aren't paying any attention to august. august didn't happen. it was a mirage or heat-induced that louis nation. mr. price: would the gentleman yield? i was so astounded as well by the incredible outpouring by the american people of their concern and fear about what their government was about to do to them and then the president seem to just dismiss it and didn't even recognize that it had happened and the members of congress, including the speaker of the house and others seemed to be saying, don't pay any attention to that man behind the curtain, it was like they didn't even acknowledge that, in fact, the american people were concerned, which i appreciate you saying that, because it's one of the things that has further angered my constituents and folks that i talked to, saying, is anybody paying attention? .

>> the fact is, the american people do not trust us to do something this big. they look at this 1,000-page bill, it will go to a government agency, that 1,000 pages will lead to 20,000 or 30,000 pages, years of rules that will be rained down on society because of the actions take on the floor of the house in the next couple of weeks. mr. akin: a number of you have rayed the point that there are a lot of americans not very thrilled with this approach of the government takeover of health care. let's think about it for a minute why you had that reaction. 2,000 people come out of nowhere and they're hotter than hornets, we don't want a bureaucrat rationing health care. who might be against this bill? if you're an older gike like i

am, you're at the point where they're saying, it's not worth it for the government to pay to give your health care. if you're an older person, they're only going to give you aspirin and pain pills. if you're an older person, you're probably on medicare. you want $500 billion taken out of medicare. i don't think that's going to be popular with older voters. let's say you're a different person. let's say you have a small business this bill will tax your small business a lot. you say, i'm already struggling, i'm barely making ends meet. if i had some money, i'd be able to add some new machines, get my small business going, we'd be able to help unemployment. but now you're going to tax me to death on a bunch of socialized medicine. a small businessman is not going to like it. a guy who is pro life isn't going to like it. i yield. mr. burgess: i had several round tables with small

business over the summer and an 8% payroll tax will be the largest single tax ever levied upon small businesses in this country. think about that for a minute. we just hit 9.6% or 9.7% national unpliment. mr. akin: unemployment running away, the statistic almost everybody knows, it's, i think it's like pretty close to 79% of the jobs in america are withcompanies with 500 or fewer employees. small business employees almost 80% of americans. what are we going to do? we're going to slam them with an 8% tax on top of things right now with unemployment already at 8% or 9%. mr. burgess: and all last month i heard from small business people who were either at home or came up to washington to see me, i heard from a lady who has a saddle manufacturing plant in fort worth. i heard from cardiologists. i heard from air conditioner

compressor remanufacturers in my district, i heard literally from butchers, bakers, and candle stick makers. they said, maybe it is doing bet for the north texas. i said are you looking to expand your business? add jobs? they say, no i'm not. i don't know what you're going to do with health care. i haven't a clue what you're going to do with the regulation. all i see is the abyss. i cannot add a job in this environment. congress is doing -- forget the economy, forget the worldwide situation, it is what congress is doing, the uncertainty that congress has injected into the small business climate and small business environment, they are holding back on adding jobs in a climate, where

otherwise, if abanker would loan me money, i might do it but not if i'm going to face an 8% payroll tax or have to pay some sort of premium a carbon offset at some point in the future and who knows what this financial regulation will do to me if i'm a financial planner. all kinds of businesses in my district, the multiplier effect of those one or two jobs spread out across my district, spread out across my state, spread out across the country. is it any wonder that our unemployment is 9.7%? mr. akin: the sad thing is, to a large degree, we're doing it to ourselves, with this just overkill legislation. this looks like somebody is -- has got a solution, looking for a problem to justify it. i notice we're joined by my good friend, congressman fortenberry, i'd like to yield some time to you, so you can be part of the discussion. congressman fortenberry is

highly respected, he's one of these level headed, decent guys, everybody likes him. you've got to have some people in your district talking to you about this. what are you hearing, congressman? mr. fortenberry: i didn't have the benefit of the conversation in its fullness before joining you just a moment ago. i would like to try to make a contribution to what you're saying, if you can yield a few minutes to me. mr. akin: i do yield. i would enjoy having a conversation here. little bit like going to dinner with your congressman, except the food, you have to provide that for yourself. proceed, please. mr. fortenberry: i think, if i could reframe this for just a moment, i think there's a central question we should all be asking on both sides of the aisle, including the administration. how do we strengthen health care in america? how do we answer a fundamental question as to reducing costs, improving health care for all americans, and protecting vulnerable people?

