Conquer Childhood Cancer Act

Floor Speech

CONQUER CHILDHOOD CANCER ACT -- (Senate - June 06, 2007)

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I would like to take a few moments to talk about 8-year-old Jenessa Byers, known as ``Boey'' by her friends and family.

Last year, Boey was diagnosed with a very rare childhood cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. Showing tremendous courage and strength as she underwent radiation and chemotherapy, Boey battled the cancer into remission. Unfortunately, that cancer returned and Boey is back in treatment undergoing radiation and chemotherapy once again.

While I was in Oregon over the recess, I had a chance to visit with Boey and her family at the Children's Cancer Center at Doernbecher Children's Hospital, as well as with other children at the hospital who are battling a variety of childhood cancers. Boey refers to herself as a warrior in the fight against cancer, and there is no doubt about it, Boey is a warrior. As I witnessed firsthand when I visited her last week, she is fighting the cancer as hard as she can. This in itself makes Boey a very brave and very special little girl.

But what makes her especially amazing is that in spite of what she is going through, Boey has been working tirelessly to help other children who are also battling cancer. Each month, she donates special bears and handmade cards titled ``Be Strong'' to other children at the hospital. The day before her eighth birthday last month, Boey participated as a survivor in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, for which she raised over $500. In addition, she has raised money to help fight cancer on a local radiothon, and she has raised awareness using her own videos, which she has posted on YouTube.

Because of Boey's incredible compassion and determination to help the other children fighting cancer, she was recently asked to be a spokesperson for Doernbecher Children's Hospital. On May 31, she spoke about her experiences at a reception for the Children's Miracle Network. Just this past weekend, she was featured in a segment of the Doernbecher Children's Miracle Network Telethon.

While I was visiting Boey, she asked me to cosponsor the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act. Introduced by Senators Reed and Coleman, this act would provide critical resources for the treatment, prevention, and cure of childhood cancer. The act would authorize $150 million over a 5-year period to expand support for biomedical research programs of the existing National Cancer Institute-designated multicenter national infrastructure for pediatric cancer research. It would also establish a population-based national childhood cancer registry; enable researchers to more accurately study the incidence of childhood cancers and long-term effects of treatments; and provide funding for informational and educational services to families coping with a diagnosis of childhood cancer. The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act brings hope to the more than 12,500 children who are diagnosed with cancer each year, as well as more than 40,000 children and adolescents currently being treated for childhood cancers.

On behalf of Boey and the other courageous and wonderful children I met at Doernbecher Children's Hospital recently, and every child with cancer, I would like to announce that I am cosponsoring the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act. I will be working with my colleagues to get this bill signed into law so that we can find a cure for childhood cancer once and for all.

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