[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6700-H6703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPORTING DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL HEREDITARY BREAST AND OVARIAN CANCER
WEEK AND NATIONAL PREVIVOR DAY
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 1522) expressing support for designation of the
last week of September as National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer
Week and the last Wednesday of September as National Previvor Day.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1522
Whereas it is estimated that 750,000 people in the United
States carry a gene mutation that causes a predisposition to
breast and ovarian cancer;
Whereas approximately 5 to 7 percent of breast cancer and
10 to 14 percent of ovarian cancers are hereditary;
Whereas women with these mutations have up to an 84 percent
chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime;
Whereas women with a BRCA genetic mutation have up to a 50
percent lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer;
Whereas the single greatest ovarian cancer risk factor is a
family history of the disease;
Whereas hereditary cancers are often more aggressive than
other cancers and occur at a younger age, when people are
less likely to undergo cancer screening;
Whereas breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death
in women under the age of 54;
Whereas ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic
cancer death;
Whereas individuals with a hereditary risk for cancer
require different cancer screening and risk management
recommendations than the general population;
Whereas inherited BRCA genetic mutations are found in
approximately 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jews and mutations have been
found in people of every ethnic group;
Whereas more than one-third of Jewish women diagnosed with
ovarian cancer or primary peritoneal cancer at any age, or
breast cancer before age 40, carry an inherited BRCA
mutation;
Whereas African-Americans and Hispanic Americans are less
likely to have access to hereditary cancer information and
appropriate health care;
Whereas children of parents with an inherited
predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer have a 50 percent
chance of inheriting the predisposition;
Whereas among many in the cancer community, a ``previvor''
is a survivor of a predisposition (or increased risk) to
cancer;
Whereas genetic counseling and genetic testing can
determine if an individual is at high risk for breast or
ovarian cancer;
Whereas raising awareness of hereditary cancer and
knowledge of a genetic predisposition can directly lead to
preventive strategies that can reduce the chance of dying
from cancer;
Whereas the last week of September would be an appropriate
week to designate as National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian
Cancer Week; and
Whereas the last Wednesday in September would be an
appropriate date to designate as National Previvor Day: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the designation of National Hereditary Breast
and Ovarian Cancer Week; and
(2) supports the designation of National Previvor Day.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Clay) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
General Leave
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H. Res. 1522, expressing support for National
Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week and National Previvor Day.
This resolution will help to raise awareness of the risk of these
aggressive cancers.
Many Americans are at risk of developing these cancers over the
course of their lifetimes, and the risk is even greater for those who
are genetically predisposed to contract them. As the resolution notes,
hereditary cancers
[[Page H6701]]
can be more aggressive than other forms of cancer, and people may
develop them at younger ages, when they are less likely to undergo
cancer screening. If cancer is diagnosed early, chances of surviving it
can increase. I am pleased to join my colleagues to encourage early
screening.
House Resolution 1522 was introduced by our colleague, the
gentlewoman from Florida, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, on
July 15, 2010, and was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform. It comes to the floor today with the support of over
80 cosponsors. I thank the gentlewoman, and would like to note that her
tenacity in battling and surviving breast cancer should inspire all of
us to work as hard as she did to preserve our health.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting House
Resolution 1522.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this one hits close to home. I lost my mother to cancer
at a very young age, to breast cancer. My father a few months ago was
diagnosed with colon cancer. Difficult to watch and to see. But I rise
today in strong support of this House Resolution 1522, expressing
support for the designation of the last week of September as National
Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week and the last Wednesday of
September as the National Previvor Day.
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to commend my colleague from Florida
who introduced this resolution not only as a Member of Congress, but as
a cancer survivor and a previvor herself. For her courage and example,
we appreciate it. I also thank Chairman Clay for his leadership and the
ability to work together and to bring this resolution to the floor.