if you start to frame how we move forward on appropriate public policies that inprove health care, reduce costs and protect vulnerable people, you begin to get underneath, actually, the reason we're in a circumstance now where you have a large section of america that's happy with his health care and unhappy with the rising cost. you have another section of america that has real problems with gaps of insurance coverage, either because of pre-existing conditions or loss of job and an inability to afford a product individually. that's a real problem. then you have certain vulnerable populations who, frankly, end up in the emergency room a lot of times, whereas if there were alternative methods of care for primary care that would reduce that cost as well. how do you begin to answer those questions, i think? one is, and i think there has been a certain bipartisan focus on this, and this is -- that's positive in this overall debate but it's the whole issue of health and wellness. our total health care bill in

this country is about $2.2 trillion. about 75% of that is due to the onset of chronic disease. a major portion of that could actually be prevented or better managed with significant cost reductions. for instance, some estimates suggest that 80% of cardiovascular disease could be prevented or better managed. can you imagine the hundreds of billions of dollars we could be saving if we had a cultural shift in the paratime of health that looked at incentivizing health and wellness. in nebraska, we have a hospital that held a committee hearing a public hearing in the field back home on putting the health back in health care, a subcommittee of the agriculture committee we held back in august. madonna rehabilitation hospital's principal testified, they have a 1.7% increase in their health care bill over the

last five years. incredibly low. mr. akin: that's not much increase. most people's insurance jumps 20% a year. mr. fortenberry: they have a progressive program, you're incentivized to watch your health, to engage in preventive care. the largest employer in nebraska has a 50% lower increase in their cost because they aggressively incentivize prevention as well. another plant in nebraska has $5,000 cost per employee rather than the $8,000 industry average because of prevention. doc, right now, we tend to pay the medical establishments to fix or cut or prescribe. if we incentivize wellness for people to have incentives to

watch their own cost, perhaps through expansion of health savings accounts and other ways to allow for opportunities to control their own health care, as well as companies paying directly for prevention, and then incentivizing the medical establishment to be paid or reimbursed for that type of care, you'll begin to get under one of the major cost drivers that has left us in this situation. hundreds of billions could be save. mr. akin: i appreciate your approach of trying to solve problems. we have focused for some of our discussion this evening on the things that are wrong with basically having the government take the whole thing over and socialize it. but we've also been criticized by the president and others that the republicans don't have any kind of solutions to health care. which you just showed was a tremendous amount of innovative and strategic thinking in terms of how do you approach this. i think it might be worthwhile, doctor i ask you to join us,

please, let's talk about some things, think about our republican colleagues and friends, i'll toss out a few things i would figure get at least 90%, maybe 95% from our colleagues. one of them is that the big companies and employees of big companies get to pay for health care with pretax dollars, but the small business guy and the individual has to pay with after-tax dollars. i think most of us would say, justice means that people are treated equally before the law and that if we're going to allow people to buy their medical insurance with pretax dollars, that should be made available to everybody. is that -- don't you think that would be probably -- do you think we'd get a 95% on that probably? mr. burgess: on our side of the aisle, i think you'd get 95%, i don't think you can speak for the whole house. mr. akin: i'm not speaking for the whole house, they want the

government to take things over. that's just one idea. mr. fortenberry: you made the point there's an unequal treatment based on the tax status in the tax code, if you're an individual left out there on your own, off different incentive, based on the way the tax code is structured. i agree with you. mr. burgess: a multistate corporation has the ability to deliver their product over state lines. individuals in the individual market are prohibited from buying across the state line to get a better deal. mr. akin: that suggests -- mr. mr. burgess: insurance companies tend to form natural monopolies. if you remove the barriers, rather than adding another company for competition, why not remove barriers and open it up to 1,200 or 13rks00

companies that might like to compete for business in alabama. mr. akin: you've got in the case of missouri, where i'm from, you've got kansas city. kansas city, half of it is in missouri and half in kansas. so if somebody in missouri kind of goes over the line into kansas and finds out, hey, i could get a couple hundred bucks less a month on the same health policy, why can't i buy that health policy from an insurance company in kansas? what you're saying is, yeah, that's ok. allow people to shop for insurance across lines which then reduces the monopoly problem in the insurance industry. that's something that don't you think most republicans would support that idea? mr. burgess: the real stradgeji in this debate is we never really explored those types of ideas. maybe it doesn't need to be throughout the united states. maybe there could be regions, maybe there could be resip rossity between states. we've never explored that. one thing that concerns people,

you get 10 years of taxes and six of benefits from this bill. none of these good things that come people's way and lift the burdens of health care, none of them happen until after the next presidential election. part of that is to keep the score low on the congressional budget office. part is because it's going to take a long time to set up the programs. we don't have an administrate for were -- administrator for medicare and medicaid services right now and that's the person who will be charged with setting up these programs. in the meantime we do need to do something to cover individuals with pre-existing conditions, those with tough medical diagnosis, their insurance is rescinded from them. nothing is worse to americans than if they play by the rules, they pay their insurance every month, then they get sick and dropped from their insurance policy. we could fix that.

