H.R. 2231, the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act
H.R. 2231, THE BREAST CANCER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ACT
Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand with the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) and the 3 million women living with breast cancer in the country today, and urge my colleagues to push for passage of the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (H.R. 2231) by the end of this year.
Too many mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters are dying from breast cancer and we will not end this disease until we find out what causes it. H.R. 2231 would go a long way towards finding out what causes breast cancer and how to prevent it.
It is generally believed that the environment plays some role in the development of breast cancer, but the extent of that role is not fully understood. More research needs to be done in this area since it has been understudied in the past.
H.R. 2231 would authorize $30 million per year for 5 years for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to award grants to study the relationship between environmental factors and breast cancer. The targeted research holds the promise for a better understanding of the causes of breast cancer, breakthroughs in prevention and treatment, and ultimately perhaps a cure.
Furthermore, this bill would create a new mechanism for environmental health research, and provide a unique process by which up to eight centers would be developed to study environmental factors and their impact on breast cancer. Modeled after the highly successful Breast Cancer Research Program, it would include consumer advocates in the peer review and programmatic review process.
There have been isolated studies looking at suspected environmental links to breast cancer. But overall, the issue of what causes breast cancer, and the association between the environment and breast cancer requires a collaborative, comprehensive, national strategy to study these issues. This bill makes that mission possible.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and enact it this year so that we can get closer to a day when no woman need worry about breast cancer again.
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