[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 408 Introduced in Senate (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;
(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 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.
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