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Files of Christine Macy, Senior Speechwriter to the First Lady
Box 2: Files
Archived from OEOB 100 by Caroline Marvin on June 6, 2000
HRC Speeches: Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer
Reach Out and Read
Youth Development/After school/Violence
City Year
Service
HRC/Education Speeches
Youth Development/Afterschool/Violence
HRC/The Arts
Arts
HRC Speeches 1998
Millennium Council Projects
Abortion/Reproductive Rights
Health Reform
HRC Speeches/Women
Women and Girls Education
Safe Motherhood
Health Reform
Kosovo Comic Book
Civil Society/Democracy Building
Association of American Publishers
Gore
Family Reunion
Legal Services/HRC
Treasures Tour
Millennium Council Projects
HRC Speeches-Education
Medicare-Background
Health Reform
Miscellaneous
17204
ENCLOSURES FILED WESTE ATTACHMENTS NARA
14441
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
Remarks at the Colon Cancer Event
9/10/98
I am delighted to have all of you here
We want to send out a loud and powerful message to the American people. Colon cancer is the
second most deadly cancer there is, claiming more than 50,000 lives every year. But it is a
disease we can fight and we can beat if it is detected early. Today we come together to launch a
national effort to raise public awareness and promote early detection of this terrible, but
preventable disease. We are here, quite simply, to help save lives. And I am delighted to have
all of you taking part in this very important effort.
I am pleased that we have members of Congress here. I am very grateful for the Congressional
support on this particular issue. None of us would be here today, or be so far along in our efforts
to combat colon cancer, without the bravery, commitment and leadership of many people in this
room.
I would like to give a very special welcome to Katie Couric, who has endured such a deep
personal loss. We are all indebted to her for bringing national attention to the issue of colon
cancer. And I know Katie has been joined by her family, and Jay's family, and whenever you
face any kind of challenge in life, family is often who you turn to, and I know how important that
has been to Katie and her daughters, and I am very grateful that all of you could be here for this
set of announcements.
I also want to thank Ellen Levine, the editor-in-chief of Good Housekeeping. I told Ellen before
I came in, that a few weeks ago in Moscow I participated in a women's round table sponsored by
the Russian counterpart of Good Housekeeping. Good Housekeeping is working very hard to get
good information to women so they can make good decisions about their lives, and this is
another example of this effort to combat colon cancer.
One of the major forces behind this event today has been the National Colorectal Cancer Round
table which has been building coalitions of professionals, advocates and voluntary organizations,
each of which raises awareness about the benefits of early detection. I want to thank Dr Bernard
Levine for his strong leadership as the chair of that coalition.
I also want to say a very special word of welcome to the many cancer survivors and their families
who are here with us today. They are living proof that early detection saves lives. And to the
many volunteers and advocates who work day in and day out to help us lead longer and healthier
lives.
And I want to thank our corporate partners who play a critical role in helping us spread the word
about colon cancer. It is fitting that we would begin our program here this afternoon by hearing
from someone who has committed her life to improving the health and welfare of America's
families. I have worked with her for many many years. We both served on the board of the
Children's Defense Fund, and I have relished the opportunity to work with her over the last five
and a half years. She has been a key player in almost every social challenge fácing this country
today, and has worked toward solutions. Her national pastimes are very impressive, not on the
ball field, although she did play a lot of ball, but in the record books of our nation's health.
Thanks to her tireless leadership, we have a lot to show for the work we have done in the last five
and a half years.
From infant mortality being at an all time low to immunizations being at an all time high, to the
National Plan for Breast Cancer, to teen births dropping - there is a long list that she has worked
on with the President and many of us to improve the lives of Americans. It is my pleasure to
introduce my friend, and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Donna
Shalala
Thank you Katie. Thanks for using your considerable influence by making it clear that this is not
just an event today, it is the beginning of a crusade. It is the beginning, we hope, of a successful
national effort that will not only increase awareness, but save lives. And we hope that everyone
here, and everyone that will hear about this event will look for a way to participate and contribute
to our efforts to make colon cancer something that every American hears about.
