Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce a package of six bills designed to improve the health of countless women across America. By introducing these bills during the opening days of the 105th Congress, I hope to convey that women's health is one of my top legislative priorities for this Congress, and that I will do everything I can to ensure that it is a priority for the 105th Congress as well. For too many years, women's health care needs were ignored or poorly understood, and women were systematically excluded from important health research. One famous medical study on breast cancer examined hundreds of men. Another federally-funded study examined the ability of aspirin to prevent heart attacks in 20,000 medical doctors, all of whom were men, despite the fact that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. Today, members of Congress and the American public understand the importance of ensuring that both genders benefit equally from medical research and health care services. Unfortunately, equity does not yet exist in health care, and we have a long way to go. Knowledge about appropriate courses of treatment for women lags far behind that for men for many diseases. For years, research into diseases that predominantly affect women, such as breast cancer, went grossly underfunded. And many women do not have access to reproductive and other vital health services.”