mr. akin: which gets to another republican proposal for portability. you know something isn't right with the way insurance is written when somebody does all the right things, run for a number of year, buy insurance, and all of a sudden their kid gets sick with juvenile diabetes or something, very expensive, then they change jobs or something, and they're uninsurable. that's not the way the system should work. that would be a very admirable thing if the house were just to focus on fixing that problem. that would be very good work. but no, we have to have the government. we have to scrap everything. we've got 100 million americans with insurance policies and doctors and doctor-patient relationships they like and we're going to scrap the whole thing and have the government take it over, that's irrational. mr. burgess: even the president himself said here the other night, because these programs won't be up and running quickly, maybe we should take the john mccain idea of the high risk pool, reinsurance,

get people immediate help now. i would submit to you if we would work harder on that, it may not be necessary to go the full government -- full strength of the government program. why do we have to fix a program that is arguably working well for 60%, 70%, 80% of the population? why change it for everyone capture the eight or 10 million people who get caught in that cycle of having a pre-existing condition? i yield to my friend from nebraska. . mr. fortenberry: persons who have pre-existing conditions through no fault of their own and are caught in a cycle of not being able to find insurance for the top of problem that they're dealing with is another point of real unfairness that i think you could find appropriate solutions and fix. it leads to my second point that we ought to focus on creative

pools for affordability and innovation and increased access for people out there. i got a letter from affiliated foods in nebraska, and they are a cooperative in texas, missouri and nebraska. we are leveraging our buying power to get agricultural inputs and sell our grain. this is a cooperative growser who uses their group buying products for mom and pop grocery stores. they used to be able to buy their insurance through that cooperative but because of the change in the law a few years ago, they can no longer do so. it leaves the small entrepreneur out in the rural community to go out in the expensive business market. this is a legitimate business and this is a group of people who bought into a business plan

and have ownership in it, stake holders, going to be appropriately capitalized. no reason they shouldn't be allowed to use that entity as a creative form of association to leverage group buying power to provide more affordable insurance. mr. akin: what you're talking about is what people call in this business associated health plans, the idea that people can create pools and in a discount rate, buy their health care. that's something republicans have voted for dozens of times. we have associated health plans. we are saying people should have their tax treatment and when they buy health insurance should be the same. we're going to deal with the issue of portability so when you own a policy, you can keep it and the insurance company can't dump you. what we haven't talked about is tort reform, which we have good support for that. that drives health costs tremendously and we are

unwilling to be -- so the charge that we aren't willing to deal with this debate is not true. mr. fortenberry: another option out there that we should have a creative policy discussion about is what the good doctor just mentioned, high risk pools is another option that you have to insure or having the government subsidize a market that doesn't exist for people who are priced out. normal market rates through their business or individual policies. you could look at the expansion of those opportunities. we have a fairly good one in nebraska. it is a bit expensive for folks, but that's another way that the government could use public dollars to insure that people are people are covered and pay normal rates or provide a reinsurance mechanism and as the doctor was saying, you would have gone a long way towards resolving the difficult problem that exists for 10 million

americans in providing affordable coverage. you would have a bipartisan winner on your hands. there are certain other options, maybe this is controversial but worth exploring, in terms of basic public health expansions like community health centers where you help persons who are in more vulnerable situations avoid ending up in the emergency room for primary care treatment. a combination of this, focus on health and wellness, new insurance risk pools for affordable options and protecting those because of pre-existing conditions who are priced out of those markets with perhaps other types of high risk pool entities and combined with other public initiatives like that, you would have answered the question, how do you improve the health of all america and protect vulnerable persons? we can all applaud and have a big bipartisan agreement and accomplished what the people

