[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 7441]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     HONORING DR. JOSEPH S. BAILES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 8, 2001

  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor my constituent, Dr. Joseph 
S. Bailes, on the occasion of an event on May 12, 2001, in San 
Francisco, California by the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship 
honoring him and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
  There is scarcely a person among us who has not been touched by 
cancer. This disease--actually more than a hundred different diseases--
is one of the greatest public health challenges we face in this 
country, particularly as our population ages and thus becomes more 
susceptible to cancer. If we are to meet this challenge, if we are to 
take full advantage of the many opportunities presented by the exciting 
discoveries of basic science in recent years, and if we are to fulfill 
the promise of quality cancer care for all our citizens, it will 
require visionary and energetic leadership. That kind of leadership has 
been provided for more than a decade by my friend and constituent, Dr. 
Joseph S. Bailes. Dr. Bailes is currently the Executive Vice President 
of Clinical Affairs at US Oncology, the largest private oncology 
practice in the United States.
  Dr. Bailes has recently completed more than a decade of service to 
the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which is the leading 
medical professional society for physicians involved in cancer 
treatment and research. Under the public policy guidance of Joe Bailes, 
ASCO has been involved in almost all significant legislative and 
regulatory initiatives during this past decade of great change in the 
health care delivery system generally and in cancer care specifically.
  During Dr. Bailes' long tenure as Chair of ASCO's Clinical Practice 
Committee, he was confronted with various challenges, each of which 
posed a threat to quality cancer care. Among these were practices of 
third-party payers to deny payment for cancer drugs when used for 
cancers not specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration; 
the refusal of Medicare to cover the cost of oral anticancer drugs; and 
the uncertainty of payment of routine patient care costs for cancer 
patients enrolled in clinical trials. Thanks to Dr. Bailes' leadership, 
these issues are now favorably resolved or on their way to a favorable 
resolution that will be supportive of people with cancer.
  Dr. Bailes also served as President of ASCO, the first in more than 
20 years to be elected as a community oncologist rather than an 
academic. His election reflected widespread recognition within the 
cancer community of Dr. Bailes' important and diverse contributions to 
oncology beyond considerations of reimbursement or coverage for the 
private physician. His voice has been a powerful one for everybody with 
cancer, as well as for the professionals who care for them.
  Aside from these public policy activities, I also commend Dr. Bailes 
for his dedication and skill as a physician who cares for individual 
patients in a thoughtful and compassionate manner. In fact, Dr. Bailes 
has successfully treated members of my own family for cancer-related 
illnesses and I am grateful for his dedicated service to patients in 
the Houston area. I know no one better at cancer diagnosis and 
treatment than Dr. Bailes, and his motivation is not public acclaim but 
the welfare of his patients. This is the ideal we expect of all our 
doctors.
  This May Dr. Bailes will be recognized and honored by the National 
Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCC), the largest national 
organization advocating on behalf of people with all kinds of cancer. 
The occasion will be the 37th Annual meeting of ASCO in San Francisco, 
where colleagues from all over the world will assemble to hear the 
latest developments in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. It 
is fitting that Dr. Bailes will be individually honored in this 
impressive context.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Dr. Bailes on his many years of service 
in the fight against cancer and for his many achievements. He is an 
inspiration to all advocates against cancer, whether they are patients 
or former patients, parents or friends of cancer patients, the 
physicians or other health professionals who treat them, or the 
research organizations that seek improved cancer therapies.

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