Mark Souder: “Today the House passed H.R. 1245, the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act of which I am a co-sponsor. This…”

“Today the House passed H.R. 1245, the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act of which I am a co-sponsor. This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to carry out a national campaign to increase the awareness and knowledge of gynecologic cancers. It mirrors a similar law passed by Congress in 2000 that directed HHS to educate women and health care providers about cervical cancer. Unfortunately, the 2000 law has never been fully implemented which is, in part, why this new law is needed. I am pleased that the Senate revised the bill to set a deadline of March 2008 for HHS to enact this bill and the 2000 law. The Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, which I chair, has been very active in cervical cancer issues over the past 5 years. I have been very disappointed with the lack of progress enacting the 2000 cervical cancer awareness law. I introduced a bipartisan resolution in 2003 urging federal agencies to comply with this law, held a hearing on the topic in 2004, and have sent numerous letters to the agencies responsible for carrying out this law. Yet 6 years after being signed, the law has still not been fully enacted and that is why setting a deadline has become necessary. This is important because thousands of women die of and many more are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year in the U.S.”