Leahy And His Allies This Week Cross $1 Billion Milestone In Fighting Breast Cancer

October 26, 1999

WASHINGTON (Oct. 26) -- President Clinton Monday signed into law an annual Defense Department budget that includes the latest installment of breast cancer research funds sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy and his allies, boosting the eight-year total of their effort above the $1 billion mark.

By now, Vermont's senior senator has made the Department of Defense (DoD) one of the most significant sources of research funding directed against breast cancer – especially for the kind of cutting-edge research that can lead to dramatic new breakthroughs.

"It's a great feeling, knowing that we are a billion research dollars closer to winning the war against breast cancer," said Leahy. "These are seed investments that can sprout major advances. These grants go for the kind of medical research that leads to the unforeseen breakthroughs that will help us finally defeat this disease."

"The Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program revitalized and revolutionized breast cancer research and has created a model for research in other diseases," said Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. "It simply would not have happened without the leadership of members of Congress like Senator Leahy, to whom we owe a great debt."

Leahy, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and others launched the project to tap DoD medical research for breast cancer work in 1992. The agency by then had become a major source of prostate cancer research funds. Harkin, Leahy and others -- backed by a nationwide grassroots campaign headed by breast cancer survivor Pat Barr of Bennington, Vt. -- now have succeeded in also making the Pentagon a major source of breast cancer funding.

"Eight years ago, Pat Barr convinced me that it wasn't such a crazy idea to make the Pentagon a leading source of breast cancer research funding. We listened to her, and her idea has flourished and brought us closer to the cure."

Leahy is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and of its Defense Subcommittee, which writes the annual Pentagon funding bill.

In recognition of Leahy's leadership on breast cancer solutions through the Pentagon program and other initiatives, the National Breast Cancer Coalition earlier this year inducted the Vermonter as one of the first three charter members of the new Public Policy Hall of Fame, citing Leahy's wide-ranging and persistent work to help find a cure for the disease. He has received the coalition's Leadership Award every year since its inception in 1993.

The latest $175 million allocation for the Army Breast Cancer Research program features Innovative Developmental and Exploratory Awards (IDEA) grants which encourage and support risk-taking research and allow scientists to quickly respond to new discoveries. So far, more than 9,300 research proposals have been received, 4,300 of those were considered worthy of funding, and 1,712 have received funding.

Here is the breakdown of funding secured for the program through Leahy's efforts so far: $210 million in 1993, $25 million in 1994, $150 million in 1995, $75 million in 1996, $100 million in 1997, $135 million in 1998, $135 million in 1999, and now $175 million for 2000, for a total of $1,005,000,000.