National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007

Floor Speech

NATIONAL BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER EARLY DETECTION PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program and its reauthorization. I commend the congresswomen who have spoken tonight, Mrs. Myrick and Ms. Baldwin, for their dedication to this important program and for their work to ensure its continued success.

Cancer is a disease that affects almost all Americans in one way or another. It is as indiscriminate a disease as you can find. It does not care about your age, your family, your sex, your race, your religion.

It reminds us that we are human and we are vulnerable. But as every survivor knows, it brings out our resilience, our strength, and it makes us value and really savor every moment of our lives afterward, and I can say that as a survivor of ovarian cancer.

It has also taught us just how critical early detection can be; and when detected at its earliest stages, the 5-year survival rate for breast cancer is nearly 98 percent. When detected at its earliest stages, the 5-year survival rate for cervical cancer is more than 92 percent. However, many women have limited access to life-saving early cancer detection.

So in 1990, Congress created a National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, and I was proud to be part of that effort. It provides access to critical breast and cervical cancer screening services for underserved women in the United States, especially those at high risk for breast cancer, including minority women and women with a family history of breast cancer.

Since its launch, the program has served more than 2.9 million women, and it has provided more than 6.9 million screening examinations and diagnosed more than 29,000 breast cancers; 94,000 precursor cervical lesions; and 1,800 cervical cancers. Any way you look at it, these numbers represent incredible success, and they translate into lives saved.

We have made tremendous progress in the fight against cancer, but there is no doubt we have a long way still to go. Today, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program reaches only 20 percent of eligible women. We need to work together to make sure that all women can take advantage of the medical advances we have seen, so that everyone has a fighting chance of beating this disease.

That is why this legislation is so important. It provides this critical and proven program with the resources for 147,000 more screenings per year. Through a five-State demonstration project it extends assistance to rural communities and special populations, providing an emphasis on education and on outreach, while ensuring that women continue to have access to life-saving screening services.

Reauthorization is critical. We know that more challenges lie ahead, and so we must keep up the drumbeat. Outreach, education, screenings: these make early detection possible. They make beating cancer possible. They are powerful tools that give us real hope.

We do a lot of things in this institution. We deal with roads, bridges, any number of parks. This is life and death.

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