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Time to write your representatives? S. Res. 408


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the following is from Lung Cancer Alliance

Dear Friends,

Last night the United States Senate passed by unanimous consent S.Res.408 which calls for lung cancer to be treated as a national public health priority and lays out a blueprint for a coordinated attack on lung cancer’s high mortality by several federal agencies.

A resolution, even one passed unanimously, does not legally force the agencies to act. However, the political message coming from the Senate is loud and clear. The rarely seen speed with which it was passed, just five weeks after introduction, boosts the volume even louder.

Clearly we have established credibility and political capital in Congress which we can now leverage into, and in fact we are in the process of doing, authorizing and funding bills for increased lung cancer research, earlier detection and better treatments, and eventually even chemoprevention drugs for pre-cancerous conditions.

We are grateful for the leadership of Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) who reached across party lines to give the resolution their full support and expedite its passage by the Senate.

A similar resolution introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Clay Shaw (R-FL) is pending action.

Kay Cofrancesco

Program Specialist

Lung Cancer Alliance

202-463-2080

www.lungcanceralliance.org

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Don't Forget House resolution 739!! I have sent support letters to Mrs. Dole and Richard Burr My reps for 3 weeks now. Thanks on this info!!!!

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SRES 408 IS

109th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. RES. 408

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should declare lung cancer a public health priority and should implement a comprehensive interagency program that will reduce lung cancer mortality by at least 50 percent by 2015.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 28, 2006

Mr. HAGEL (for himself and Mrs. CLINTON) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should declare lung cancer a public health priority and should implement a comprehensive interagency program that will reduce lung cancer mortality by at least 50 percent by 2015.

Whereas lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women, accounting for 28 percent of all cancer deaths;

Whereas lung cancer kills more people annually than breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, melanoma, and kidney cancer combined;

Whereas, since the National Cancer Act of 1971 (Public Law 92-218; 85 Stat. 778), coordinated and comprehensive research has elevated the 5-year survival rates for breast cancer to 87 percent, for prostate cancer to 99 percent, and colon cancer to 64 percent;

Whereas the survival rate for lung cancer is still only 15 percent and a similar coordinated and comprehensive research effort is required to achieve increases in lung cancer survivability rates;

Whereas 60 percent of lung cancer is now diagnosed in nonsmokers and former smokers;

Whereas 2/3 of nonsmokers diagnosed with lung cancer are women;

Whereas certain minority populations, such as black males, have disproportionately high rates of lung cancer incidence and mortality, notwithstanding their lower smoking rate;

Whereas members of the Baby Boomer generation are entering their sixties, the most common age for the development of cancer;

Whereas tobacco addiction and exposure to other lung cancer carcinogens such as Agent Orange and other herbicides and battlefield emissions are serious problems among military personnel and war veterans;

Whereas the August 2001 Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group of the National Cancer Institute stated that funding for lung cancer research was `far below the levels characterized for other common malignancies and far out of proportion to its massive health impact';

Whereas the Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group identified as its `highest priority' the creation of integrated, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research consortia organized around the problem of lung cancer rather than around specific research disciplines; and

Whereas the United States must enhance its response to the issues raised in the Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the President should--

(1) declare lung cancer a public health priority and immediately lead a coordinated effort to reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer by 50 percent by 2015;

(2) direct the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to increase funding for lung cancer research and other lung cancer-related programs within a coordinated strategy and defined goals, including--

(A) translational research and specialized lung cancer research centers;

(B) expansion of existing multi-institutional, population-based screening programs incorporating state of the art image processing, centralized review, clinical management, and tobacco cessation protocols;

© research on disparities in lung cancer incidence and mortality rates;

(D) graduate medical education programs in thoracic medicine and cardiothoracic surgery;

(E) new programs within the Food and Drug Administration to expedite the development of chemoprevention and targeted therapies for lung cancer;

(F) annual reviews by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of lung cancer screening and treatment protocols;

(G) the appointment of a lung cancer director within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with authority to improve lung cancer surveillance and screening programs; and

(H) lung cancer screening demonstration programs under the direction of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;