{time} 1140
This resolution gives this body an opportunity to raise awareness of
hereditary cancers of all kinds, informing as many people as we can of
the possibility that they or a loved one may have a genetic
predisposition for cancer that can lead to preventive strategies that
may significantly reduce the chance of an individual dying from cancer.
Even though it was before my allotted age of 50 when I was supposed
to do some screening, I recently went and got a colonoscopy. I will
spare you the details of that procedure, but I can tell you that it is
well worth it to not only have the peace of mind but to do the
responsible thing for our families and get checked for these types of
cancers that can go undetected with, really, no symptoms. I am glad I
did it, and I am grateful for the medical practices that we have in
this country to be able to do that.
Mr. Speaker, an astounding number of women in this country,
approximately one in eight, will suffer from breast cancer at some
point during their lives. This year alone, an estimated 209,000 women
will be diagnosed with the potentially deadly ailment. While the number
of deaths attributed to breast cancer has declined since 1990, roughly
40,000 women are still expected to die this year from the disease.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women under the age of
54. When my mother passed away, she was only 52 years old.
Mr. Speaker, while not as common as it is in women, let us not forget
about the men who also will suffer from breast cancer. While less than
1 percent of new breast cancer cases are found in men, this number was
still almost 2,000 in the year 2008.
Along with breast cancer, ovarian cancer poses another major medical
threat to women in this country. Each year in the United States, over
21,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and approximately 15,000
die from the disease. Ovarian cancer accounts for roughly 3 percent of
cancer diagnoses in women in the United States. It is the ninth most
common cancer among women. The greatest risk factor is family history
of the disease.
Mr. Speaker, approximately three-quarters of a million people in this
country are carriers for a gene mutation that causes a predisposition
to breast and ovarian cancer. Women that have one of these mutations
face nearly an 84 percent chance of suffering from breast cancer at
some point during their lives.
Furthermore, women who have the BRCA genetic mutation have up to a 50
percent chance of developing ovarian cancer. Roughly 5 to 7 percent of
breast cancer and 10 to 14 percent of ovarian cancer cases are
hereditary. More than one-third of Jewish women diagnosed with ovarian
or primary cancer at any age or diagnosed with breast cancer before age
40 have been found to be the carriers of the inherited BRCA mutation.
Mr. Speaker, the other purposes of this resolution is to recognize
those known as previvors. According to the nonprofit organization
FORCE, cancer previvors are ``individuals who are survivors of a
predisposition to cancer but who haven't had the disease.'' These
individuals have a known predisposition for cancer such as a family
history or hereditary genetic mutation and must live with a unique set
of emotional and medical issues. Previvors are forced to make
extraordinarily difficult medical management decisions throughout their
lives, the likes most of us will never know.
Mr. Speaker, I again commend my colleague from Florida for
introducing this resolution. I applaud her brave fight against breast
cancer and for her continued campaign to increase cancer awareness and
to combat this horrific disease.
I urge all Members to join me in strong support of House Resolution
1522, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLAY. I want to thank my colleague from Utah for promoting an
awareness of cancer screening.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the chief sponsor of this
legislation, and one of the most courageous colleagues we have because
she is a survivor, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman
Schultz).
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you, Chairman Clay, for your very kind
remarks.
Congressman Chaffetz, thank you very much for taking the lead on your
side of the aisle. Let me just express the grief that I know you felt
for the loss of your mother. I have shared that grief with so many
women since I shared my own personal story, and hopefully the
resolution that we have today will raise awareness so that we can
continue to catch more cancer earlier so that we can have more
survivors in the United States.
Let me also commiserate with you on the pre-50 experience that I had
for a colonoscopy, which wasn't any fun, but is absolutely necessary.
Thank you for mentioning that too, although we all will spare the gory
details for everyone. Suffice it to say that it's not a fun experience,
but one that is very necessary.
But I rise today to offer H. Res. 1522, expressing support for
designation of the last week of September, this year being the week of
September 26, as National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week and
the last Wednesday of September as National Previvor Day.
