Elijah Cummings: “recently I was visited here in Washington by the Maryland Chapter of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Their message…”

“recently I was visited here in Washington by the Maryland Chapter of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Their message was very simple. This year alone, more than 225,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 40,000 women will die from this terrible disease. Despite these statistics, we still do not know what causes breast cancer, how to prevent it, or how to treat it effectively. The National Breast Cancer Coalition needs our help in moving towards their goal of eradicating this dreadful disease. I want to add that combining all age groups, Caucasian women are more likely to develop breast cancer than African-American women. However, African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer. Past studies show that nearly half, 47 percent, of all African-American women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer die from the disease within 10 years. I come to the floor today with two questions: What can we do to end the suffering and needless loss of life, and what can Congress do? What can we do? Individually we need to make sure our loved ones, friends, family and coworkers have an annual mammogram and perform a monthly self-breast examination. Today, there is no cure. So prevention is the answer. I do not care how you get them to the examination room, beg or plead, but it must be done. Life is precious. Save a life by encouraging yearly mammograms and monthly self-breast exams.”