Expressing support for designation of October 13, 2009, as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 787) expressing support for designation of October 13, 2009, as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 787. This resolution expresses support for designating October 13, 2009, as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

Metastatic breast cancer refers to stage IV breast cancer, the most advanced stage of this form of cancer. At this point, cancer cells have spread beyond the breast and underarm lymph nodes to other areas of the body. Sadly, there is no cure for breast cancer once it has reached this stage.

Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. The National Institutes of Health estimates that nearly 195,000 new cases will be diagnosed in 2009, the majority of which occur among women. Nearly 30 percent of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will develop metastatic breast cancer; and despite this startling statistic, advanced breast cancer is rarely discussed during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This resolution supports designation of National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. It encourages all people in the U.S. to become more informed and aware of metastatic breast cancer and requests that the Clerk of the House transmit a copy of this resolution to the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network.

Earlier this month, my subcommittee held a hearing on four pieces of legislation that focus on prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer. During this hearing, we heard from four of my colleagues who have sponsored legislation to address this important health issue. Those are Congressman Nadler, Congresswoman DeLauro, who is also the sponsor of this resolution today, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, and Congresswoman Castor. We also heard testimony from a number of advocacy groups and the National Cancer Institute.

Mr. Speaker, this hearing and the resolution before us today underscore the importance of early detection of breast cancer and ensuring that, once diagnosed, women receive the best quality treatment available. As House Resolution 787 highlights, it's especially important that women with metastatic breast cancer feel supported rather than feeling isolated or ignored.

As National Breast Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to comment on the important issues raised with respect to the experience of breast cancer patients in today's medical environment. These patients and many others lack access to preventive services that are recommended by experts. Many patients lack coverage of the medical care that they need. That's precisely why we are hard at work trying to pass health reform legislation that will improve access to quality and affordable health care for every American.

If enacted, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, currently H.R. 3200, will make dramatic improvements in our efforts to battle breast cancer. Specifically, it will provide affordable access to insurance. H.R. 3200 would prohibit insurers from excluding patients or charging higher premiums because of preexisting conditions. It would offer protection against high out-of-pocket costs by limiting deductibles and copayments and precluding insurance companies from establishing limits on annual or lifetime benefits. H.R. 3200 would also prohibit insurers from rescinding or dropping insurance policies on the basis of health status.

This bill would also provide coverage of preventive services in Medicare, Medicaid, and within the newly established Health Insurance Exchange, free of cost sharing. This means that services like mammograms would be available free of copays. Early detection and treatment can help reduce the number of patients who ever get to stage IV while we continue our efforts to find a cure for those who do.

I am pleased to join my colleagues today in raising awareness about breast cancer, and particularly stage IV breast cancer.

Of course I want to thank, in particular, the gentlewoman from Connecticut, Congresswoman DeLauro, and my colleague from New Jersey, Congressman LoBiondo, for their leadership.

Let me just say about Congresswoman DeLauro, she has been basically a champion on every aspect of breast cancer since I've been here. I think, really, without her efforts, we would not have gone as far as we have in terms of providing meaningful research and treatment. So it's certainly no surprise that she is the prime sponsor of this resolution today.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the sponsor of the legislation, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro). I can't say enough about her. Her championing on the issues of breast cancer research, treatment, et cetera, are really always out there.

I yield the gentlewoman 1 additional minute.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman).

(Ms. HARMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

I yield to the gentlewoman 1 additional minute.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley).

Mr. Speaker, I would just urge everyone to support this resolution. I particularly want to thank the survivors, Mrs. Myrick, Ms. DeLauro, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz.

They just spend so much time devoted to this issue, whether it's research, treatment, to try to find a cure or to just raise awareness. I never cease to be amazed by their efforts. I want to thank them and I urge everyone to pass the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for the time, and I also want to say to him thank you for your very, very kind words. It has been my honor to work in partnership with Congressman Pallone. He is enormously committed to health care and to health care reform but with particular interest to women's health issues. He has been a strong partner in his championing of these efforts on the committee which he chairs.

