[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 20, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2397-S2398]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       GERALD E. CONNOLLY ESOPHAGEAL CANCER AWARENESS ACT OF 2025

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to ask unanimous consent to 
complete a unanimous consent request.
  Tomorrow, it will be 1 year since we lost Congressman Gerry Connolly. 
I first met Gerry Connolly when he was a rising supervisor on the 
Fairfax County Board in the late eighties. Jerry took great pains to 
never forget his Irishness, the famous St. Patrick's Day party.
  He was a fighter. He was kind and funny; but boy, you did not want to 
get on the wrong side of Gerry Connolly because sometimes that fighting 
spirit would show itself in his relentless--relentless--efforts. 
Getting in an argument with Gerry was not something anybody ever looked 
forward to.
  So it was a great loss that we lost him. Literally tomorrow will be a 
year. But beyond the personal loss to his family and to folks like me 
and my friend from Virginia as well Tim Kaine, both considered him a 
longtime friend. And frankly to communities in Northern Virginia and 
beyond, Federal employees lost a leader who never, ever stopped 
fighting for them, never stopped fighting for their rights, never 
stopped fighting for their due process, and never stopped making the 
case to

[[Page S2398]]

Americans the value Federal workers bring to our everyday lives.
  And in his final days, Gerry continued to center Federal employees in 
his work. Two days before he died, he introduced H.R. 3490, which will 
direct the Government Accountability Office to report on esophageal 
cancer in Federal employees.
  The bill directs GAO to help us understand the landscape of 
esophageal cancer among Federal employees and retirees, particularly 
access to early screening and early treatment.
  For some folks, they have a precancerous condition that if treated 
early, can help prevent esophageal cancer completely. This bill is 
simple. It would ask GAO to study if Federal employees who are at high 
risk are getting screened as early as possible to help them make sure 
they get the care they need as early as possible.

  The bill was passed unanimously, 42 to nothing in the House Oversight 
and Government Reform Committee and then passed by a voice vote on the 
floor.
  In a moment, I am going to ask unanimous consent that we pass this 
bill here on the Senate floor, but before I make that request, I want 
to defer and yield my time to the Senator--fellow Senator from Virginia 
Senator Kaine.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I am so pleased to be with my colleague 
Senator Warner to talk about Gerry Connolly prior to offering a 
unanimous consent motion on this bill.
  If you met Gerry once, you would remember a very, very fun and 
colorful guy. He studied for the priesthood to be a Maryknoll priest 
and then left the priesthood to marry his wife ``Smitty'' who studied 
to be a nun and then left her order.
  His first job after he left the seminary was a staffer on the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee, and then he went onto this wonderful 
career, as Mark described, on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors before 
eventually becoming chairman of that board and then coming to Congress.
  Gerry personified a pride in Irish Catholicism. As Mark said, his St. 
Patrick's Day parties were absolutely legendary in Virginia, and he was 
a tireless advocate for so many.
  The point that Mark made about esophageal cancer and its effect and 
its growing effect in this country is important to underline. This was 
the condition that claimed Gerry's life, but how powerful not even 2 
days before died, he was trying to advance our understanding of this.
  Esophageal cancer is the fastest growing cancer among men in the 
United States. We are not exactly sure why, but we can get more data 
and do more analysis of this and then provide options for care should 
this resolution pass.
  That is why I am so glad to stand with my friend Senator Warner to 
honor a great public servant, a great American Gerry Connolly.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, as if in legislation session, I ask 
unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
3490 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3490) to require the Government Accountability 
     Office to produce a report on esophageal cancer, and for 
     other purposes.

  There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the 
Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 3490) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. WARNER. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

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