[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 129 (Thursday, September 26, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PANCREATIC CANCER RESEARCH

  (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I recently met with a passionate group of 
constituents from Rhode Island who told me of their family's struggle 
with pancreatic cancer. In particular, Katie Boucher recently recounted 
the story of her mother, Marie Boucher, who was diagnosed in 2008 and 
passed away just a year later in 2009 at the age of 59.
  Her story resonated with me not only because my own grandfather 
battled pancreatic cancer and ultimately passed away from the disease, 
but because an estimated 45,000 people were diagnosed with this illness 
in 2013 alone.
  Despite great advances in medical science, we are still woefully 
behind the mark when it comes to pancreatic cancer. To make matters 
worse, the budgetary impacts of sequestration are forcing cutbacks at 
the National Institutes of Health, which is responsible for funding 
much of the biomedical research across the country. Mr. Speaker, we can 
achieve deficit reduction without sacrificing the vital research that 
not only drives better health outcomes, but also drives our local 
economy.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in urging stronger 
funding for NIH and a stronger focus on biomedical research, not just 
for Marie Boucher and her daughter, but for the thousands of people who 
are fighting for their lives in every single district across the 
country.

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