[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 185 (Tuesday, October 27, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE RESOLUTION EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION 
 OF THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2020 AS ``PANCREATIC CANCER AWARENESS MONTH''

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                           HON. ANDRE CARSON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 27, 2020

  Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce a 
resolution today with my colleague from California and Chairwoman of 
the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, 
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. Our resolution raises awareness about 
pancreatic cancer and the importance of increased Congressional funding 
for research by expressing support for the designation of the month of 
November 2020 as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. I am also pleased 
that our colleague in the Senate, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode 
Island, has introduced a Senate companion to this resolution. I am 
grateful for Congresswoman Eshoo and Senator Whitehouse's leadership in 
helping to combat pancreatic cancer.
  This year alone, pancreatic cancer has killed two American icons: our 
colleague Congressman John Lewis and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader 
Ginsburg. Pancreatic cancer recently killed baseball legend Bob Gibson, 
and it continues to sicken thousands of Americans fighting every day to 
survive this disease. This includes our colleague, Congressman Alcee 
Hastings, who is currently fighting a courageous battle against this 
horrible cancer. Accurately described as a silent killer, this disease 
does not have an early detection test, so unfortunately, by year's end, 
pancreatic cancer will have killed an estimated 47,050 Americans and is 
the third largest cause of cancer-related death in our county. As 
COVID-19 continues to rob us of more than 222,000 of our fellow 
Americans, pancreatic cancer continues to devastate thousands of 
American families and communities. In my home state of Indiana, nearly 
1,000 Hoosiers will be killed by pancreatic cancer by year's end, and 
almost 2,000 Hoosiers will be newly diagnosed with this terrible 
disease. Nationwide, an additional 57,600 Americans will be diagnosed 
with pancreatic cancer this year.
  These horrific statistics highlight how few tools exist to detect 
this disease and, as a result, the immense pain and suffering it 
causes. Alarmingly, pancreatic cancer still has no early detection test 
to quickly and accurately determine the presence of this cancer. As a 
result, it is very difficult to detect this cancer before it has 
advanced to later--and more deadly--stages. Tragically, sixty-six 
percent of pancreatic cancer patients live less than one year following 
their diagnosis, This was the case for our colleague Congressman John 
Lewis, who was killed by pancreatic cancer less than a year following 
his diagnosis.
  The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted how longstanding health 
disparities and lack of access to care results in dispropottionate 
numbers of infections and deaths from this virus in communities of 
color. Sadly, the same is true with pancreatic cancer. The incidence 
rate for pancreatic cancer among Black Americans is twenty percent 
higher than that of any other racial demographic and the death rate is 
seventeen percent higher for Black men than for white men. In this way, 
the lack of pancreatic cancer early detection research accelerates the 
racial inequities in our health care system, with devastating 
consequences for minorities.
  To help detect pancreatic cancer earlier and to help address racial 
inequities, the 116th Congress has a unique opportunity to make 
historic investments in pancreatic cancer research at the Department of 
Defense (DoD). Congress can do this by enacting the $15 million in 
pancreatic cancer research funding--first introduced through my 
amendment with Congresswoman Eshoo--and then passed by the full House. 
Within this research funding, DoD will include early detection research 
as a major funding priority to help more patients detect this deadly 
disease early. In fact, if diagnosed early, the five-year survival rate 
for pancreatic cancer patients is above 80%. However, our provisions 
have not yet passed the Senate, and current pancreatic cancer research 
funding remains at a fraction of the level that our fellow Americans 
struggling with this disease deserve. That's why it is so critical that 
we raise awareness about how deadly and destructive this cancer is to 
our American family, and why increasing pancreatic cancer research is 
critical to lowering this disease's deadliness.
  Moreover, at a time when our country is having a national 
conversation about the deep disparities in access to health care for 
Black and Brown people during the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress must do 
everything within our power to improve health outcomes through research 
and treatment, and that includes pancreatic cancer. And in order to 
ensure that we improve outcomes, we need to raise awareness with the 
American public and our colleagues in Congress about just how deadly 
this cancer is and why we need to find early detection tools, effective 
treatments and reduce this disease's disproportionate impact on 
communities of color.
  I urge my colleagues in the House to support this resolution, and I 
urge my colleagues in the Senate to support our companion resolution 
introduced by Senator Whitehouse.

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