have sent us here to do. mr. akin: our speaker has pulled together various people, ignored the recommendations that we had and decided well, we know what's best, the government is going to run it, this public option and we are charging down this i'll and basically, people are wondering why is it stalled. you just don't take over 18% of the economy, take $500 billion out of medicare, basically allow a program, which is going to allow public funding for abortion and illegal immigrants getting access to this money and all that stuff without people having something to say about it. mr. fortenberry: the taxes and fees that are added on top of medical devices and insurance policies in order to pay for these programs are going to drift down to the middle class. there is no way to avoid taxing the middle class or a fee on the

middle class with the structure proposed by the senate finance committee. i would just make a point that if people are interest nd this debate, healthcaucus.org has documented the debate that has gone on since january and february of this year. i would like to point out we do hear the complaints that republicans have not been involved in this process. i met with the transition team in november and offered my assistance and never called back. i met with the chairman of my committee of energy and commerce and never received a call back. i submitted 50 amendments to our committee and had several of them accepted, but republicans do have ideas. they are reasonable ideas and deserve a fair hearing in committee and unfortunately we were denied that opportunity because as the gentleman correctly points out, as the deputy president has said, never let a good crisis go to waste. they were determined to use this economic crisis to expand the reach and grasp of the federal

government in health care. here's the reality, the president had really wanted to do this, they could have done this in february when the approval rating was 80% and could have been signed into law before the month was over. mr. akin: i would like to thank congressman burgess and congressman fortenberry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentlewoman from florida, ms. wasserman schultz, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous remarks on breast cancer awareness. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. wasserman schultz: like so many times before, i stand with my friends and colleagues on both sides of the aisle to

address an issue that is personal and universal. as you may know, october is national breast cancer awareness month. it is a privilege to be with fellow survivors and advocates celebrating 5 years of breast cancer awareness and empaurment. its the leading cause of death for women according to the national cancer institute. in 2009, the american cancer society estimates there will be 194,280 cases of breast cancer around the nation and 40,000 of these americans will die from the disease. although these statistics may seem discouraging, we have made significant progress. steady declines in breast cancer mortality among women since 1990 have been attribute todd a combination of early detection and improvements in treatment. when breast cancer is detected at early stages, the survival rate for women is 98%. simply stated, many of these improvements would not have

happened without breast cancer awareness month and focus on research, education and awareness, which increases early diagnoses and saves lives. i know the importance of early detection. nearly two years ago, after i found a lump in my breast of doing a self-exam, my doctor diagnosed me with breast cancer. i had just turned 41. having passed breast cancer legislation, i knew a lot. i knew the importance of early detection, clinical exams eefer year after 40. mammograms. and yet for all that i knew, i realized how much i didn't know. i knew about the gene mutations, breast cancer genes, but i didn't some women were more likely to have the mutations. even with no immediate family history, i was five times more likely to have the mutation or

that i would have up to an 85% lifetime chance of getting breast cancer and 60% chance of getting ovarian cancer. like a lot of younger women, i didn't know how many of us it touches. and after talking with health care providers, survivors and advocates, it became clear that many other young women didn't know these things either. despite our knowledge on breast cancer and astounding 40% of young women with breast cancer said prior to their diagnose, they didn't know that a young woman could get breast cancer. on march 26, cancer-free and determined to be among the last young women who didn't know enough, i introduced h.r. 1740, the breast health education and awareness required learning act or the early act. and this morning, the energy and commerce subcommittee held a hearing on this legislation as

well as other legislation. the early act is designed to educate young women about breast health and provide support young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. young women must learn to speak up for themselves and know when they need to go to their doctor. because at the end the old saying rings true, knowledge is power. and when the early act becomes law, we will have full filed the awareness, increasing education, research and awareness all year long. however, research, education and awareness are not all that we focus on when it comes to breast cancer awareness month. we almost take this opportunity to honor and recognize the people close to us who have won their fight against breast cancer, those still fighting, those we have lost and those who are working hard every day to make sure no one else dies from breast cancer. we honor the determination of those women and the hope that

their courage gifts us all. it is an honor to be here tonight as we observe breast cancer awareness month hoping to increase diagnoses, saving more lives and finding a cure to wipe out this deadly disease. together, we will save more of our moms, sisters, grandmas, our daughters and loved ones. we can and will empower women to learn the facts, know their bodies, speak up for their health and embrace support. mr. speaker, i am particularly pleased tonight in an environment in which sometimes in fact too recently we struggle to do almost anything in a bipartisan fashion and the intensity and fervor in which we engage in debate here often prevents us from coming together. the members of the house of representatives truly came together today in support and in

