Brendan Boyle: “I thank my good friend from Florida (Ms. Castor) for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill…”

“I thank my good friend from Florida (Ms. Castor) for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2024. This bipartisan legislation would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs, to conduct an interagency review of research on women and lung cancer, as well as access to preventive services. It also calls for interagency collaboration on public awareness campaigns to increase education and promote early detection. While smoking rates continue to decline and overall lung cancer rates fall, there is one deeply concerning exception: young women who have never smoked. Studies show that women nonsmokers are now twice as likely as nonsmoking men to develop lung cancer. The statistics are indeed staggering. According to the American Cancer Society, 162 women in the United States die of lung cancer every single day. That is about one woman every 8 to 9 minutes. In 2024 alone, an estimated 59,280 women will lose their lives to this disease. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths among women, and we must do far more to address it. This bill is about solutions. By increasing access to preventive services and public awareness, we can lower the prevalence of lung cancer among women. Mr. Speaker, despite progress in preventing and treating lung cancer, disparities persist.…”