U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) and Renee Ellmers (R-NC-02) recently sent letters to House Leadership and leaders of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce requesting their assistance in advancing the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act, H.R.1197, to the House floor for a vote.

Passing the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act is the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s (NBCC) number one legislative priority because it calls on all stakeholders to concentrate their efforts on knowing how to end breast cancer by the end of the decade. The letter to House leadership states, in part,

“...H.R. 1197 creates a commission comprised of the best minds in biomedical research, breast cancer advocacy and other disciplines to identify promising opportunities and ideas to end breast cancer in fundamental, translational and applied sciences and epidemiology not currently being prioritized by the public and private sectors by leveraging the results of this nation's past investments in biomedical research and technology.”

Representative Castor said, “Too many women lose their lives to breast cancer every year—more than 40,000. And, the health disparities are alarming: While African American women are less likely to develop breast cancer, they are more likely to die from the disease. In addition, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic women. In Tampa Bay, cutting-edge work to end cancer is carried out every day by our talented researchers and health professionals. Now, we must bring together this research and the many investments aimed at ending breast cancer. The Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act will do just that. Through this Act, the greatest minds in research, business, advocacy and other fields will focus on strategies that will end this terrible disease before it can take more of our mothers and daughters away.”

Representative Ellmers said, “Research shows that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime.  With this number steadily on the rise, it’s important we put forth legislation to unify stakeholders, coalesce efforts and eliminate this disease once-and-for-all. The Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act is significant because it will facilitate public-private partnerships and expedite progress to end breast cancer.”

NBCC President Fran Visco said, “On behalf of the hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals who are a part of NBCC, I thank Representatives Castor and Ellmers for their ongoing leadership in our shared mission to know how to end breast cancer by 2020. We are pushing for a vote on this important legislation because we continue to lose more than 110 women a day in the United States to this disease. This is unacceptable, and that is why NBCC set Breast Cancer Deadline 2020®--that we know how to end breast cancer by January 1, 2020. The Accelerating bill will help us meet this goal.”

See the letter to House leaders here. See the letter to Energy and Commerce Committee leaders here.

ABOUT NBCC

The National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) is made up of hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals whose mission is ending breast cancer through the power of grassroots action and advocacy. Since 1991, NBCC has challenged the status quo and empowered thousands of breast cancer survivors and other stakeholders to become effective advocates who influence all decision making that affects breast cancer. In 2010, NBCC set a deadline and launched a plan of action to know how to end breast cancer by January 1, 2020—Breast Cancer Deadline 2020. As part of the Deadline, NBCC launched an advocate-led, innovative, mission-driven research effort, called the Artemis Project^®, which focuses on primary prevention, stopping women and men from getting breast cancer to begin with, and preventing metastasis to stop them from dying of it. NBCC also increases federal funding for meaningful breast cancer research, monitors how research funds are spent, and expands access to quality health care for all.

###