According to a new survey by the Gallup organization, that is being released today, nearly 50%
of Americans over 50, those considered most at risk, but not exclusively at risk, 50% of that
group has never been screened for this disease. We also know that although the cancer occurs
equally in men and women, women are even less likely to be screened. Minorities are even less
likely to undergo screening. So, we just have a lot of work ahead of us doing whatever needs to
be done.
I hope that because we have been here at the White House here today, we have tried to give
heart to people who care about their loved ones who have suffered throughout this disease, and
understand there is no room left for excuses or embarrassment. Please, don't be embarrassed.
Don't put off the test. Do what you can for yourself and your families.
There are survivors here today. Some of them have already been mentioned. Joan Foster is with
us. She had a family history of colon cancer and she sought screening. In 1983, a polyp was
discovered and removed. Since 1985 she has had periodic screenings that have been normal.
Kathy Hochhauser, worried about her cancer during a screening. - she has reached her five year
survival period. Bob Williams discovered a cancerous polyp after a test, he is now retired and
drives cancer patients to their treatments and volunteers at one of the local cancer associations.
We want as best as we can to build our strength to have as much dramatic impact as possible of
what this disease does to people every single day. So we are not just here for awareness. We
have some announcements to make such as the Public Service Announcement that brought
people together to try and create infrastructure for this crusade.
At the federal level, I am pleased to announce the important new $10 million HHS grant from
the National Cancer Institute and the Gastrointestinal Program Project in Seattle. This money
will help scientists identify new ways of determining who is at risk. At Katie said, we need
different kinds of test, we need less invasive test, we need cheaper test, we need to have tests we
can take anywhere, anytime - mobile clinics - however we can do it to reach as many people as
possible. So I want to thank HHS and Secretary Shalala for helping us to begin the process of
learning how to do that.
We also have a great deal of cooperation from the private sector as well. This PSA that we just
saw is only one tool of trying to get the word out, and I am very grateful for it and for the
commitment by NEC and Good Housekeeping to run versions of it. But others in the private
sector are also chipping in.
American Airlines have placed a printed version of the printed PSA in its in-flight magazine,
reaching as many as 2 million Americans a year. Kellogg Company USA will print public
service messages on its cereal packages. American Greetings will create a prescription insert
about prevention and early detection, and the National Association of Chain Drugstores will
distribute that insert through their pharmacies. Other companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb,
Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Olympus America, Smith Kline Diagnostics, General Motors and Eli
Lilly have also committed to raise awareness about colon cancer among their workers.
These programs, because they are aiding people in their workplace and their communities will
make a very real difference in the health and welfare not only of employees, but of the general
public, and I really applaud all of these efforts. I am also pleased to announce that the American
Digestive Health Foundation, a member of the round table, is launching an internet chat room on
colorectal cancer, which will give consumers, cancer patients, family members, survivors and
those at risk a new source of important information, and a safe place to engage in real live
discussions about the issues they are concerned about.
I also want to take a moment to highlight an event that is going to take place here in Washington
September 25 and 26-the largest single rally ever to focus attention on the devastating problem of
cancer in America - all cancers - that affect someone we know in this room and beyond. I hope
that many of you and all those who hear about this event will participate.
But you know the real hard work depends on our scientists, our physicians, our researchers and
others getting the tools they need. Secretary Shalala mentioned it, Katie Couric referred to it -
sitting up in the Congress right now, are proposals from this Administration to substantially
increase the amount of money we are spending on cancer research. It is added to an already
increased base. We are at the breakthrough point of learning about so many different kinds of
cancers. I would urge anyone who cares about cancer and its devastating impacts on people in
our country, to urge the members of Congress to do what needs to be done to pass the
appropriation, to get the money available so that cancer researchers and scientists can do what
they need to do on our behalf.
