[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 28651-28652]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   MAKING PERMANENT THE AUTHORITY TO ISSUE SPECIAL POSTAGE STAMP TO 
                     SUPPORT BREAST CANCER RESEARCH

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 1236) to make permanent the authority of the United States Postal 
Service to issue a special postage stamp to support breast cancer 
research, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1236

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.

       Section 414(h) of title 39, United States Code, is amended 
     by striking ``2007'' and inserting ``2011''.

     SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

       The National Institutes of Health and the Department of 
     Defense shall each submit to Congress and the Government 
     Accountability Office an annual report concerning the use of 
     any amounts that it received under section 414(c) of title 
     39, United States Code, including a description of any 
     significant advances or accomplishments, during the year 
     covered by the report, that were funded, in whole or in part, 
     with such amounts.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Clay) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, as a sponsor of H.R. 1236, the bill would make 
permanent the breast cancer research stamp, which first went on sale on 
July 29, 1998.
  After several discussions with the Postal Service, I offered an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1236 during the 
Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of 
Columbia markup on September 18, 2007.
  The amendment retained the Postal Service's flexibility by 
reauthorizing the breast cancer stamp for an additional 4 years and 
strengthens the bill's reporting requirements. The new reporting 
requirements would assess the breast cancer stamp's effectiveness and 
appropriateness and the cost to the Postal Service for administering 
the program to find a cure for breast cancer.
  The amendment was agreed to by voice vote. H.R. 1236, as amended, was

[[Page 28652]]

reported from the Oversight Committee on September 20, 2007, by a voice 
vote.
  In America, breast cancer is reported as the second leading cause of 
cancer deaths among women after lung cancer. The American Cancer 
Society estimated 178,480 women will be diagnosed this year with 
invasive breast cancer. In the U.S., approximately 40,000 will die.
  The Postal Service has sold over 785.6 million breast cancer research 
stamps from which $54.626 million have been transferred to the National 
Institutes of Health and DOD for breast cancer research and awareness.
  I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 1236 and urge the swift 
passage of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  First of all, I want to commend my good friend, the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Clay), for his remarks and his work on this legislation.
  I rise today to urge passage of H.R. 1236, to extend the authority of 
the U.S. Postal Service to issue a stamp to support breast cancer 
research.
  Those of us in Congress received a tragic reminder of the need for 
continued research into this disease with the passing of our beloved 
colleague, Jo Ann Davis; and we thank the majority, in particular Mr. 
Clay, for taking the opportunity to honor her memory.
  Nearly 180,000 people, mostly, but not all, women, will learn that 
they have invasive breast cancer this year alone. About 40,000 people 
will die from this disease. Women who are white and over the age of 40 
are more likely to suffer from breast cancer, but its victims run the 
gamut of age, race and socioeconomic background. We have made some 
progress in recent years thanks to early detection and increased 
awareness and availability of mammograms.
  But in the past 3 years, both mammograms and incidence of breast 
cancer have decreased. This doesn't mean things are getting better. It 
means ominously and unfortunately that fewer cases are being detected.
  As I am sure Jo Ann Davis would tell us if she were still with us 
here today, early detection, early treatment, constant vigilance and 
public awareness are key to putting this disease in its place. For 
example, incidence rates of both invasive and in-situ breast cancer 
rise and fall with the percentage of women who receive mammograms.
  After two decades of progress, both the use of mammograms and the 
rates of detection have begun to slip in recent years. As early 
detection increased, so did survival rates; but they will fall, too, if 
we can't improve public awareness of the importance of early detection.
  That's where the measure that is before us comes in. This bill would 
reauthorize the Postal Service to issue the 55-cent stamp for first 
class mail, with 14 cents of each stamp going to breast cancer research 
and awareness programs for an additional 4 years. Since the program 
began in 1998, the Postal Service has sold more than 785 million of 
these stamps and raised $54.6 million for breast cancer research.
  This disease preys on women such as Jo Ann Davis and on so many 
others, women on whom others have come to depend. They are mothers, 
grandmothers, business owners, teachers, researchers, even Members of 
this great body. We need these women and the invaluable contributions 
they make to our life and society. We need this measure to help save 
their lives.
  I have had the privilege of attending every single Race for the Cure 
for the past 11 years, every single one that has been held in my 
hometown of Knoxville.

                              {time}  1500

  This is a very worthwhile cause that I am sure all of our colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle can support very enthusiastically.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. 
Duncan), my friend, who is certainly committed to this cause and who 
has joined with me in what I think is a worthwhile cause for the people 
of this country.
  I also want to dedicate H.R. 1236 in memory of the late Congresswoman 
Jo Ann Davis. Jo Ann's courageous battle with breast cancer further 
inspires us to expand efforts to secure more research dollars and find 
a cure for this devastating disease.
  I commend everyone who has championed this issue in Congress, 
including former Representative Vic Fazio for introducing the first 
Breast Cancer Research Stamp Act in 1996, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, 
Representative Joe Baca and the late Juanita Millender McDonald who 
pioneered the idea of a permanent breast cancer stamp, research stamp 
in 2001. And I ask my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 1236.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I urge 
passage of this legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I urge my 
colleagues to vote in favor of this worthwhile effort.
  I yield back my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Salazar). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1236, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A Bill to amend title 39, 
United States Code, to extend the authority of the United States Postal 
Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer 
research.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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