Darrell Issa: “It was 16 years ago that we first authorized Johanna's Law, it was a long time ago. I was a fairly junior Member and…”

“It was 16 years ago that we first authorized Johanna's Law, it was a long time ago. I was a fairly junior Member and Congresswoman DeLauro had worked on it for a number of years before that. It is something that today will easily be reauthorized--and America has been and will be better for--and seems easy. But it is never easy to begin the process of helping people understand what they don't know. Misinformation or a failure to have information continues to cause young women to die of cancer needlessly: whether it is ovarian cancer, gynecological cancer of any sort, whether it is related to HPV, or some other fashion. The fact is, Johanna's Law, H.R. 1550, which it is merged with, in fact, is something that America needs to understand today and in the future. When we originally passed Johanna's Law, we had 257 cosponsors and could have had more. More than 100 Republicans and Democrats signed on before we brought it to the floor. On that day, we said, if we can only get $10 million to get the awareness. We passed the bill and then we went looking for the money. Over time the money has increased. The fact is, Americans today, especially young women, are not as informed as they need to be. Reauthorizing both of these bills in one goes a step further to educating people about preventable death, preventable cancer. The fact is, I am thrilled that Congress, in such a tumultuous time, from time to time, comes together across the aisle and does something so important.…”