[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16839]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING MARIA CAROLINA HINESTROSA

 Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, on behalf of the people of 
Maryland, and breast cancer fighters worldwide, I wish to express my 
heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Carolina 
Hinestrosa, who passed away last week after battling soft tissue 
sarcoma, a side effect of past breast cancer treatment. Ms. Hinestrosa 
served for 5 years as the executive vice president of the National 
Breast Cancer Coalition, in which capacity she fought passionately for 
the coalition's work to eradicate breast cancer. My thoughts and 
prayers are with Ms. Hinestrosa's family and friends during this 
difficult time.
  After a 1994 breast cancer diagnosis, Ms. Hinestrosa turned her 
suffering into an opportunity when she joined with a group of survivors 
and health care professionals to form Nueva Vida, the only 
comprehensive support network for Latinas with breast and cervical 
cancer in the Washington metropolitan area.
  As executive director of Nueva Vida, Ms. Hinestrosa gave voice to the 
struggles of Latinas with breast cancer, representing them on the board 
of directors of the National Breast Cancer Coalition and the National 
Cancer Institute's Central Institutional Review Board. She also played 
a leading role in the development of the International Latina Breast 
Cancer Advocacy Network.
  While serving as executive vice president of the National Breast 
Cancer Coalition, Ms. Hinestrosa was a member of many national panels 
including the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program and 
numerous committees for the Institute of Medicine. Most recently she 
was an appointee to the IOM Committee on Comparative Effective 
Research.
  Ms. Hinestrosa is remembered by those who knew her as an 
extraordinary woman who contributed so much to women's health, breast 
cancer, and minority rights. An outpouring of admiration has come from 
the many people she touched.
  Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, said 
Ms. Hinestrosa ``was incredibly brilliant, analytical and at the same 
time warm and compassionate. Nothing intimidated Carolina because of 
her determination to change the system.'' Director of the National 
Cancer Institute John Niederhuber wrote ``she was a remarkable woman. 
She was the type of person who you never forgot encountering. She was 
smart and passionate; committed and accomplished. The cancer community 
has lost an important voice.'' The director of the Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality, Carolyn Clancy, worked frequently with 
Carolina and wrote that ``her legacy is that patients and consumers are 
recognized voices in efforts to improve health care quality. Her 
contribution has inspired physicians, scientists, employers to focus on 
patients needs.''
  Ms. Hinestrosa was born in Bogota, Columbia, and came to the United 
States in 1985 on a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a master's in 
economics. Carolina impacted countless people in her work both here in 
Washington, DC, and elsewhere. She was just 50 years old at the time of 
her passing and leaves behind a husband and daughter.
  We must carry on Ms. Hinestrosa's work in eradicating breast cancer 
from our midst. Until then, we must continue to support one another and 
honor the legacy of passion and commitment that Carolina left 
behind.

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