[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 739 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 739
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President
should declare lung cancer a public health priority and should
implement a comprehensive inter-agency program that will reduce lung
cancer mortality by at least 50 percent by 2015.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 28, 2006
Mr. Shaw submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President
should declare lung cancer a public health priority and should
implement a comprehensive inter-agency 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, coordinated and comprehensive
research has elevated the five year survival rates for breast cancer to
87 percent, for prostate cancer to 99 percent, and for colon cancer to
64 percent, which are decreases in mortality we should seek to
replicate;
Whereas the survival rate for lung cancer is still only 15 percent and will
require similar coordinated and comprehensive research to achieve
decreases in mortality;
Whereas 60 percent of lung cancer is now diagnosed in nonsmokers and former
smokers;
Whereas two-thirds 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 ``baby boomer'' generation Americans are now entering their sixties, the
most common age for cancer development;
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 National Cancer Institute's Lung Cancer Progress Review Report of
2001 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 Lung Cancer Progress Review Report 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 Federal Government should enhance its response to the issues raised
in the Lung Cancer Progress Review Report: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 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 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, but not limited to--
(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;
(C) 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 &
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
military personnel and veterans, and to develop technologically
advanced diagnostic programs for the early detection of lung
cancer;
(4) request the cooperation of other agencies of the
Federal Government, such as the Department of Energy and the
Environmental Protective Agency, with expertise in additional
areas that could be utilized to achieve the goal of reducing
lung cancer mortality;
(5) appoint a Lung Cancer Scientific and Medical Advisory
Committee composed 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 the Congress on the progress and the obstacles in
achieving the mission as described in paragraph (1); and
(6) convene a National Lung Cancer Public Health Policy
Board that is composed of multi-agency and multi-department
representatives and at least three members of the Lung Cancer
Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee, and that will
oversee and coordinate all efforts to accomplish the mission of
reducing lung cancer mortality rate by 50 percent by 2015.
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