts to develop better treatments for brain 
     tumors that will improve the quality of life and their long-
     term prognosis of those individuals diagnosed with a brain 
     tumor;
       (4) expresses the support of the Senate for those 
     individuals who are battling brain tumors, as well as the 
     families, friends, and caregivers of those individuals; and
       (5) urges a collaborative public-private approach to brain 
     tumor research as the best means of advancing basic knowledge 
     of, and treatments for, brain tumors.

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