Sheila Jackson Lee: “I would like to thank the staff, first, for working with Members and getting Members in order to be able to present…”

“I would like to thank the staff, first, for working with Members and getting Members in order to be able to present their amendments; and then I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their understanding of this amendment and, again, make the point that this amendment that I am offering at this time I have been able to work on with the appropriators over the years. I am a breast cancer survivor, and as I, myself, was going through that period, I met women who were experiencing triple negative, which is a very deadly aspect of breast cancer. My amendment increases funding for Defense Health Program's research and development by $10 million, and these funds will address the question of breast cancer in the United States military. Just the fact, to take note of the point, that more than 800 women have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Army Times, 874 military women were diagnosed with breast cancer just between 2000 and 2001. My amendment will add additional research dealing with this question. And the good news is that, when the military research component works on this, there is a great possibility of moving forward. Breast cancer strikes relatively young military women at an alarming rate, but male servicemembers, veterans, and their dependents are at risk as well. `` `Military people in general, and in some cases very specifically, are at a significantly greater risk for contracting breast cancer,' says Dr.…”