I also want to emphasize a point that Katie made. Just as with breast cancer, the highest risk
group are people over fifty, and that risk increases as we age. But just as with breast cancer,
there are many victims of colon cancer under fifty. So this is a strong plea, that anyone with
cancer in their family, and I would not limit it to colon cancer - anyone who is in any way at high
risk - anyone who has ever had problems associated with the colon or the rectum - I would urge
you to urge them to have a screening. And as we have done many times in this room before, I
would urge all Americans to advocate for the coverage by their insurance companies for these
tests. It is unacceptable.
We know we have a tough fight in this crusade against us. But we also know there are many
markers on this road that you have traveled that show we can make progress together. I thank
you for bringing your stories, your concern and your expertise to us here this afternoon. I
especially thank Katie and her family. And I urge all of us not only to make this a national
priority, but a personal priority, and let's pull together, let's make this crusade successful. And
now I invite all of you to a reception in the foyer, and a receiving line in the Blue Room, and I
invite the pres to go for their test in the Green Room.
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
REMARKS TO BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
EVENT
THE WHITE HOUSE
OCTOBER 21, 1998
1
It's a great pleasure to join the President in welcoming all of you to
the White House, as we come together to mark Breast Cancer Awareness
Month. All of you here have been such powerful voices in the fight
against breast cancer, and today, we will celebrate how far we've come
in that fight -- and renew our pledge to the task before us. But right now,
I want to introduce someone whose decision to take time out of his busy
schedule to join us -- on this of all days -- is an indication of his
commitment to this cause, and to all of you.
He wants to highlight some of the important victories we have
just gained in the budget -- some of which will have a direct impact on
the work that all of you do, day in and day out, to improve the health of
America's women. It is a pleasure to introduce to you a person who
has been a great champion for the cause of breast cancer, my husband,
President Bill Clinton.
[President speaks]
2
I want to thank the President for that good news briefing, and
again, to express my appreciation to all of you for joining us today.
Think how far we've come. When I was a college student, a diagnosis
of breast cancer was the equivalent of a death sentence. Today, breast
cancer is at the forefront of the nation's health care agenda -- and we
have made tremendous strides in preventing, detecting, and treating this
disease. That progress could not have happened without the tireless
work and commitment of all the people in this room.
Today, we have with us leading breast cancer advocates;
researchers and scientists; corporate sponsors of the Medicare
Mammography Initiative; women's health advocates; and those
representing our federal agencies, and I'd like to ask the representatives
from the Department of Defense to stand. I want to acknowledge as well
the cancer survivors who have joined us -- who are daily reminders of
how early detection can save lives.
I also want to welcome Dr. Jane Henney -- who as the President
has just announced has just been confirmed as the nation's new FDA
Commissioner. She's been such a strong advocate for breast cancer --
and I know we all celebrate her new position in the Administration.
3
A special word of thanks to our speakers this afternoon: Secretary
Shalala -- whose unflagging leadership has done so much to improve
the health and well-being of America's children and families; Dr. Nancy
Davidson -- Director of the Breast Cancer Research at the Johns
Hopkins Oncology Center, who represents the many dedicated scientists
and researchers across the country who are making extraordinary strides
in our fight against breast cancer.
We will also hear from Fran Visco, whose private courage and
public advocacy on behalf of women with breast cancer is renowned far
beyond the walls of this room. In addition to her leadership of the
National Breast Cancer Coalition, she's the co-chair of the National
Action Plan on Breast Cancer, and serves on the President's Cancer
Panel. I'm so pleased she's just been named to the Integration Panel of
the DOD's Breast Cancer Research Program.
I will never forget the day in 1993 when Fran and so many other
passionate breast cancer advocates came here to the White House -- to
this room -- armed with the signatures of 2.6 million Americans
demanding national action on breast cancer.
4
Since then, the public/private partnership that grew out of that
meeting -- the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer -- has worked
tirelessly to reach its goal: the complete eradication of breast cancer.