honor of breast cancer awareness month and came together in honor of women who have passed away from breast cancer and in honor of survivors and in honor of women fighting the disease and it is my privilege to introduce my very good friend, fellow breast cancer survivor, someone who has been there for me even before i shared my own story publicly, congresswoman sue mireic, the gentlelady from -- myrick, the gentlelady from north carolina. mrs. myrick: i thank you for organizing this special order and i admire the courage that you had in being willing to share your story, because she won't have any idea of how much this is going to mean to people and there will be people that will be touched by what you did

for years to come, because you were willing to speak out. and to do this legislation. so thank you for introducing the bill as well. and as was noted, october is the 25th anniversary of breast cancer awareness month. and we have made great strides, just this week, it was announced scientists in canada have for the first time decoded all the three billion letters in the d.n.a. sequence of a certain type of tumor and in the process they found all the mutations or the spelling mistakes that caused the cancer to spread. we know there's a lot to be done in this fight. and i'm also particularly concerned about young women who are diagnosed with aggressive cancers. we have been concerned for some time. that's why we work with the national institutes of health and the environmental people to see if there are links there to figure out why young women in their 30's and 40's are

developing breast cancer. it used to be an older person's disease. so there is a lot of work to be done in that area as we move forward. but in my city of charlotte, there were a group of young women in their 20's who felt so alone that were survivors of breast cancer they didn't expect and they formed a group called breast friends as a support group. and the unfortunate part is this group is growing, faster than we would like to see it grow. that's one of the challenges we are facing is that so many young women are being diagnosed with this disease and that's the reason i'm pleased to be the lead co-sponsor on this bill, the early act. . representative wasserman schultz has done a wonderful job and it does address some

needs that young women who have breast cancer have. it's a lot different than those of us who are older who are survivors, have had to face and will have to face in the future. i have always supported breast cancer research funding over these many years. there's no doubt it's an important piece of the puzzle. but education efforts like those in the early act are also an important piece. because most younger women don't think they can get breast cancer. wait until you're older before you get a mammogram. now there's talk that self-exams aren't the way to go. i disagree with that, too, you're a good example of that one. we all need to help spread the word. we've got a lot of work to do, not only in our districts, but we need to continue the fight to find a cure. i thank all the colleagues who

have joined us tonight in this special order, it means a lot to everyone. and i know they'll go home to their own district and do the advocacy work we all do other a period of time and hopefully we will find a cure one day. with that, i yield back. thank you, mr. speaker. ms. wasserman schultz: the gentlelady from north carolina has been such a passionate advocate on behalf of all cancer patients. as co-chair of the congressional cancer caucus, she's done an incredible job at raising awareness not just about breast cancer, but about all types of cancer. given how much cancer has touched americans' lives in a very personal way, it's important that we have vocal advocates like sue myrick. it's my privilege to be side by side with you as co-sponsors of the early act. it's now primy privilege to yield time to the gentlelady

from california, who has a health care professional background as an r.n., prior to her election to congress, and has been a leading voice in women's health in the house, lois capps. i yield four minutes to the gentlelady from california. mrs. capps: as one of the co-chairs of the house cancer caucus, along with my friend, sue myrick, i am pleased to be here tonight. thank you for organizing this special order and the legislation you have introduced. i acknowledge my own sister, a breast cancer survivor and i acknowledge our sisterhood, those of us, there were men and women standing on the capitol steps today who have worn pink today in recognition. it's a lot deeper than that. through be -- but there is a sisterhood of those who have been touched by this disease,

and the men who have been touched as well. some with breast cancer, also men who love people with breast cancer. and have stood by them and supported them. and that network has made all the difference. i applaud the amazing work of the advocacy groups on all the -- for all the work they do it's because of them we've come such a long way in the fight against this disease. because of them we've take then disease out of the closet. the advocates against breast cancer and for understanding it have paved the way for many other disease entities to have survivors and those touched by it really become vocal and become the strong voices. when i first became a nurse, that was many years ago, the word cancer was hardly ever said out loud in public. and you never said the word

breast in public. but everyone who has work sod tirelessly over all the years to make sure that people understood that these are not words to be embarrassed by or shamed by, but rather to be empowered by. they encourage us to know how to be more aware of how to take care of our own bodies through early detection, that's a lot of what this legislation is about. now we know that more and more women know the importance of self-exams and taking advantage of early detection neckism ins like mammograms. far too many women face barriers. too many women are discriminated against by insurance companies for having this disease. whether it's the egregious practice of kicking you out of the hospital too soon after reconstructive surgery or posing barriers to accessing annual mammography we need to put an end to these practices and i'm proud to be a

