[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 149 (Tuesday, December 9, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8889-H8891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EARLY ACT REAUTHORIZATION OF 2014
Mrs. ELMERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 5185) to reauthorize the Young Women's Breast Health
Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act of 2009, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5185
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``EARLY Act Reauthorization of
2014''.
SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE YOUNG WOMEN'S BREAST HEALTH
EDUCATION AND AWARENESS REQUIRES LEARNING YOUNG
ACT OF 2009.
Section 399NN(h) of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 280m(h)) is amended by striking ``$9,000,000 for each
of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014'' and inserting
``$4,900,000 for each of fiscal years 2015 through 2019''.
SEC. 3. GAO REPORT ON HHS ACTIVITIES TO PROVIDE BREAST CANCER
EDUCATION.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall
submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a
report--
(1) listing and detailing the activities of the Department
of Health and Human Services that provide or support breast
cancer education described in subsection (a), (b), (c), or
(d) of section 399NN of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 280m); and
(2) identifying any such activities that are duplicative
with each other or with other Federal breast cancer education
efforts.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
North Carolina (Mrs. Ellmers) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene
Green) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from North Carolina.
General Leave
Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from North Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Upton), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce
Committee.
Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon in strong support of
H.R. 5185, the EARLY Act. This very important bipartisan bill would
reauthorize education and outreach programs at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention created to highlight the breast cancer risks
facing young women.
Breast cancer, as we know, is an issue that hits close to home for
many Americans. While most breast cancers are found in women who are
over 50 years old or older, about 11 percent of all new cases of breast
cancer in the U.S. are found in women 45 and younger. And while
diagnosis and treatment are difficult for women of any age, young
survivors often find it even more challenging.
This bill would reauthorize the important programs created in the
EARLY Act, first passed to increase an understanding of breast cancer
among young women by conducting prevention research and a campaign to
raise awareness among the public and medical providers about early
cases of breast cancer.
This bill continues to improve the health and quality of life of
young breast cancer survivors and young women who are at a higher risk
of getting the disease.
I want to particularly thank the two authors of the bill,
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, herself a breast cancer
survivor, and Energy and Commerce Committee member Renee Ellmers, who
is managing the bill this afternoon. I am so proud to support this
effort.
The prevention, treatment, and ultimately curing of diseases requires
an all-hands-on-deck effort to not only educate but also innovate on
new cures and treatments.
Early this year, the Energy and Commerce Committee embarked on the
21st Century Cures initiative with a goal of finding cures and
treatments for thousands without one, including this terrible disease.
{time} 1400
Sadly, we have all been touched in some manner by cancer or some
other disease, whether it is a personal diagnosis or a courageous fight
by a loved one. We have been encouraged and humbled by the support that
we have seen for this initiative, but also understand that there is a
great deal of work ahead. We look forward to meeting that challenge,
and this bill helps us.
I would urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Again, I
particularly want to commend the two gentleladies who will be speaking
here this afternoon and urge all my colleagues to vote for it, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to our
colleague from Florida, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the
Democratic sponsor of this legislation.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R.
5185, the reauthorization of the Breast Health Education and Awareness
Requires Learning Young Act, or the EARLY Act.
The EARLY Act, which I first introduced in 2009 with my good friend
and former colleague Sue Myrick of North Carolina, was cosponsored by a
humbling 378 Members of the House and became law in 2010.
This law, which has been capably implemented by the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, must now be reauthorized so we can
ensure the good work being done by the CDC can continue.
I am very thankful to my good friend, Congresswoman Renee Ellmers,
for leading the reauthorization effort with me this year. I also deeply
appreciate the support and assistance of Chairman Fred Upton and
Ranking Member Frank Pallone in helping bring this reauthorization bill
to the floor today. It would not have happened without their
willingness and their support.
Lastly, but certainly not least, thank you to Senators Amy Klobuchar
and David Vitter for sponsoring the Senate version of this important
reauthorization bill.
The EARLY Act focuses, Mr. Speaker, on a central tenet, that we must
empower young women to understand their bodies and speak up for their
health. Too many women and their health practitioners think that breast
[[Page H8890]]
cancer is not something that happens to younger women, but the hard
truth is that more than 26,000 women under age 45 are diagnosed with
this deadly disease each year, and too often, their breast cancer is a
more aggressive form and is caught later than it should be.
The EARLY Act created a crucial education and outreach campaign
administered by the CDC and highlights the breast cancer risks facing
young women while empowering them with the tools they need to fight
this deadly disease.
It is also designed to help education and sensitize healthcare
providers about the specific threats and warning signs of breast cancer
in younger women that lead to early detection, diagnosis, and survival.
The EARLY Act also created the Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in
Young Women within the CDC, made up of breast cancer medical
professionals and advocates from around the Nation. The advisory
committee is hard at work developing evidence-based messages for groups
at high risk, from genetic testing to fertility preservation and the
basics of insurance coverage.
The CDC is rolling out a number of targeted media outreach strategies
to reach specific groups of young women who are more at risk for
developing breast cancer.
Understanding these risks is critical, Mr. Speaker, because the
statistics are sobering. One in eight women we know will get breast
cancer in her lifetime. Breast cancer strikes women from all
backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. It strikes the rich and the poor,
those with access to quality health care and those with little or no
health care.
I was a young woman at high risk, but I didn't know it. Just months
after a clean mammogram in late 2007--I know my colleagues here have
heard me tell my story--I heard those terrible words, ``You have breast
cancer.''
Thinking of my children and their future, I underwent seven
surgeries, including a double mastectomy, and for as much as I thought
I knew as an advocate in the fight against breast cancer throughout my
legislative career, there was so much I didn't know.
