[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 133 (Friday, October 5, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECALCITRANT CANCER RESEARCH ACT OF 2012

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                               speech of

                         HON. DAVID G. REICHERT

                               washington

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 19, 2012

  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
733, the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act of 2012, and to thank the 
bill's sponsors, Representatives Eshoo and Lance for all of their work 
on this legislation.
  This bill is crucial to the search for a cure for pancreatic and 
other deadly cancers and it is important to everyone whose life has 
been touched by the deadly disease--those suffering now, survivors, and 
of course the loved ones that cancer leaves in its wake.
  This bill is a great first step to addressing some significant 
scientific challenges.
  A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is all too often a death sentence. 
It is the only major cancer that carries with it a 5 year survival rate 
of just 6 percent--a statistic that has not improved in the last 40 
years.
  Sadly, cases are projected to rise if we do nothing. It's the fourth 
leading cause of cancer-related death and there are no proven early 
detection methods. In fact, a typical narrative is that a patient feels 
not quite right. She goes in for an unrelated problem or illness, often 
difficult to diagnose. It can be weeks or months before the cause--
pancreatic cancer--is identified.
  I am all too familiar with that story. It is my mother's.
  My mother fought a brave, years-long battle with pancreatic cancer, 
ultimately succumbing to the disease last year. There is nothing that I 
wouldn't have done to help her, but there is nothing I could have done 
to save her. When she was diagnosed, as now, there were no proven early 
detection and treatment methods.
  We simply must reverse these statistics. The Recalcitrant Cancer 
Research Act will help do just that--it calls on the National Cancer 
Institute to develop a scientific framework to deal with these types of 
cancers.
  By defining a roadmap for success and creating a strategy for 
research in this area, we can begin the process of reversing the 
abysmal statistics.
  Cancer is not partisan, and neither is this bill--with over 290 
bipartisan cosponsors, I am thrilled to see this bill move forward. It 
is time to address these issues and really make a difference in 
pancreatic cancer and other resistant cancers.

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