[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 197 (Friday, November 12, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1228]
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 2021 AS ``PANCREATIC CANCER AWARENESS MONTH''

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                           HON. ANDRE CARSON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 12, 2021

  Mr. CARSON. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce a bipartisan 
resolution today with my colleagues, Representatives Eshoo, McKinley, 
and McClain. 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 2021 as 
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. I am grateful for Representatives 
Eshoo, McKinley, and McClain's leadership in helping to combat 
pancreatic cancer.
  Recently, pancreatic cancer has killed three American icons: 
Congressman John Lewis, Congressman Alcee Hastings, and Supreme Court 
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 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 
country. As COVID-19 continues to rob us 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 60,430 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, 72 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 disproportionate 
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 117th Congress has a unique opportunity to make 
historic investments in pancreatic cancer research at the Department of 
Defense (DoD). Congress can do this by increasing funding to pancreatic 
cancer research. Within this research funding, DoD should include early 
detection research as a major funding priority to help more patients 
detect this deadly disease early. In fact, if diagnosed early, the 5-
year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients is above 80 percent. 
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.

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