[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 7, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 17075-17076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8819]



[[Page 17073]]

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Part III





The President





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Proclamation 7177--Cancer Control Month, 1999



Proclamation 7178--National Child Abuse Prevention Month, 1999
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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 66 / Wednesday, April 7, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 17075]]

                Proclamation 7177 of April 1, 1999

                
Cancer Control Month, 1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Each year for more than half a century, our Nation has 
                dedicated the month of April to reaffirming our 
                commitment to developing more effective prevention, 
                detection, and treatment of cancer and to recognizing 
                the progress that we have made in fighting this 
                devastating disease.

                Today we are reaping the rewards of our long-standing 
                efforts to combat cancer as researchers make remarkable 
                progress virtually every day. Over the past several 
                years, for example, scientists have identified genes 
                involved in a number of cancers, including cancers of 
                the breast, prostate, kidney, skin, and colon. In the 
                first year of the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project at the 
                National Cancer Institute (NCI), researchers succeeded 
                in identifying more than 300,000 DNA sequences and 
                12,000 new genes--double the initial expectation. The 
                newly created Cancer Genetics Network will help 
                scientists answer the many clinical questions raised by 
                these discoveries. This national network will link 
                participating cancer research centers and strengthen 
                their efforts not only to identify genes that 
                predispose people to cancer, but also to learn better 
                methods for counseling, testing, and monitoring people 
                for cancer susceptibility. These and other recent 
                advances are providing Americans with our most powerful 
                weapons to defeat cancer: early detection and immediate 
                treatment.

                Recognizing the great promise such findings hold for 
                our battle against cancer, my Administration has 
                dedicated unprecedented Federal resources toward cancer 
                research. The omnibus appropriations bill I signed this 
                past October increased funding for the NCI by $400 
                million. This increase--the single largest increase in 
                funding for cancer and medical research in history--
                sets the NCI budget at nearly $3 billion, enabling it 
                to fund critical new research, including 10 new 
                clinical trials for breast cancer treatment. Last year 
                we saw one of the most significant advances to date in 
                cancer prevention research with the discoveries from 
                the landmark Breast Cancer Prevention Trial. This 
                study, a national clinical trial sponsored by the NCI, 
                found that the incidence of breast cancer fell by 49 
                percent among women taking the anti-estrogen drug 
                tamoxifen. Based upon this finding, last October, the 
                Food and Drug Administration approved tamoxifen for 
                preventative use by women at risk for breast cancer.

                Through the Department of Defense, we are also awarding 
                $60 million in grants for prostate cancer research. 
                These grants are funding innovative new studies to 
                determine the causes of prostate cancer, develop new 
                methods of prevention and detection, and discover 
                groundbreaking new treatments to save lives. In 
                addition, we have worked to accelerate the approval 
                process for new cancer drugs to ensure that cancer 
                patients have access to the latest and most effective 
                treatments, all while maintaining the highest of safety 
                standards.

                Although these and other recent advances are 
                encouraging, we must not be complacent. The occurrence 
                of cancer is still too common, and the suffering it 
                causes is incalculable. As we stand on the threshold of 
                a new millennium, let us draw strength from the 
                successes of the past and reaffirm our determination to 
                treat, prevent, and ultimately eradicate cancer.

[[Page 17076]]

                In 1938, the Congress of the United States passed a 
                joint resolution (52 Stat. 148; 36 U.S.C. 150) 
                requesting the President to issue an annual 
                proclamation declaring April to be ``Cancer Control 
                Month.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim April 1999 
                as Cancer Control Month. I invite the Governors of the 
                50 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
                Mayor of the District of Columbia, and the appropriate 
                officials of all other areasunder the American flag to 
                issue similar proclamations. I also ask health care 
                professionals, private industry, community groups, 
                insurance and managed care companies, and all other 
                interested organizations and individuals to unite in 
                renewing our Nation's commitment to controlling cancer.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
                third.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-8819
Filed 4-6-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P