co-sponsor of legislation to do so. i also applaud efforts to target groups who are marginalized, minorities and young women. they need better access to information and quality care. we need to pass legislation to make information and quality care more accessible. i proudly stand with my colleagues who are standing in congress to improve breast cancer awareness, education, and treatment. i do this on behalf of my constituents, my family, my friends, people who know all too well what it's like to receive the diagnosis of breast cancer. i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you so much. again, the gentlelady from california, lois capps, has just been one of the most outstanding health care advocates in the congress. i knew about her advocacy and

her leadership in health care even before i arrived in congress in 2004. it's a privilege to serve with you. it really is. it's now my privilege to yield time to a woman who has recently joined the congress, elected in the class of 2008, worked hard to get here and has been doing a fantastic job, serves in the nevada state senate as the state senate minority leader and is a good friend of mine. i almost called you senator. now you're a congressman, congresswoman dina titus of the great state of nevada. two minutes for the gentlelady from the great state of nevada. ms. titus: thank you so much. as we begin -- as we begin breast cancer awareness month, i'm proud to stand here. first let me thank debbie wasserman schultz for her leadership on this issue.

her push for early education are both inspiring and encouraging. unfortunately everyone has a story, one of their own experiences or those of a friend or family member who has battled cancer. each year we lose mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends to breast cancer. in nevada, an estimated 1 2,70 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed among women in 2008. and 430 of those women died of the disease. s that tragedy. what makes it even more tragic is that many of those deaths could have been prevented, if women knew the risk factors and if researchers had what they needed to make breakthroughs in understanding and curing cancer. i believe we must empower every woman with the tools she needs to fight this deadly disease. women should have access to the late etc. health information, undergo frequent health

screenings and receive preventive care. sadly, nevada has one of the lowest mammogram screening rates nationally. recent estimates are that only 54% of women over the age of 40 have had a mammogram in the past year. nevada is currently ranked 48th in the nation for percentage of women ages 40 to 69 who have -- who obtain mammograms annually. this is unacceptable. unfortunately too many younger women think that breast cancer is something that happens to older women, yet it's the leading cause of cancer deaths in women under the age of 40. so we must redouble our efforts to reach out to young women, to increase awareness of the threat and the warning signs that lead to early diagnosis. that's why i'm proud to also be a co-sponsor of the early act. and too often women who have underghon a difficult surgery, both emotionally and physically find themselves forced by their

insurance companies to leave the hospital before they're ready this, too, is unacceptable. women must have the adequate support after breast cancer surgery that they need to get them on the road to recovery. indeed we have all been touched by cancer. it can be a devastating disease and those who have fought and are fighting it demonstrate a remarkable strength every day. they teach us all the lessons of life and living and the importance of family and friends. i believe they are true heroes who are role models for us when it comes to strength and courage. while breast cancer has affected too many women in nevada and across the country, there's an enduring hope we can join together to search for a cure. between the strength and determination of breast cancer survivors and the generous spirits of volunteers, i'm optimistic we can defeat breast cancer if we stand together in this fight.

i yield back. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you so much, congresswoman titus. your leadership and the fact that you joined the congress, added another woman to our ranks, women's health and making sure that we can focus the attention and agenda on women's health here in the united states house of representatives is so incredibly important. we already have sort of head cheerleader, so to speak, though i don't mean to trivialize her position, but the first woman speaker of the house of representatives has been a passionate advocate for women's health and has always encouraged making sure we have more women joining our ranks, you have done a great job since you've been here, i'm so glad you joined us in the house of representatives. mr. speaker, i want to spend a couple of minutes highlighting some unique facts that really most people are unaware of when it comes to breast cancer. what i've learned since my own diagnosis and since getting

involved in a more personal way in trying to pass the early act is, we all hear the expression, everyone knows someone who has breast cancer. well, today, we really can say that everyone has someone close to them that has breast cancer. it's amazing, after my own -- after i shared my own story, how many -- i was standing there in the well, the day that i shared my story with folks, and i can't tell you how many members came up to me and touched my arm and said, you know, debbie, my daughter had breast cancer, my mother, my sister, my wife, people stopping me in the street on the airplane, on the ballfield with my kids, it's amazing. it really was. the outpouring of -- and people reaching out to connect with me was just an -- was just absolutely incredible because

breast cancer touches so people m people and touches women in a very personal way. but what's really frustrating about breast cancer is how it strikes certain populations in a more deadly way. that's another thing that i realize, that there are higher risk populations that too often are unaware of their risk. like me, as an ashkenazi jewish woman, i was not really aware of my risk of having a greater risk oif carrying the brca-1 or brca-2 gene mue decisions. consequently, when i was diagnosed with breast cancer, i dood a genetic test and learned i was a carrier of the brca-2 gene. but what i learned about african-american women is startling. they have the highest rate of breast cancer, 34 per 100 people in the population.