Today, I'm pleased to release a report highlighting the
Administration's accomplishments, and the progress we've all made
together in the fight against breast cancer.
First, the Administration has taken the lead in dramatically
boosting its investments in cancer research. These new funds have
helped lead to historic breakthroughs -- including the identification of
new breast cancer genes, and promising new treatments. The FDA has
recently approved two new drugs [Herceptin and Taxol] which will help
slow the spread of the disease. Another drug [Tamoxifen] has been
shown to dramatically reduce the incidence of breast cancer in women at
high risk for the disease. We celebrate the lives saved or prolonged by
these new scientific discoveries.
5
Second, the Administration has expanded the availability and
quality of prevention tools like mammograms. Too many women just
can't afford the mammograms that could save their lives. This year,
thanks to Administration leadership, Medicare began covering annual
mammograms for all beneficiaries 40 years and older -- and is making
them more affordable. We've also spearheaded a series of
unprecedented outreach initiatives -- to make sure older women take
advantage of the mammography benefits offered by Medicare.
Third, the Clinton Administration has worked hard to improve
access to treatment and quality of care for women with breast cancer.
The President has proposed that Medicare cover clinical trial costs -- and
we are making it easier for physicians to enroll patients in clinical trials.
Acknowledging the terrible and persistent racial disparities in treatment,
access to care, and general health -- the Administration has proposed
an initiative to address racial health inequities in six major areas --
including cancer. And Congress has taken a first step in funding this
proposal. And finally, building on the valuable efforts begun at the DOD
and the FDA -- the National Cancer Institute is fully integrating patients
and advocates into setting the nation's research agenda.
6
Working together, we've brought breast cancer mortality rates
down markedly here in the United States -- a decline of 4.5 percent
between 1991 and 1995. And we should be proud of that
accomplishment. Yet as every person in this room knows all too well --
breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths among
American women. Today, one in eight women will develop breast
cancer; up from one in 20 just two decades ago. This year alone --
approximately 180,000 new cases will be diagnosed, and the disease will
claim nearly half a million lives in this decade.
Clearly, we cannot rest on our accomplishments. We must instead
rededicate ourselves to the task of preventing, treating, and one day
curing breast cancer -- which continues to take such a terrible toll on
our own lives, on our communities, and on our nation.
Toward that end, I'm very pleased to announce a number of very
important new steps that this Administration is taking to build on and
expand our record of progress -- in addition to the historic investment in
cancer research that the President has just announced.
7
And here, I'd want to add my thanks to the Vice President, who
has played such a privotal role in expanding these new cancer research
funds. I also want to underscore that of the $388 million increase in the
NIH budget -- that $40 million will be devoted to breast cancer alone.
Today, I'm pleased to announce a major new clinical trial of drugs
that have the potential to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.
The trial will involve about 20,000 women at hundreds of sites across
the country and Canada -- and will build on the success of previous
breast cancer trials by examining two drugs which have shown promise
in reducing the risk of getting breast cancer. I also want to highlight an
ongoing trial at NIH that is examining the relationship between diet and
disease. It's already showing that what we do -- in our daily lives -- can
decrease the chance of getting cancer.
We are also launching an expanded outreach and education
campaign that will help ensure that America's older women get
recommended mammograms. It will build on government and private
efforts that have been going since I first announced this campaign in
1995.
8
This year, HHS will focus particular attention on low income and
minority women -- who continue to suffer disproportionately when it
comes to breast cancer. And here, I want to recognize the private sector
partners of the Medicare Mammography Initiative -- with special thanks
to our national sponsors, Avon, Eli Lilly, and Zenecca, and our
corporate supporters. [American Greetings, the National Association of
Chain Drug Stores; the Food Marketing Institute; 1-800-FLOWERS; the
American Association of Health Plans, Direct Selling Association, the
Florida Association of HMOs, the National Community Pharmacists
Association, and Pitney Bowes.]
