Recognizing Catherine A. Minnis

Floor Speech

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Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and pay tribute to Catherine A. Minnis, a strong and well-known advocate for breast cancer awareness in South Florida.

In 2006, Ms. Minnis overcame a cancer scare when a lump found by her doctor turned out to be benign. That same year, a former boss died from breast cancer. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Minnis joined the Dade-Monroe Unit of The American Cancer Society and was named Volunteer of the Year for her activism in the fight against breast cancer and for raising nearly 400,000 dollars for cancer research. A coffee-table book with stories from breast cancer survivors written by Ms. Minnis to empower, educate and encourage women with breast cancer and breast cancer survivors, will be released in November of 2012.

Experts estimate that about one out of every eight women born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time during her life. The strongest risk factor for breast cancer is age. A woman's risk of developing this disease increases as she gets older. However, thanks to the work Ms. Minnis is doing and improvements in cancer treatment and early detection, millions of women and thousands of men are surviving breast cancer today.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer. The disease occurs almost entirely in women, but men can get it, too. Today, there are more than 2.9 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

I am honored to recognize Catherine A. Minnis, a long-term advocate for breast cancer awareness, for her dedication and commitment to our community and the fight against breast cancer.

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