Of all the cancers that affect women, roughly 10 percent of cases are
caused by genetic factors. Though this percentage is relatively small,
the risk for this group, as you have just heard, is huge.
Women with hereditary risk factors for breast cancer carry an 85
percent lifetime risk of developing the disease. For ovarian cancer,
most women have about a 1.5 percent lifetime chance of developing the
disease. But for those with hereditary risk factors, that chance can be
as high as 50 percent, and as I learned almost 3 years ago, I am one of
those women.
Together with my colleagues and inspirational organizations,
including Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, or FORCE; Bright Pink;
and the Young Survival Coalition, this resolution gives a voice to
these women and brings awareness to the risks of hereditary cancer and,
as I have said many times and as so many of my colleagues have said on
the floor many times, knowledge is power.
Hereditary cancer syndrome describes an inherited gene mutation that
increases the risk for one or more types of cancer. The main hereditary
breast and ovarian syndromes are caused by mutations in one of two
genes, BRCA1 or BRCA2--I am a BRCA2 carrier--which substantially
increase the risk for breast and ovarian
[[Page H6702]]
cancer and slightly increase the risk for other kinds of cancers.
For women with a hereditary risk of cancer, it often strikes at an
earlier age when they are less likely to expect it, but when the cancer
is often more aggressive and more deadly. These young women with a
heightened genetic risk are known as previvors, individuals who are
survivors of a predisposition to cancer, but who haven't yet had the
disease.
I was 41 when I discovered that I had breast cancer. Because my
cancer was discovered so early, I may have only needed minimal
treatment. However, as an Ashkenazi Jewish woman, as a woman of Eastern
European Jewish descent, I was at a higher risk of carrying a BRCA
mutation, and my early cancer set off warning bells for my doctors.
At the time, I did not know of my increased risk for carrying the
BRCA gene mutation, but I was fortunate that once diagnosed with breast
cancer, I had access to experts that helped me learn more about what
the BRCA gene mutation meant for me. Genetic testing confirmed the
worst. Unfortunately, I had hereditary cancer which dramatically
increased my chances of a recurrence of breast cancer and getting
ovarian cancer as well. Facing my disease, I have become both a
survivor and a previvor.
As a mother of three beautiful children, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to
make sure that I would be around to see them grow up. I faced tough
choices, but seven major surgeries later, I have dramatically reduced
the chances that my own cancer will come back.
Fortunately, there are organizations like FORCE, Bright Pink and the
Young Survival Coalition that support young women as previvors and as
survivors of cancer. These organizations bring essential awareness to
these issues and help women at risk by providing the information,
support and the voice they need to help survive their hereditary risk.
As I said before, knowledge is power.
It is also why, with the help of 377 cosponsors in the House, I filed
the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act,
known as the EARLY Act, to bring this message of knowledge and
awareness to the forefront of the story about cancer. I am proud that
the EARLY Act is now the law of the land.
With the odds stacked against them, young previvors need to know
their risks. It is our responsibility to empower these women to know
their bodies, speak up about their health, and work together to wipe
out these deadly diseases.
I believe this resolution will help in that effort. National Previvor
Day and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week, which bridges
September's Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and October's Breast Cancer
Awareness Month, will bring added public awareness to the risks for
genetic cancers. I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in support
of H. Res. 1522.
Mr. Speaker, let me just add, before I close, that I am thrilled to
see that our colleague from Connecticut, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro,
who is an ovarian cancer survivor, has joined us on the floor in
support of this resolution.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I don't believe we have any additional
speakers.
I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 2 minutes
to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kilroy).
{time} 1150
Ms. KILROY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1522, which
expresses support for the designation of National Hereditary Breast and
Ovarian Cancer Week and National Previvor Day. I'm proud to be a
cosponsor of this resolution which will raise critical awareness about
hereditary cancers and increase knowledge about genetic predispositions
which may put some individuals at particular risk.