I would also like acknowledge a number of breast cancer survivors
who are with us today -- including Hazel Parego (PA-RAH-GO); Zora
Brown; and Jean Camak [KA-MECK] -- a White House volunteer.
Alfreda [AL-FREE-DA] Elzie is another survivor here today.
She's 47; and an African American. Unfortunately -- that means she's
more at risk than many for breast cancer. Luckily, she got the last slot of
the day at her church for a free mammogram, which she received from
the George Washington Mammovan.
9
As a result of that first screening, Alfreda was diagnosed with very
early breast cancer -- and was treated in Maryland -- thanks to the
Breast Treatment Program paid for by the cigarette Tax. She's finished
her therapy -- and is doing fine. Her story is a powerful reminder that
early detection can save lives.
Stories like Alfreda's remind me that we must do a better job of
getting people the treatment they need. That's why I'm so disappointed
that Congress did not pass leiglsation, sponsored by Senators Jeffords
and Kennedy, that would allow people with disabililies and illnneses like
breast cancer to buy Medicade coverage.
I also want to recognize Jean Lynn, who I believe is also here
today. She runs the breast cancer/mammogram van program that in its
first two years alone has provided 4,000 screenings to women like
Alfreda throughout the DC area. Those working on the frontlines in our
communities to help prevent and detect cancer -- dedicated individuals
like Jean -- deserve our deepest thanks and appreciation.
10
Today, we are facing a critical juncture in the fight against breast
cancer. Our national commitment is beginning to pay off, as we witness
dramatic progress against the disease.
Now is the time to push even harder. To redouble our efforts to
pass a strong, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights; to fight for laws that
will end discrimination against individuals based on their genetic
information; to end racial disparities that place minority women at far
greater risk for dying of breast cancer; to increase access to clinical
trials; and to continue to integrate advocates into planning the nation's
cancer research agenda. And most importantly -- to continue to support
research that builds on the dramatic breakthroughs of the past few
months and years. Then -- and only then -- can we truly hope to
prevent, detect, treat, and one day cure this cancer that strikes so many
of America's women.
And now, I would like to introduce Fran Visco, who has done so
much to bring that day closer.
11
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
REMARKS AT UNVEILING OF BREAST CANCER STAMP
THE EAST ROOM
JULY 29, 1998
Welcome to the East Room and the White House. Starting this week, all Americans will
be able to open up their hearts and mailboxes and help stamp out breast cancer once and for all.
And when we do, it will be in large part because of the people in this room, and the people you
represent all over our country.
It will be because of the Postal Service, which is delivering -- along with our mail -- a
new weapon in the fight against breast cancer. I especially want to thank our new Postmaster
General, Bill Henderson, for his vision and leadership; the Postal Board of Governors; the New
Stamp Advisory Committee; and all the postal employees, some of whom are watching by
satellite right now.
When we stamp out breast cancer it will be because of the artistry of Ethel Kessler and
Whitney Sherman. And the tireless advocacy of Dr. Ernie Bodai, Betsy Mullen, and all the
survivors who are standing up and speaking out to stop breast cancer and heal those it strikes. It
will be because of Secretary Shalala's extraordinary leadership at the Department of Health and
Human Services, starting when she convened a group to come up with a national action plan
against breast cancer.
It will certainly be because of the Members of Congress -- some of whom are here today,
from both the Senate and the House -- who, year in and year out have demanded that breast
cancer be placed at the top of our national agenda -- where it belongs.
I want to pay special tribute to the architects of the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act --
Senator Feinstein and Congressman Fazio. Thank you for your creativity that brought this idea
to the Halls of Congress, and your dedication that helped make it the law of the land.
In fact, back in 1996, when Dr. Bodai went to his Congressman with the idea for a breast
cancer stamp, he encountered a leader who has always cared deeply about finding a cure for
breast cancer; someone who knows that we must continue to increase funding for all biomedical
research, and someone who has always backed up these convictions with action. It is now my
great honor to introduce Dr Bodai's congressman, Congressman Vic Fazio.