I also want to say a ``thank you'' to my colleague Congressman LoBiondo for cosponsoring this resolution with me today and a particular ``thank you'' to my colleague and good friend, Congresswoman Myrick, for all of her efforts and stamina. We are a band of sisters in this effort. Thank you so very, very much.

Mr. Speaker, following the lead of eight States across the Nation-- Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Washington, and my home State of Connecticut--this resolution expresses support for designating October 13, 2009, as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

Right now in America, it has been said that 15,000 men and women around the country are living with metastatic, or stage IV, breast cancer. It means that the cancer cells have traveled from the breast to other areas in the body, such as to the liver, lungs, bones or brain, and the cells are now growing there. There is no cure for breast cancer once it has metastasized, and most of today's current medical treatments are focused only on extending the best quality of life for the patient.

Breast cancer is the second leading type of cancer among women. In this year alone, 192,000 women--over that number--and 1,900 men in the United States will be diagnosed with the disease, and over 62,000 women will die from it. Thirty percent of women diagnosed with earlier stages of the illness will eventually suffer from metastatic breast cancer. The later it is diagnosed, the more likely it is that the cancer has or will metastasize.

Missed opportunities of early detection is a major reason why women in developing countries, as well as right here in the United States with our own most vulnerable citizens, are more likely diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. Without adequate access to preventative medical care, the health of the poor here and around the world is already at extreme risk.

For all of these reasons and more, we believe that Congress should support this resolution and should get behind National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day on October 13. Not only will such a day help to emphasize the urgent need for new and targeted breast cancer treatments for stage IV cancer patients, but it will raise awareness, and it will save lives.

I know firsthand. I'm a cancer survivor--ovarian cancer. I was fortunate enough to have been diagnosed at stage 1. If it had not been caught early by my doctor or if the cancer had metastasized, there is a good chance I would not be standing here today. We need to promote awareness of metastatic cancers in any way that we can so that women and men will know how to get timely mammograms and cancer screenings that might just save their lives.

Even as doctors and scientists search for a cure for metastatic breast cancer, it is up to us to help make the treatment affordable for women in need and to pass comprehensive health insurance reform now, not later. Too many women with breast cancer today are forced to make decisions based on their finances and not on what is best for their health. All too often, as they bravely battle their illnesses, they must also fight high out-of-pocket costs and denied claims. If they become too sick to work, they must face the terrifying prospect of losing their coverage altogether.

While today we express our support for a National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, I hope very soon in the future we will reaffirm our commitment to breast cancer patients by passing meaningful health insurance reform.

Today's resolution has the support of several key organizations, including Living Beyond Breast Cancer, breastcancer.org, The Wellness Community, Breast Cancer Network of Strength--formerly Y- ME--and the Young Survivor Coalition.

By drawing attention to this disease, we can help medical researchers find ways to provide a higher quality of life and a longer life expectancy for patients. We can help make stage IV cancer a chronic but not a fatal disease, and we can encourage the women and men we love to stay aware of metastatic breast cancer and to protect themselves through regular checkups and screenings.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Thank you, Mr. Pallone, for yielding time to me to speak on this bill and on the bill that was just considered.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a member of the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee. I regret the fact that it has taken us so many months to get to a place where we are almost ready to consider comprehensive health care reform. I strongly support it, especially with a robust public option. Yet this is a good day because, today we will pass a more limited bill that identified a huge problem, metastatic breast cancer.

I have been fortunate not to have cancer, but there are many cancer survivors in this body, some of whom have survived breast cancer. I am the sister of Dr. David Lakes, who is an oncologist in Northern California and who was voted Healer of the Year in Marin County for the work he has done with those who suffer from metastatic breast cancer. I am very proud of him.

I am very proud of the sponsors of this legislation, who understand how critical it is not just to focus on the fact of this disease, but, as Ms. DeLauro said a few minutes ago, on how to make it a chronic disease and not a killer. So I strongly support this legislation.

As the author of Legislation to extend the PSIC Grant Program, the Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program, which was debated just moments ago, I urge us to continue the program which provides $1 billion in grants to State and local governments for interoperable communications systems, which, obviously, will be needed in the event of the next terrorist attack or natural disaster.