And just as an aside, I just want to take note that when we passed
our health care bill, we made it much more likely that people will get
the information to find out about whether they have a genetic
predisposition. Without that health care bill which would prohibit
discrimination on the basis of an existing condition, many women and
men would be afraid to learn more about their genetic histories. But
this is critically important information about how you would be able to
address certain signs and symptoms and heighten awareness about your
particular situation.
We all know someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, and we
understand the devastating impact that the diagnosis can have on
patients and loved ones. I have been through it with my family, with a
very close person in my family with respect to ovarian cancer, and my
husband's young cousin is struggling with breast cancer right now. One
in two men and one in three women will develop cancer in their
lifetime, and in 2010 alone, nearly 1.5 million Americans will be
diagnosed with cancer.
Although we have made great strides in recent years in finding new
treatments, we must support efforts to find the genetic mutations that
increase the likelihood that some people will develop cancer in their
lifetimes. We need to work on cures. We need to work on treatments. But
finding causes is critically important as well.
We also must encourage everyone to know as much as they can about
their own family histories so they can work with their physicians and
get the necessary and timely screenings as early as possible.
Hereditary cancer can strike at a younger age.
I appreciate this opportunity, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Connecticut.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of declaring the last
week of September to be National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer
Week and the last Wednesday of September to be National Previvor Day.
I want to thank my colleagues who have spoken this morning and all of
whom have dealt in some way with the issue of breast cancer, ovarian
cancer, or maybe some other form of cancer. It is probably the worst
day of your life when you are given a cancer diagnosis. You are not
listening to what any doctor says. You are only consumed with
understanding whether or not you are going to live or die or what is
going to happen to your family if such a death should occur.
After heart disease, cancer is still the second-leading cause of
death in America, and breast cancer the most common cancer diagnosis.
In 2006, over 40,000 women died from this disease. Ovarian cancer,
meanwhile, is the fifth most common cancer among women. Close to 14,000
of our friends and family are expected to perish from ovarian cancer
this year.
Perhaps the saddest thing about these grim numbers is that some of
these deaths are readily preventable. Thanks to modern science, we now
know much more about the genetic and hereditary precursors of these
cancers and can identify the women most at risk, the previvors that are
predisposed to develop them. We also know that women who catch their
ovarian cancer at an earlier stage are over three times more likely to
survive the disease than those who do not. Sadly, over 60 percent of
the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer between 1999 and 2006 fell into
this latter category.
Similarly, women diagnosed with breast cancer early are more than
four times more likely to survive the disease than women diagnosed at a
later stage. And yet one in five women over age 50 have not had a
mammogram in the past 2 years.
We have worked to address these troubling statistics with the
preventive care reforms in the Affordable Care Act. But there is no
substitute for awareness, and that is why I strongly support this
resolution and encourage all women, and particularly previvors with a
genetic predisposition for those cancers, to get tested early and get
tested often.
Twenty-four years ago, it was an early diagnosis of ovarian cancer
that saved my life. It was accidental. It should not be accidental.
People should not survive by accident.
It is so critically important that this resolution pass. We can save.
We can save women, and we save women and we save their families. And I
urge my colleagues. I was lucky. My life was given back to me and gave
me a second chance. Let's give our families, the women in this country,
a first chance and a second chance to survive. I urge my colleagues to
support this resolution.
[[Page H6703]]
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I urge us all to support and pass this
important resolution. This is something that should truly unite us in
this fight. We continue to build awareness and encourage people to get
checked. And our hearts and prayers go out to those loved ones who are
suffering from this, but there is great hope.
I urge my colleagues to get behind this resolution, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to thank my colleagues--the
gentlewomen from Florida, Ohio, and Connecticut--for lending their
voice to this issue and raising the level of awareness throughout this
country as far as the dreaded disease of cancer is concerned.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1522.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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