Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4870) making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes:

Mr. Chair, I rise today to highlight an important provision that was included in H.R. 4870, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2015, which could help my constituent, Debbie Zelman, along with thousands of others like her with stomach cancer.

Five years ago, Debbie was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer. While the doctor gave her only a 50/50 chance to live after one year, Debbie is still with us, fighting one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

Debbie is not alone in her battle. Every year, 21,000 Americans are diagnosed with stomach cancer, and it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for women in this country.

To help Debbie and others affected by this horrible cancer, I, along with 57 of my colleagues, requested from the Appropriations Committee that stomach cancer research become eligible for funding through the Defense Department's Peer Reviewed Research Program (PRCRP) for 2015.

The PRCRP funds research into eleven cancer types, including blood cancer, colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Adding stomach cancer to the list of eligible diseases could make an enormous difference in understanding this under-researched cancer, including its array of risk factors and causes.

I'm proud that the House Defense Appropriations bill includes report language to allow stomach cancer research to be funded through this Research Program. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that the Senate passes this important language as well.

By taking this step, we will be able to better understand this deadly disease, and, hopefully, get closer to finding a much-needed cure.

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