Veteran's Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bipartisan legislation introduced by my colleague, Representative Dunn, and myself, which would ensure that lifesaving research and clinical trials are made available to reduce the rate of prostate cancer for our Nation's veterans.

Prostate cancer is the number one cancer diagnosed in the Veterans Health Administration, and numerous reports have established a link between cancer and military service, including exposure to certain herbicides like Agent Orange.

Early detection of this disease is critical, and veterans deserve a health system that provides both early detection and successful treatment. This bill will do just that.

It is our job to ensure that, when our brave men and women return home from their service, the VA is there to rehabilitate them and reintegrate them back into civilian life. They deserve our unconditional support, which is why I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring our obligation to our veterans and vote in support of this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, Dr. Dunn, because of travel restrictions, couldn't make it to this debate.

Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6092, the Veteran's Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis amongst U.S. veterans. I speak in two roles: one as a practicing urologist who has, for over 30 years, taken care of prostate cancer patients, and then also as a Congressman, too, to the Third District of North Carolina, which is home to roughly 95,000 veterans, the third most in the country. So this bill is especially important to me.

This legislation requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a national clinical pathway and a national registry related to the diagnosis, research, and treatment of prostate cancer. This information will be critical to help ensure our VA's prostate cancer patients have the best opportunity for early diagnosis and treatment.

Prostate cancer often sneaks up silently, without symptoms, and, thus, early detection is the key. Early diagnosis leads to a much greater chance for cure.

Also, very important is this bill's requirements for the VA to develop a real-time, actional national prostate cancer registry online. The more we can keep the VA up to date with the medical advances of the 21st century, the more veterans' lives we will save.

I want to thank my colleague and fellow urologist, Congressman Neal Dunn, for leading this initiative in the House. Bills like this one are the reason more and more veterans are surviving this horrible disease. I am proud to be a cosponsor and look forward to its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this legislation.

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