Floor Statement on the Race for the Cure

Mr. President, fifteen years ago the first Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race For The Cure was held in Dallas. This year, at least 500,000 participants in more than 85 communities nationwide will host 5K runs and 1mile fitness run/walks to raise money for national breast cancer research efforts and local breast cancer initiatives.

I am proud to be honorary cochair for this year's Vermont Race For The Cure, along with my distinguished colleague, Senator Jeffords. The race will be held in Manchester on July 26. Last year our race was a wonderful community event, with more than 2,300 Vermonters running or walking in the race and with others joining in support through pledges and by cheering racers on. That effort led to $84,000 in grants for nine projects throughout Vermont to support breast cancer treatment, education and survivor support.

The Race For The Cure is an important and successful effort to raise private funds for breast cancer screening, education, and treatment to reduce and one day eliminate this terrible disease. One woman somewhere in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes and one of its victims dies from the disease every twelve minutes. One in eight women will suffer from breast cancer in her lifetime, and it is the leading cause of death for women between the ages of 35 to 54.

The private contributions raised by the Race For The Cure are a vital complement to the efforts of those of us in Congress who strive each year to secure federal funding to fight breast cancer.

We in Congress have made it clear that we plan to continue to increase research funding at the National Institutes of Health.

And just yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to guarantee at least $135 million for Fiscal Year 1999 for the Department of Defense breast cancer research program. This program continues to spawn farreaching innovations in medical research, and the sevenyear total allocated under this program will rise to $872 million, if this provision is enacted this year.

Seven years ago, working with the breast cancer survivor community, several of us launched this crusade to earmark a portion of the defense budget for this breast cancer research program, and over the years it has become a crucial supplement to other federally and privately sponsored research efforts.

Working together on these initiatives, and by supporting such private efforts as the annual Race For The Cure, we are drawing closer, year by year, to the day when we can eliminate the destruction and the pain of breast cancer from the lives of our wives, mothers and sisters.