[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       THE EFFECTS OF HEART DISEASE AND CANCER ON AMERICAN WOMEN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cantor). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to bring attention to 
the threat that heart disease and cancer pose to the health of American 
women. I want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-
McDonald) for organizing the Special Orders on women's health issues 
this evening and all during this month. As a nurse, I have made access 
to quality health care one of my highest priorities in Congress. I am 
particularly interested in making sure that there is equity in the 
access to health care between men and women.
  Certain diseases and conditions are more prevalent in women than in 
men, and certain diseases and conditions affect women differently. 
Often health care professionals and women themselves do not give these 
conditions and diseases the attention they need. Heart disease and 
stroke are perfect examples of this fact. Over half of all deaths from 
heart disease and stroke occur in women. That is over half.
  More women die from heart disease each year than from breast, ovarian 
and uterine cancer combined, making heart disease the number one cause 
of mortality in women. But heart disease is usually believed to 
predominantly affect men.
  As cochair of the Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition, I have 
worked closely with the American Heart Association and the American Red 
Cross to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and stroke. While 
women and minorities bear a major portion of the cardiovascular disease 
burden, they are often unaware of its life-threatening symptoms and are 
diagnosed at later stages of the disease, and they may not receive 
appropriate medical care or follow-up services. Addressing risk factors 
such as elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, physical 
inactivity and smoking will greatly reduce women's risk of disability 
and death from cardiovascular disease.
  Congress needs to do its part to make sure that doctors, patients and 
all Americans are educated about the symptoms and dangers that women 
face and all Americans face from heart disease and stroke. Very soon, I 
will introduce the Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act, or STOP 
Stroke Act, in the House, so that we can raise public awareness of the 
disease and its symptoms.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to highlight now a few of the initiatives 
that address cancer treatment and research. Along with heart disease 
and stroke, cancer is a serious threat to women's health. As a member 
of the House Cancer Caucus, I joined with 44 of my colleagues to write 
to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to express our support for expanded 
Medicare coverage of positron emission topography, or PET scan, for 
women's health. PET is a powerful clinical tool that can assist health 
care providers in making lifesaving diagnoses and determining the most 
effective treatment for women with breast, ovarian, uterine and 
cervical cancers. I am hopeful that Secretary Thompson will support 
this effort.
  In addition, I am a proud cosponsor of the bill authored by the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), which would require minimum 
hospital stays for women after mastectomies. In addition, I cosponsored 
two other initiatives this year relating to breast cancer funding and 
research.
  The Breast Cancer Research Stamp Act extends the Breast Cancer 
Research semipostal stamp through the year 2008, and the Breast Cancer 
and Environmental Research Act studies the links between environmental 
factors and breast cancer. It is so important to keep in mind that 
increased research on these and other women's health concerns can and 
surely will improve the quality and length of our lives. For all of 
these reasons, we must continue to work together in a bipartisan 
fashion to ensure that women's health remains a high priority on the 
congressional agenda.
  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to hearing from my colleagues in the 
Women's Caucus as the days go by on these and other issues that pertain 
to women's health.

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