(3) direct the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to develop a broad-based lung cancer screening and disease management program among members of the Armed Forces and veterans, and to develop technologically advanced diagnostic programs for the early detection of lung cancer;

(4) appoint the Lung Cancer Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee comprised of medical, scientific, pharmaceutical, and patient advocacy representatives to work with the National Lung Cancer Public Health Policy Board and to report to the President and Congress on the progress and the obstacles in achieving the goal described in paragraph 1; and

(5) convene a National Lung Cancer Public Health Policy Board comprised of multiagency and multidepartment representatives and at least 3 members of the Lung Cancer Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee, that will oversee and coordinate all efforts to accomplish the mission of reducing lung cancer mortality rate by 50 percent by 2015.

739 ReaDS THE SAME WAY BUT FOR THE HOUSE cLICK FOR lINK

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c ... 109pWJ1f3::

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Joyce sent this to me, so I'll just share it here:

Honorable (name)

United States Senate (House of Representatives)

Washington, DC

Dear Senator (Congressman/Congresswoman):

RE: S. Res. 408 and H. Res. 739

My family knows from personal experience the devastation wrought by lung cancer. That is why we strongly support S. Res. 408 and H. Res. 739.

Lung cancer continues to trail other cancers in terms of research funding, yet it kills more people than the next six highest cancers combined.  Much of this is due to the unfortunate stigma surrounding the disease as only a "smoker's disease" and thus preventable.  This is untrue, however, and an alarming number of newly detected cases are in people who have either quit smoking many years ago, or had never smoked at all.  I did not realize this until the disease touched my family, and I suspect the general public is unaware of these facts as well.

 

Legislation such as that proposed in [senate/House Resolution 408/739] is long overdue in this country, and would go a long way toward improving the lives of many in the future.  The key to battling this disease lie in the efforts such as that of the Lung Cancer Alliance to bring lung cancer out of the shadows and into the national spotlight, along with the support of our federal government.

 

I urge you to vote in support of this resolution.  Thank you in advance for your support of this initiative which has the potential of saving millions of lives.

Sincerely,

(your name)

The following link allows you to type in your zip code to get your senators/reps names:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dir ... yreps_form

A letter for friends and family

I join with Lung Cancer Alliance, in asking for your support of lung cancer legislation which is now in Congress.

 

On April 4, 2006 about 40 Lung Cancer Alliance advocates met with members of Congress and the Senate on Capitol Hill.  Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) introduced Senate Resolution 408, and Congressman Clay Shaw (R-FL) introduced House Resolution 739 which calls for President Bush to declare lung cancer a public health priority and immediately lead a coordinated effort to reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer by 50% by the year 2015.  These resolutions also direct the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to increase funding for lung cancer research and other lung cancer-related programs. Here is a link to a press release about the bill, with additional links for a more complete description of the resolution.

 

http://www.lungcancerallianceblog.org/p ... 6/03/29/20 

 

You can see a picture of both senators with LCA President Laurie Fenton on the Clinton website.

 

I am asking for your help.  We desperately need each of you to contact your Congressman/Congresswoman and both Senators and urge them to support these resolutions.  E-mails are easy to write and will reach the policymakers much faster than letters via the postal service - or simply pick up the phone and call.  Ask your friends and family to do the same.  Many of you are members of churches or other organizations - please consider asking them to support this as well and to pass the request along.  We need all the support we can get in order to assure passage of this lifesaving measure.  If you are unsure of your representatives, you can find them by simply typing in your zip code on the website below.  Then just click on the name to link to an e-mail form.

 

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dir ... yreps_form

 

Thank you all for your help in this.  While it is heartbreaking that this did not come in time to save so many, it will save the lives of countless others -and with the shockingly high incidence rate of lung cancer, perhaps even one of our loved ones.

Sincerely,

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What I haver done is sort of an auto Bio on Debs Condition and Facts from here and asked for support of Senate Resolution 408 and House resolution 739. Much more personal than a form letter I think. That is before there were anty releases from LCA about these bills. Just my personal thughts about writing Congress and Senate Reps. Gotta do what works for weach person.

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