[Speaking portion.]
[First Lady resumes speaking.]
Thank you so much for that speech. Did she do a great job? Thank you for your
1
comments, but also for all you've done to help other women get the support and care and
information they need to "WIN Against Breast Cancer." As I was listening to Betsy's story, I
thought about her journey. I thought about the courage and commitment she demonstrated, and I
thought about how far we've all traveled. I thought about all the women I know who have,
themselves, fought breast cancer. I have a friend who today is having a mastectomy, and I
thought about how not so long ago, the words breast cancer were barely whispered in the dark, if
they were said at all.
It was a disease that women and men did not feel comfortable talking about, were
ashamed of, embarrassed by. Now we can turn all of that fear and anguish into the kind of
courage and commitment we saw embodied in Betsy and all of you who are here and are
survivors of breast cancer, all of you who are family members of victims of breast cancer. You
have helped turn that energy into a national call to action. Today, we have given something for
every American to respond to that call to action. Most of us will not be the surgeons who will
assist them, and nurses who will comfort them. Most of us will not be researchers or scientists
in the lab making the breakthrough in genetic research. Most of us will not be senators or
congressmen/women who are voting on legislation to increase-funding in the battle against breast
cancer.
Each of us, when we send our letters or pay our bills, can put this stamp of hope on the
envelope. Every time we do, we will be contributing to the research that will reap hope and pray
for our children, transform breast cancer from a daily threat to a distant memory. Every time we
look at this wonderful stamp, so beautifully designed and illustrated, we can see the face of
someone we know and love. We can see our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends, our
neighbors, our colleagues.
There are so many women who have endured what Betsy described to us. Many of the
women who work for me here in the White House, many of the women who volunteer, and many
of the women on the president's and vice president's staff, so many women throughout the
government, so many women on Capitol Hill, so many women here in Washington -- have heard
the words. But today, we know that we have an opportunity to do something to show our
support in a very tangible way.
I urge all Americans to join in the fight against breast cancer. To do it in a lot of different
ways -- by listening to those who were told that they were diagnosed with cancer. Call your
friends and your relatives and your colleagues, and phone those who are facing chemotherapy, or
radiation, or surgery. Laugh with them, go shopping -- to buy hats and wigs and scarves. Don't
be embarrassed ever again to show your love and support to someone who is suffering from this
tragic disease. Also make sure that you not only buy the stamp, but you tell your friends,
neighbors, and colleagues to do the same. We know that we've come a long a way in our fight
against breast cancer. The President has a very personal reason for urging increases in research
that he has urged, the Congress has supported. He lost his mother to breast cancer after a valiant
fight.
2
We've seen great progress in the work that is being done by government-funded research
and clinical trials. The Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program has
dramatically expanded. Women receiving Medicare can now get annual mammograms, without
any deductibles. We've launched an annual campaign to educate older women about the benefits
of mammography. Under Secretary Shalala's leadership, we've seen the birth and growth of the
National Action Plan on Breast Cancer, a public/private partnership working towards one goal,
and one goal alone: the final eradication of breast cancer.
We are facing a critical juncture in the war on cancer -- not only breast cancer, but other
forms of cancer as well. Our commitment as a nation is finally beginning to pay off. We have
put a lot of government dollars and private dollars and a lot of hearts into this fight against
cancer.
With more invested in this critical time, we can really break through in a dramatic way on the
cancer front.
We have many obstacles -- and whenever I think about obstacles, I think about my late
mother-in-law. She never wanted anyone to feel sorry for her when she had breast cancer. As
with every other adversity she faced in her life, she'd get up at the crack of dawn, put on her
lipstick and false eyelashes and go out and celebrate life. She was a great inspiration in all of us
who knew and loved her. I remember the sampler she kept by her nightstand that read: "Lord,
help me to remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that you and I can't handle."