african-american women ages 35 to 44 have a breast cancer death rate more than twice the rate of white women in the same age group and they are 34% more likely to die of cancer than are whites and more than twice as likely to die of cancer as are asians or pacific islanders, american indians or hispanics. we have got to raise awareness in higher risk populations and minority populations and we have to change the disparity, the disparity in the survival rates and the disparity in terms of access to health care for those populations. we know that early detection is the key, and at this time, to talk some more about that, is a good friend, very good friend of mine, another newly elected member from the great state of pennsylvania, professionally a dietitian before she was elected to congress, small business owner, and most importantly a mother of five,

the gentlelady from pennsylvania, kathy dahlkemper, who i yield three minutes. . mrs. dahlkemper: thank you for asking me to join you tonight as we have this special order hour to honor breast cancer awareness month and those who battle breast cancer across this country. and we are here to deliver an important message. not only are we on your side in the fight against breast cancer but we are one with you in the fight against breast cancer. not simply because we believe in your cause and share your goals and not only because we empa that size with your hardship, but because breast cancer is not only real for us and americans across this country. this disease knows no boundaries or borders, blind to race, socio-economic status and age and does not care whether you are a member of congress. all in all, nearly 150,000 women will be diagnosed with breast

cancer this year and more than on 40,000 women will die because of the disease. what do the numbers mean? they are alarming and give us pause, but the truth behind these numbers is that 150,000 families will con front a crisis this year. 150,000 families will be confronted by the fear they may lose a mother, sister, daughter or dear friend. and 40,000 families will see the fear become a reality. breast cancer became a real cause of concern for me, but i was one of the lucky ones when my doctor told me i needed a biopsy, i was scared and worried what it would mean for my family. but thankfully breast cancer never became a reality. my biopsy came back clear. other women were not as lucky. numerous friends have lost their 3409ers. it is a pain that cannot be

accurately described and that is why we are here to honor breast cancer awareness mopt and show our honor and celebrate the millions of women who are breast cancer survivors. i would like to share with you some real stories. cindy was 38 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. she was one of the lucky ones. she had a mammogram that caught her cancer early and now a breast cancer survivor. she shared her experience in the paper. she quotes, i had no symptoms. i wasn't even thinking cancer. my cancer was very close to my spine and if i had waited until i was 40, like most doctors recommend, who knows what would have happened. she is the coordinator of the recycling program. this month, she is tying pink

ribbons in towns across her county to raise awareness and encourage women to get mammograms early. sue of meadsville was diagnosed with breast cancer. she was told she had to choose between a lumpectomy and a max ectomy. the words ring out, i find no anger, just numb. how, when,? it was a routine mammogram. she survived her battle and now she works as a nurse at the gynecology institute. the position is funded from a grant from the susan g. komen foundation. they are survivors and they are committed to helping women beat breast cancer. early detection saved their

lives. bauts they had regular mammograms, their cancer was detected early. when it is detected early, they are nearly 100% treatable. let's encourage the women in our lives, our mothers, sisters, our daughters and friends to get a mammogram. early detection saved cindy and sue and that's why i support the early act. let's work together to make their stories for every woman diagnosed with breast cancer. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you so much. again, it was a thrill to see you come to the house of representatives and add your expertise particularly as a dietician and thank you for sharing those personal stories. that's the important thing about breast cancer awareness month. when we talk about breast cancer, it is putting a face on it, helping people to

understand, because so often statistics are easy to glaze over and stop paying attention to. and here tonight to help us to continue to raise awareness is the gentlelady from southern california, susan davis who has made health care a signature issue during her time during her time in the california assembly and house of representatives. and education and labor committee passed part of the health care reform legislation and has been a leader by pushing for billions of dollars in funding at n.i.h. the gentlelady from california, i yield three minutes. mrs. davis: i thank you congresswoman wasserman schultz and congresswoman myrick for your leadership on this issue. some years ago, i decided to participate in a three-day breast cancer walk in my hometown of san diego.

