[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 25919-25920]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 335--RECOGNIZING THAT THE OCCURRENCE OF PROSTATE 
  CANCER IN AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN HAS REACHED EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS AND 
 URGING FEDERAL AGENCIES TO ADDRESS THAT HEALTH CRISIS BY DESIGNATING 
  FUNDS FOR EDUCATION, AWARENESS OUTREACH, AND RESEARCH SPECIFICALLY 
        FOCUSED ON HOW THAT DISEASE AFFECTS AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN

  Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Durbin) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                              S. Res. 335

       Whereas the incidence of prostate cancer in African 
     American men is 60 percent higher than any other racial or 
     ethnic group in the United States;
       Whereas African American men have the highest mortality 
     rate of any ethnic and racial group in the United States, 
     dying at a rate that is 140 percent higher than other ethnic 
     and racial groups;
       Whereas that rate of mortality represents the largest 
     disparity of mortality rates in any of the major cancers;
       Whereas prostate cancer can be cured with early detection 
     and the proper treatment, regardless of the ethnic or racial 
     group of the cancer patient;
       Whereas African Americans are more likely to be diagnosed 
     earlier in age and at a later stage of cancer progression 
     than for all other ethnic and racial groups, thereby leading 
     to lower cure rates and lower chances of survival; and
       Whereas, according to a paper published in the Proceedings 
     of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the 
     Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School have 
     discovered a variant of a small segment of the human genome 
     that accounts for the higher risk of prostate cancer in 
     African American men: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes that prostate cancer has created a health 
     crisis for African American men; and
       (2) urges Federal agencies to designate additional funds 
     for--
       (A) research to address and attempt to end the health 
     crisis created by prostate cancer; and
       (B) efforts relating to education, awareness, and early 
     detection at the grassroots levels to end that health crisis.

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today, I am reintroducing a Senate 
resolution to raise awareness of the prostate cancer crisis that exists 
among African-American men. This resolution challenges Congress to 
provide the funds necessary to increase research funding, prevent and 
fight the disease, and to encourage African-American men to get 
screened.
  For me, this is personal. I am a prostate cancer survivor, and my 
experience opened my eyes to the horrific disparities in prevention, 
treatment, and long-term prognosis for prostate cancer in the African-
American community. I learned a lot from my friend Tom Farrington. Tom 
and I are both lucky. We were diagnosed with prostate cancer--and we 
got cured. Our fathers weren't so lucky. Prostate cancer took them away 
from us. But once I got well, and once Tom got well, we started 
learning more and more, and a statistic that stays with me and with 
Tom, who is African American, speaks volumes.  African-American men are 
80 percent more likely to die of prostate cancer than White men. 
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related death for 
African-American men, who have the highest incidence and mortality rate 
due to prostate cancer of any ethnic or racial group. African-American 
men are dying at a rate of 140 percent--almost 2\1/2\ times--higher 
than other groups. That is the largest disparity for any major cancer. 
I started digging more and discovered the unacceptable apartheid of 
health care in America--and I believe that just as the doctrine of 
``separate but equal'' was wrong in education, it is wrong in health 
care. The quality of

[[Page 25920]]

health care should never depend on the color of any American's skin.
  Epidemic levels of prostate cancer amongst African Americans have not 
changed. We all need to work together to support those suffering from 
prostate cancer and to encourage regular screening and early detection. 
It is a tragedy that so many African-American men are dying today from 
treatable illnesses they don't discover until it is too late--and 
righting this wrong is a matter of social justice as well as public 
policy.
  I urge every Member of Congress to support this resolution.

                          ____________________