[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15199-15200]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       CAROLINE PRYCE WALKER CONQUER CHILDHOOD CANCER ACT OF 2007

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Jack Reed and myself, 
I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate 
consideration of H.R. 1553, the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquered 
Childhood Cancer Act, which was received from the House, the bill be 
read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. COBURN. Reserving the right to object, and I ask the indulgence 
of the Senator from Oregon for just a moment?
  Caroline Pryce Walker was known to me. I attended her funeral. Her 
mother is a dear friend of mine in the House. So there are personal 
connections with my position on this bill.
  This body, as well as the House, less than a year ago, reformed NIH. 
We did some very important things. One of the things we did was take 
out of the hands of politicians the direction that gives us the best 
opportunity to cure cancer. We put it back in the hands of peer-
reviewed scientific study, which we know will accomplish much more than 
when we put our hands on it.
  There are problems with this bill. One is that it has a registry at 
the CDC. There are already two registries now at NEH. There is no way 
to fix that, so the American taxpayer is going to get to pay for two.
  The second thing is, as we direct $30 million to this outside of what 
they are already doing, that means $30 million isn't going to be 
available for childhood or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, isn't going 
to be available for juvenile diabetes--where there might be greater 
hopes of saving more children and making greater impact.
  I have great reservations when we start making the decisions on where 
the scientific inquiry ought to go and it is not connected at all with 
real science or peer-reviewed science. However, there are changes in 
this bill and Deborah Pryce has been a great contributor to the body in 
the House. I have held her in my arms as she has cried over this lost 
young child and, with reservation, I will not object to this bill. But 
I must say we are going down the wrong path. We are penny-wise and 
pound-foolish because we want to do what is emotionally pleasing but 
scientifically stupid. We are going in this direction.
  I am going to allow this. I will not object. I will not object on 
this bill so this bill will be a great last accomplishment for Deborah 
Pryce. It will be a fitting tribute to her daughter and all the other 
children. But I will tell you, we will get less, not more, by doing 
this in terms of the research and the benefit for the children who have 
childhood cancer in this country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon is recognized.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, before he leaves the floor--and I know we 
have colleagues who are waiting. I will not speak long--I want to 
express my appreciation to the Senator from Oklahoma for the judgment 
he has made in letting Senator Reed's bill pass tonight. I know the 
Senator from Oklahoma cares very deeply about the health care of our 
young people. He and I served on the health subcommittee in the other 
body. We can have debates about the merits of specific ways to address 
health issues. I share the view of

[[Page 15200]]

the Senator from Oklahoma with respect to making sure there is not a 
meddling by politicians in scientific matters. But tonight, on this 
legislation, legislation that has passed the other body 416 to 0, the 
judgment that has been made by the Senator from Oklahoma is in the 
interests of all of the youngsters of our country who are suffering so 
greatly, and their families.
  Like the Senator from Oklahoma, I have sat with them as well, with 
constituents. I just want to express my appreciation that the Conquer 
Childhood Cancer Act introduced by my colleague, Senator Reed, is going 
to pass tonight. This legislation would provide critical resources for 
the treatment, prevention, and cure of childhood cancer.
  We had a victim of childhood cancer in my home State, Jenessa Boey 
Byers. She passed away from cancer last December, and she was only 8. 
She battled cancer, not once but twice. She beat her cancer back into 
remission. She lost that second battle with cancer, but it never really 
beat her.
  I will remember always, going to see her in the hospital. What she 
said to me is that she was a warrior in the fight against cancer and 
that she was going to stand up for all of the other youngsters. She was 
a well-known advocate. She asked me to support Senator Reed's 
legislation, and I am very proud to do it. In fact, she said to me at 
one point:

       If you sponsor my legislation, you will be my hero.

