[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 158 (Thursday, September 28, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E907-E908]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 27, 2023

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the Jackson Lee 
Amendment No. 90 to H.R. 4365--the Department of Defense Appropriations 
Act, 2024.
  I want to thank my colleagues on the Rules Committee for making this 
amendment in order.
  The Jackson Lee Amendment No. 90 is an important and potentially 
life-saving amendment in an unfortunate and distracting appropriations 
bill.
  Namely, the Jackson Lee Amendment No. 90 seeks to allocate $10 
million to fund Triple Negative Breast Cancer Research (``TNBC'').
  I must offer my appreciation to both the military and the Biden 
administration for making research into breast cancer a priority, but 
there is still work to be done.
  Breast cancer accounts for 12.5 percent of all new annual cancer 
cases worldwide, making it the most common cancer in the world.
  This issue is extremely important, especially for the brave men and 
women in the military, who are up to 20-40 percent more likely to 
develop breast cancer.
  There are few people in this country whose lives have not been 
touched by breast cancer.
  Yet, there are persistent disparities in breast cancer incidence and 
death rates:
  Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the 
United States for Black and Hispanic women.
  Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than women of 
any other racial or ethnic group.
  Experts believe that it's partially because about 1 in 5 Black women 
is diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, more than any other 
racial or ethnic group.
  Compared with non-Hispanic white women, Black women are less likely 
to receive guideline adherent care and have an approximate 2-fold 
higher mortality incidence, resulting in a disproportionately higher 
risk of death from Triple Negative Breast Cancer.
  Triple Negative Breast Cancer (``TNBC'') is one of many forms of 
breast cancer and accounts for about 15-30 percent of all diagnosed 
invasive breast cancer cases in the United States.
  Due to its aggressive behavior, TNBC grows quickly and is more likely 
to have spread at the time it is found and is more likely to come back 
after treatment than other types of breast cancer.
  TNBC cells do not contain (are ``negative for'') three key receptors 
that medicines typically target in other types of breast cancers; 
therefore, there are limited treatment options that can be used to 
treat the cancer.
  Patients with an early diagnosis can often be treated with 
chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery; however, the limited therapies 
available specifically addressing the management of TNBC has made 
treating this disease a challenge for clinicians.
  Recent innovation in targeted therapies have fueled advances in the 
fight against TNBC.
  Advances in breast cancer screening and treatment over the last few 
decades have reduced the overall breast cancer mortality rate, yet the 
disproportionate impact of TNBC on racial and ethnic minority 
communities raises considerations about the underlying determinants 
driving the disparities.
  It is necessary to promote TNBC education, raise awareness about the 
disease-related disparities, and tackle inequities within the health 
care delivery such as inadequate access to screening, diagnostic 
testing, and care, to improve early detection and survival.
  The Jackson Lee Amendment No. 90 would allow for more research so we 
can one day hopefully learn a way to reduce the number of military 
personnel affected by breast cancer.
  We all know, by the way, that breast cancer can affect both men and 
women.
  The bad news is breast cancer has been just about as brutal on women 
in the military as combat.
  Let me say that sentence again. Breast cancer has been just about as 
brutal on women in the military as combat.
  More than 800 women have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, 
according to the Army Times; 874 military women were diagnosed with 
breast cancer just between 2000 and 2011. And according to that same 
study, more are suspected. It grows.
  The good news is that we have been working on it, and I want to add 
my appreciation to the military. This amendment, however, will allow 
for the additional research needed.
  As new young women come into the United States military, as women 
stay longer in the United States military, as women get older in the 
United States military, as women ascend to leadership roles in the 
United States military, these dollars provide research.
  Not only is breast cancer striking relatively young military women at 
an alarming rate, but male service members, veterans and their 
dependents are at risk as well.
  With a younger and generally healthier population, those in the 
military tend to have a lower risk for most cancers than civilians--
including significantly lower colorectal, lung and cervical--but breast 
cancer is a different story.
  Military people in general, and in some cases very specifically, are 
at a significantly greater risk for contracting breast cancer, says Dr. 
Richard Clapp, a top cancer expert at Boston University who works at 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on military breast 
cancer issues. He says life in the military can mean exposure to a 
witch's brew of risk factors directly linked to greater chances of 
getting breast cancer.
  So, my friends, I am asking that we do the right thing.
  We are on the right track, we are on the right rail, we are on the 
right road.
   But with the expansion of women in the military, I can assure you, 
for long life, a vital service that these men and women give, it is 
extremely important to move forward with this amendment.
  Researchers have pointed to a higher use of oral contraception in the 
military than in the general population, and oral contraception has 
long been linked to breast cancer among women--an alarming factor that 
would ensure that this particular amendment would be a positive step 
forward.
  Despite significant advancements in prevention, diagnoses and 
treatment, more progress can and must be made, not only to reduce the 
fatality rate of breast cancer, but also to research methods of 
prevention and ways to drastically reduce risk factors.
  To this end, I have over the years been successful in winning passage 
of several Jackson Lee Amendments to the National Defense 
Appropriations Act in prior years to improve breast cancer research 
across the United States.
  I am here today seeking support for the same amendment to provide 
increased funding for the Defense Health Program's research and 
development by $10 million. These funds would specifically address the 
issue of breast cancer in the United States military.
  Several initiatives I have designed in the past have aided active-
duty servicemen and women along with veterans, such as enforcing 
accurate reporting of maternity mortality rates among the Armed Forces, 
addressing physical and mental health concerns, and securing 
authorization for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Triple 
Negative Breast Cancer research funding.
  Additionally, I have introduced H.R. Bo, the Triple-Negative Breast 
Cancer Research and Education Act of 2013, which focuses on expanding, 
intensifying, and coordinating programs for the conduct and support of 
research on triplenegative breast cancer, a type of breast cancer that 
is difficult to detect but disproportionately impacts African American 
and Hispanic women.
  I am very proud of the work that I and Congress have done to address 
the health concerns of active duty and veteran servicemen and women, 
but there are still improvements to be made.
  As a breast cancer survivor myself, I understand the toll which this 
destructive disease takes on patients and their family members.
  Support and encouragement are invaluable resources to those battling

[[Page E908]]

cancer, and spreading awareness of one of the most pressing health 
concerns can help minimize the burden on those currently fighting.
  The men and women who are on the front lines or have already 
completed their valiant service to this country have many pressing 
issues and challenges they already must face; breast cancer should not 
be one of them.
  Our service members fight and sacrifice for our freedoms.
  Now, as lawmakers, we should be working to ensure to protect their 
lives and freedoms--not trying to take their rights away.
  While the negatives of this defense appropriations bill 
disappointedly outweigh my positive amendment, I urge my colleagues to 
vote in favor of the Jackson Lee Amendment No. 90--notwithstanding my 
strong opposition and encouragement to vote down the underlying bill.

                          ____________________