Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I wish to thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health of the Energy and Commerce Committee for bringing this important piece of legislation to the floor. And I am a cosponsor of H. Res. 1011, sponsored by Representative Deborah Halvorson from the State of Illinois. This month, January, is national Cervical Health Awareness Month, and it is important, it is fitting that we highlight the educational efforts that have been made to increase early detection of cervical cancer. Almost half of the women that are diagnosed with this life- threatening disease are between the ages of 35 and 55. They actually fall into two populations. In one population, the disease is relatively slow to evolve. Obviously, in this group, the detection of precancerous and pre-invasive changes allows for treatment of this disease to be relatively straightforward. But there is a second population, fortunately a much smaller population, where the disease behaves with sometimes frightening speed. The disease can be so aggressive as to go from a normal test to an actual invasive cancer within a year's time, and it is this group of individuals where these tests may, in fact, be life-saving. That is why it is so important that we highlight the awareness of cervical health. The month of January is more than half over. But the need for cervical cancer awareness and education should continue throughout the entire year.…”