  The fact is, the real heroes of this legislation are these youngsters 
who have suffered, and suffered so greatly. So the decision made by the 
Senator from Oklahoma tonight is one that is going to benefit so many 
families in our country.
  I want to pay particular tribute to Senator Reed. He could not be 
here for the unanimous consent, but Senator Reed has prosecuted this 
cause for months and months, working with the other body, working here 
with colleagues. So full credit for this cause goes to Senator Jack 
Reed who is helping so many of our youngsters afflicted by cancer.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
request is agreed to.
  The bill (H.R. 1553) was ordered to be read a third time, was read 
the third time, and passed.
  Mr. WYDEN. I wish to make one other quick comment. I know colleagues 
are waiting. I wanted to make this comment with respect to health care, 
because two of my allies in this health care cause, Senators Landrieu 
and Crapo, are on the floor. There is special significance about the 
two of them being here tonight for these additional comments on health. 
What we have seen again in the last few days is one of the worst 
positions in our country to be in, to be in your late 50s and laid off 
from work without health care. If you are laid off in your late 50s, 
let's say you are laid off at 56, 57, like a lot of these workers we 
have been reading about in the Midwest who had big layoffs in GM, for 
example, you go out into a broken individual insurance market. What the 
distinguished Senator from Louisiana, Ms. Landrieu, and the 
distinguished Senator from Idaho, Mr. Crapo, and I are trying to do--we 
are part of a group of 16 in the Senate, 8 on the Democratic side, 8 on 
the Republican side--is to help all those people in their late 50s who 
are being laid off.
  In fact, under our legislation, the Healthy Americans Act, those 
people would not go out into a broken individual insurance market. If 
you are 57, 58, for example, and you are laid off in Louisiana or 
Idaho, under our legislation today, you can get discriminated against 
if you have a preexisting condition. What our group has been trying to 
do, with the leadership of Senators Landrieu and Crapo, is say that is 
not part of the individual market of the future. You can't be 
discriminated against under our legislation. So right away we are 
giving some hope to those older workers who are laid off.
  The second thing we do in our group is, we give that laid-off worker 
who is 56, 57 years old some real tax relief, like she would have 
gotten through her employer if she still had her job. The irony is, if 
you are laid off, for example, and you are 57, 58 in the State of 
Louisiana, if you have some high flying CEO, they have an employer 
health package, and they get a write-off. But you don't get a write-off 
if you are a laid-off worker in your late 50s. What we do in our 
legislation is help those people as well.
  I will be talking more about what it is like in this country to be in 
your late 50s, years away from being able to get Medicare, and going 
out into the broken individual insurance market. I would have talked a 
bit longer, but colleagues have been waiting. I thought it was 
particularly appropriate to bring this up tonight because Senators 
Landrieu and Crapo have joined Senator Bennett and me in this group of 
16 whom I believe tonight, when Americans have read those articles 
about the GM retirees getting clobbered and losing their coverage, they 
ought to know there is a bipartisan group of us here in the Senate that 
is committed to giving those people a fair shake and committed to 
giving them new hope. They would have, under our legislation, under 
what Senators Landrieu and Crapo and I are working on, a legal 
guarantee to high quality, affordable coverage, unlike some of those 
retirees from GM. They would have a safety net.
  This has been an important night in health care. First because 
Senator Reed's legislation to help youngsters afflicted with cancer has 
passed, and it honors the memory of one of my constituents from Oregon 
and, second, I thought it was particularly appropriate with Senators 
Landrieu and Crapo here tonight, with millions of Americans who are in 
their late 50s worried that they are going to lose their health 
coverage, to know a group of us on a bipartisan basis have legislation 
that would provide real relief, a legal guarantee to high quality, 
affordable coverage when they lose their job through no fault of their 
own.
  I thank my colleagues, Senators Landrieu and Crapo, with particular 
thanks to Senator Reed, for passage of his legislation to help 
youngsters afflicted with cancer.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following my 
remarks, Senator Landrieu be recognized.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, before he leaves the floor, I thank the 
Senator from Oregon for his kind remarks. More than that, I thank him 
for his leadership. Health care, as all Americans know, is one of the 
most significant issues we face today. Senator Wyden has been 
outstanding and relentless in his efforts to build bipartisan support 
for comprehensive reform of our health care system. We have a lot of 
different ideas in the Senate about how to reform health care. Frankly, 
one of the reasons we have such a sort of a patchwork system of health 
care is because each side in this debate wins a battle here and there 
and gets a piece of their idea into the solution. When we are done, the 
patchwork system we have probably is not as good as any one of the pure 
systems that many people advocate for. But we have to work together in 
a collaborative fashion and build consensus for true health care 
reform. I thank the Senator for his leadership in that regard.

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