Eight years after 9/11, we have not fixed one of the two major problems on that day. One problem was that we failed to connect the dots. The other was that we could not communicate in realtime among our first responders to the catastrophe both in New York and in Washington. Nationally, we still lack an interoperable communications network. That will require more work by Congress and the FCC to build out the now vacant 700 megahertz analog spectrum so that, nationally, all of our first preventers, or responders, can communicate.

In the meantime, it is significant that our communities will be able to access additional Federal funds because of the action recommended moments ago to pass S. 1694 which is identical to H.R. 3633--an action that means the bill will become law.

Let me finally say that the PSIC extension legislation is supported by the major city police chiefs, the National Governors Association, the National Emergency Management Association, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the Telecommunications Industry Association, mayors in Los Angeles, New York and Houston, the Los Angeles County Sheriff--Lee Baca--and many others because they know that having interoperable communications in our cities and regions is critical.

Just as metastatic breast cancer is an emergency that we must deal with, so is the lack of a truly national interoperable communications capability. We took a big step this morning. I hope we will take a bigger step later this year.

I thank Chairman Pallone for the work that he does on the Health Subcommittee. I am proud to be a member.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be here today to support Representative DeLauro's Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day resolution.

As has already been mentioned many times this month, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we see it all over by the pink ribbons everywhere, media campaigns. Throughout the last 30 days, there has been good exposure. The month is nearly over, but the need for breast cancer

awareness and education continues all year long.

October 13 has been recognized as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, and I would like to thank the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network for their continued community outreach.

Awareness and education has assisted in the annual decline in deaths from breast cancer. The Centers for Disease Control has stressed the importance of women receiving regular mammograms, which can help doctors diagnose breast cancer in its early stages, which was my fortunate experience. It is because of these successful programs and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month that encourage early diagnosis before the cancer cells travel from the breast to other parts of the body, including the most well-known and, unfortunately, the places they go the most often, the bones, the liver, the lungs, and the brain. And that describes metastatic breast cancer.

It's commonly known as stage IV breast cancer because it is diagnosed when the cancer has spread to one or more of these distant sites in the body. For all intents and purposes, it is the scariest form of the disease and one that is very difficult to fight. People face reality when they're first diagnosed and are told that they're at stage IV. For others, it's a diagnosis they face later on as they go through their treatment, which is happening to one of my friends currently.

For these women, time is truly of the essence, and the support of family, friends and of the medical professionals is crucial. Sadly, metastatic breast cancer is deadly in most cases, but the good news is that research continues to make great strides in survival rates and in the quality of life for these patients. So I am very proud to support this resolution to designate October 13 as Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

I thank my good friend, Representative DeLauro, who is also a cancer survivor, I might add--long term--for sponsoring this bill.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am very pleased to yield so much time as he may consume to the other sponsor of the legislation, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo).

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 787 designating October 13th as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

At a health care public forum I held in my district on October 25th, I had the great pleasure of meeting a woman of true inspiration.

Kristen Martinez of Colebrook, at the age of 31, was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. She had no idea the severe back pains and chronic fatigue were clear symptoms of cancer, but they were signs the cancer spread to her bones. As she stated, she was forced to face her own mortality as diagnosis touched her life during a time when she ``was on top of the world.''

Kristen, like many women living with metastatic breast cancer, has faced a constant cycle of switching from different treatment methods. In her own words, Kristen said ``living with metastatic breast cancer has been a journey filled with every emotion one could imagine.'' But as a testament to her own personal strength, she has faced the illness head-on.

She has become an advocate on behalf of young woman across our nation living with breast cancer. As an active member of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network, Young Survival Coalition, a graduate of the National Breast Cancer Coalition's Project Lead and a volunteer patient advocate for breast cancer survivors, Kristen has provided motivation and encouragement for fellow women facing this debilitating disease.

In her own right, she has emerged from this battle as a stronger woman, devoted to giving back to her community and the young women of our nation. I am proud to co-sponsor this resolution with my good friend Representative Rosa DeLauro, on behalf of Kristen Martinez and over 155,000 women and men who are presently living with metastatic breast cancer.