Rep. Maloney Celebrates Senate Passage of the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act

Statement

The Senate passed the bipartisan Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act (H.R. 2722) by unanimous consent yesterday evening, providing a new avenue to raise private funds for breast cancer medical research. The bill, introduced by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) and Congressman Pete Sessions (TX-32) in the House and Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) in the Senate, will create a commemorative coin program at the U.S. Mint that can raise up to $8.5 million in private funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).

"I'm so pleased that the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act is now headed to the President to be signed into law," said Congresswoman Maloney. "Under this bill, new commemorative coins will be designed, minted and sold to raise money for breast cancer research, through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The coin sales will provide up to $8.5 million in new, private funding for critical research efforts. Breast Cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among nearly every racial and ethnic group. About one in eight women will develop the disease in her lifetime, but thanks to investment in research on detection methods and treatment, survivorship has increased. There are 3.1 million survivors in the United States today. The only obstacle standing between us and a cure is research and that research needs funding. I'm so pleased to have worked with Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) on this lifesaving bill to raise more funds for breast cancer research."

"At BCRF we have one, singular mission--fund research to save lives," said Myra Biblowit, President & CEO of BCRF. "It is an honor to be named as the recipient of the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin. Championed by Congresswoman Maloney, the bipartisan support is a clear example of the impact breast cancer has on Americans from all walks of life. We are closer than ever before to ending the devastating disease and these funds will help us propel research forward, faster."

Background:

The Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act (H.R. 2722) would direct the U.S. Treasury to issue up to 50,000 $5 "pink gold" coins, up to 400,000 $1 silver coins and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins with a design to symbolize the fight against breast cancer in 2018.
The production cost of these coins will be fully covered within the sales price, and the proceeds will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, headquartered in New York.
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) has raised more than $500 million for research, making it one of the largest supporters of privately funded research across 25 states and 14 countries. BCRF is dedicated to keeping administrative costs low. Of every dollar donated to BCRF, $0.91 goes to research and awareness programs--$0.88 towards research and $0.03 towards awareness.
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among nearly every racial and ethnic group. Clinical advances resulting from research have led to increased survival rates, and death rates have dropped over 34 percent since 1990.
The House of Representatives approved the bill introduced by Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) and Pete Sessions (TX-32) on July 15, 2015.
The Senate approved Rep. Maloney's on April 19, 2016.

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