I did not know that as an Ashkenazi Jew, I was five times more likely
to have a genetic mutation that drastically increased the likelihood of
getting breast or ovarian cancer. I did not know that I am in fact a
carrier of the BRCA gene, which gave me up to an 85 percent lifetime
chance of getting breast cancer and up to a 60 percent chance of
getting ovarian cancer.
I was fortunate that I had the resources I needed to learn about my
risks and got the help I needed, but I didn't find my tumor through
luck, Mr. Speaker. I found it through knowledge and awareness, which is
what the EARLY Act has been able to give so many young women.
After I was diagnosed with breast cancer and experienced the
importance of early detection firsthand, I knew that I had to introduce
legislation to help other young women facing this terrible disease.
In the first few years of this law, the CDC has already accomplished
incredible work: identifying where the gaps exist in education and
awareness among young women and healthcare providers about breast
health; supporting young survivors through grants to organizations
focused on helping these survivors cope with the many unique challenges
that they face as young survivors, including fertility preservation and
long-term survivorship challenges; and in implementing a targeted media
campaign, including innovative social media efforts to reach women at
the highest risk.
The EARLY Act has also supported specific statewide initiatives. In
Georgia, the State established a statewide breast cancer genetics
services network for referrals of women at high risk and to help
collect baseline and post-implementation data.
In 2012, Michigan distributed over 14,000 Michigan Department of
Community Health cancer family history guides to assist providers in
identifying high-risk patients for referral to genetic specialists.
In addition to the 30 bipartisan cosponsors here in the House, the
reauthorization of the EARLY Act has the support of the Susan G. Komen
foundation, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network,
Livestrong Foundation, Young Survival Coalition, Living Beyond Breast
Cancer, Cancer Support Community, FORCE, the Black Women's Health
Imperative, and the Tigerlily Foundation.
I know these groups have a deep understanding of both the amazing
work we have accomplished so far but also the challenges that lie
ahead. We must continue these important efforts and empower more women
with the knowledge and tools they need to fight this disease, not just
to survive, but to thrive. Together, we can save more of our moms,
sisters, grandmothers, daughters, and sister friends.
Please help us keep up the momentum and stand with Congresswoman
Ellmers and myself and countless young women in support of
reauthorization of the EARLY Act.
Mr. Speaker, if I might add, on Sunday, I marked a celebration of 7
years as a survivor of breast cancer, so this is particularly poignant
and significant, and I am so appreciative of the leadership of the
House on both sides of the aisle for giving this bill the full
attention that it needs and deserves.
Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that I am so proud and honored to
have been asked to join with my good friend, Debbie Wasserman Schultz
from Florida, as an original cosponsor on this very important
bipartisan EARLY Act and thrilled to see this reauthorization
considered in the House of Representatives.
The EARLY Act has a proven record of success, saving countless lives
through both preventive and early detection measures. Unfortunately,
like many good friends like my friend from Florida, they were stricken
with an awful cancer.
There are still far too many courageous women fighting this disease,
including a dear friend of mine back home in Dunn, Fonnie Godwin.
Fonnie was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 42, and 4 years
later, she continues her courageous fight against this disease.
The EARLY Act will serve to shed light on this disease and give hope
to all women like Fonnie who are still fighting this awful, awful
cancer. This legislation ensures that all women, young and old, have
the information and resources necessary to protect themselves and also
supports those who are in remission.
This legislation will continue its important work of educating future
generations on the risks associated with this disease. I look forward
to seeing the EARLY Act pass this House and advance on to the Senate
today.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as
I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5185, the EARLY Act
Reauthorization of 2014. According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, over 220,000 women and 2,000 men were diagnosed with
breast cancer in 2011, making breast cancer the most common cancer
among women. Approximately 11 percent of the new breast cancer cases
occur in women under 45 years of age.
Young women who have close relatives diagnosed with breast cancer
before age 45, have changes in certain breast cancer genes, were
treated with radiation therapy to the breast or the chest as a child or
a young adult, or possess certain other risk factors may be at higher
risk for getting breast cancer at a young age.
The EARLY Act was first signed into law in 2010 to improve young
women's breast health awareness and assist young women diagnosed with
breast cancer. The act has supported public health research on breast
cancer in young women, communication and education initiatives, and
support services to young breast cancer survivors and their families.
Mr. Speaker, today's legislation reauthorizes the EARLY Act at
currently appropriated funding levels and requires a study to identify
any activities under the act that are duplicative of other Federal
breast cancer education efforts.
I want to acknowledge Representatives Wasserman Schultz and Ellmers
for their work on this issue and also thank leaders and staff on the
Energy and Commerce Committee for helping to bring H.R. 5185 to the
floor today.
[[Page H8891]]
I urge colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. Breast
cancer is an issue that has touched almost every family I know, and
this is one way Congress can react to it.
Mr. Speaker, we are ready to close, and we have no other speakers.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, we are ready to close.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I just want to say again thank you to my good friend for allowing me
to be a part of this. I know how important it is to her and, again,
thousands and thousands like her; and, again, to my friend Fonnie
Godwin back home, Fonnie has touched so many lives. She is a teacher,
she is a wife and a mother, and she is involved in her church and her
community.
On Christmas Eve, she will be at First Presbyterian Church in Dunn
playing the bells in the choir. I always see a smile on Fonnie's face,
and today, I want to make that smile even bigger.
Again, Mr. Speaker, thank you so much for allowing this to move
forward today, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fleischmann). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Ellmers)
that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5185, as
amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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