Daniel Akaka: “I rise with others of my colleagues in the Senate in support of the sixth annual National Race for the Cure, which will…”

“I rise with others of my colleagues in the Senate in support of the sixth annual National Race for the Cure, which will be held in Washington, DC, on Saturday, June 15, this year. Race for the Cure, as has been noted, is a breast cancer benefit run sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The foundation was established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker in honor of her sister who died of breast cancer at the age of 36. Since its creation, the foundation, through events such as Race for the Cure, has raised millions of dollars to promote education, promote awareness, promote research, and promote early detection of the disease. Three-fourths of the money raised goes toward local treatment and screening activities, while one-fourth of the funds goes to the Komen Foundation to fund national research activities. The statistics on breast cancer remain startling, Mr. President. This year, an estimated 44,000 women in our country will die from breast cancer, and another 184,000 will be diagnosed with the disease. I continue to have great concern over the high incidence and low survival rates for this disease among minority and low-income women. I remain particularly concerned that the Native Hawaiian women have the highest incidence of breast cancer among all racial and ethnic groups in this country.”