[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11996]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



ENCOURAGING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND THEIR STAFFS TO HAVE SCREENINGS FOR 
                            PROSTATE CANCER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 26, 2001

  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, as we begin to celebrate Men's Health Week, 
the week leading up to Father's Day, I rise today to applaud the 
efforts of my colleagues to bring attention to many issues surrounding 
men's health.
  I would like to encourage my colleagues and members of their staffs 
to have screenings for prostate cancer. Except for lung cancer, 
prostate cancer is the greatest cause of cancer deaths among American 
men. At highest risk are African-Americans and those with a family 
history of prostate cancer. One in five men will develop prostate 
cancer in his lifetime and the American Cancer Society estimates that 
over 32,000 men will die from the disease this year, a mortality rate 
approaching that of breast cancer in women. It is recommended that men 
at high risk begin annual prostate cancer screenings at age 40, and 
that all other men begin at age 50.
  As one of my former colleagues and good friend, Bill Richardson once 
said, ``Recognizing and preventing men's health problems is not just a 
man's issue. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters and 
sisters, men's health is truly a family issue.'' We owe it to our 
families to have our prostrate screenings. A tiny bit of discomfort is 
worth saving your life and sparing your families from the pain of an 
untimely death.

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