i had had a college roommate who with successful treatment had survived breast cancer and wanted to show my support. walking would mean being with many men and women across san diego who like her had fought the disease and i knew i would be supporting many organizations that have worked to heal them. i remember thinking about how i would find time to train for the walk because if i took it on, i wanted to complete the walk and time management skills and congressional schedules, i wasn't sure how it would work out. breast cancer hadn't affected me personally. the disease hadn't struck my family. i felt the need to walk with others. soon after i signed up for the event rkts i was looking forward to joining my sister and her husband for dinner and catching up on our lives, sharing stories of our children. i was actually really excited to also tell her that i had signed

up for the walk. she's a marathon runner and i thought maybe she wanted to join us since walking for three days would be really easy for her. but my sister at that dinner had news of her own to share. she had just had a biopsy. and it had come back malignant. her diagnosis, breast cancer. far too many people know what it's like to sit there as i sit there and hear that news from someone you love so dearly and i know my colleagues on the floor have expressed that as well. at that point, my commitment and compassion for the walk was heightened, particularly as i spent the next six months and more talking with my sister about her treatment and her progress. during the three-day walk, i listened to so many people whose loved ones had been personally affected by breast cancer.

as you know, each story is really heartbreaking and inspiring all at one time. i remember all the tee-shirts with the pictures and many of them were of loved ones who had lost their lives to breast cancer. because of my sister and my roommate and my colleagues here that i have heard so much about breast cancer and so proud to be working here in congress to promote many of the legislation that we have talked about today, legislation like the breast cancer patient protect act, the breast cancer awareness education requires learning act, early act and other bills on this issue. i support the breast cancer resevere program that are exciting advances and so much has changed since that three-day walk i took quite a few years ago. as everyone has said, at some

point in their lives, nearly every american will have a family member or friend who battles breast cancer. we must do more to ensure that women of all ages, including younger women know how breast cancer can affect them. my sister was fortunate to have treatment that allowed her to continue her work and take care of her family and i'm happy to stand here and say she has been in remission for more than six years. but i know everyone's story is not like hers. many women and men lose this battle each year. i thank you for honoring so many who in their lives have survived breast cancer and remembering those who didn't. we need to continue to support increased education, awareness and the momentum that will bring us all to a cure. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you very much.

it's now my privilege to introduce and yield time to a gentleman who is again another recent addition to the house of representatives elected in november of 2008, someone who i have really seen exercise incredible leadership since his election to the united states congress and apparently the token man here tonight. so it's really wonderful that you have joined us. steve driehaus is a former peace corps volunteer which that kind of volunteerism is admirable. father of three young children which i know that he is the most proud of. and it's my privilege to yield him three minutes on behalf of breast cancer awareness month. mr. driehaus: i want to

acknowledge the tremendous work that you have done on this issue. i hail from the great state of ohio. and we have looked into the breast cancer statistics in the state of ohio. and we learn that more than 8,000 new diagnoses occur every year for men and women in the state of ohio with breast cancer and nearly 2,000 breast cancer fatalities still occur every year in the state of ohio. and while this recent decline in recent years in part due to the emphasis on early detection and treatment, we all know that it is still way too high. in southwest ohio, we have made progress. we have the breast cancer alliance of greater cincinnati, focusing on education and communication. we have the chris collinsworth, promoting breast cancer education and awareness and detection services and offering support to breast cancer patients.

we have the breast cancer registry of greater cincinnati housed at the university of cincinnati college of medicine designed to obtain information from and about women and men diagnosed with breast cancer with the purpose to support research about the causes of breast cancer. while all of these things lead to greater awareness and greater education around breast cancer, it's interventions like the early act and breast cancer awareness month that help us bring national attention and national folk you cuss to young women, older women, young men and older men about the dangers of breast karen ser. i remember when -- breast cancer. i remember my grandmother being diagnosed with breast cancer. i didn't know what it meant at the time. i knew grandma was sick and i knew she was in trouble. she eventually died from cancer and i think just like every one

of us, we have those stories. but back then when i was a little boy, we didn't have this awareness about breast cancer and didn't have the early diagnoses that we have today. that's why so many women lost their lives to this dreaded disease. we're making progress in this country. we are making tremendous progress. and it's through actions like the early act and breast cancer awareness month that we make that progress. i want to applaud my colleagues on the floor tonight and lend the voice of the men of america in support of these efforts. i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of the legislation. i think it is a critically important piece of legislation. and i appreciate you taking the time tonight to educate the people of america on the issue. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. driehaus. it is absolutely been a privilege to work with you since you have joined us in the house o