I've seen that same courage in the eyes and heard it in the voices of so many women. I
hope that all of us will do whatever we can to expand coverage for Medicare cancer clinical
trials, to look for new initiatives -- like this wonderful idea of a stamp -- and to fulfill the
President's request for an additional 65 percent increase in cancer research.
We also have to be sure that no matter what kind of insurance policy a woman has,
whether it's managed care or traditional care, she will always get the best care. When a woman
is told she has breast cancer, she should know that every effective treatment is being used to help
her. She and her physician should be making the decisions about her health, not a business
person or a book keeper in an office hundreds of miles away.
Most importantly, if a woman with breast cancer has already embarked on a course of
treatment with her doctor -- even if her employer switches insurance plans, she must still have
access to that doctor she trusts. She should never have to switch doctors in the middle of her
treatment, as too many women have been told in the last two years. Imagine how you would feel
if you or your mother, your wife, your daughter, had developed this trust towards the doctor
treating her in this life-threatening, life-altering disease -- suddenly dropped from the insurance
plan, or had an employer change plans in midstream -- and that woman was told that she has to
go somewhere else, with someone she does not know, and start over again. That's one of the
many reasons we need a Patient's Bill of Rights.
3
On September 26, thousands will gather on the Mall for a march to conquer all cancers
for all time. I hope you'll send letters with this stamp, telling a lot of your friends about that
march.
In order to conquer breast cancer and other cancers, we need the commitment and efforts
of every single person in this country. We will need the courage that has been shown by all you
who are breast cancer survivors. We need the confidence that comes with knowing where to win
our part in this brave fight.
I want to thank all of you who have helped bring us to this time, and urge all of us to
continue to do everything within our individual power to win this fight against breast cancer for
our mothers, our wives, our daughters, our friends, for ourselves.
Thank you very much.
4
As Prepared
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
REMARKS FOR BREAST CANCER PATIENT PROTECTION EVENT
THE WHITE HOUSE
FEBRUARY 12, 1997
Good afternoon and welcome to the White House. In his State of the Union last week,
the President called for bipartisan efforts to abolish the practice of forcing breast cancer patients
out of the hospital just hours after major surgery. Today, we are gathered with some of the
leaders in this effort to discuss why strong legislation on this issue is so important.
One out of every eight American women will discover that she has breast cancer in her
lifetime. Each year, more than 160,000 women will have mastectomies and many more will
have lymph node dissections. As any breast cancer survivor will tell you, recovering from the
physical and emotional shock of a mastectomy is a long, excruciatingly painful and bewildering
process, one that barely begins in the days immediately following surgery. But too often, breast
cancer patients are forced to leave the hospital less than a day after surgery -- before they and
their doctors believe they are physically ready.
As journalist and breast cancer survivor Linda Ellerbee said in a special segment on this
issue for Lifetime television, a mastectomy is not like "getting a tooth pulled." Ellerbee's 60-
second spot touched a nerve with many viewers. It generated more than 17,000 e-mail petitions
protesting the short hospital stays and urging lawmakers to protect patients. I want to thank
Meredith Wagner, senior vice-president of Lifetime, and Amy Langer, executive director of the
National Association of Breast Cancer Organizations, who worked together to make these
petitions possible. Let me also thank the women's health advocates, the breast cancer advocates
and survivors, and the health care providers who are here today and helped raise awareness on
this issue.
The bill we are here to support would allow a woman and her physician -- not a health
plan -- to determine whether or not an extra night in the hospital is in the patient's best interest.
Let's not forget that Medicare pays for about one-third of all mastectomies in America.
And by law, Medicare must cover the costs of all medically necessary care. If a doctor thinks a
patient needs to stay another day in the hospital, then Medicare will pay for it. This morning,
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala -- I am delighted she could be with us
today - announced that she is sending a letter to all Medicare managed plans to remind them
that they must use this standard when covering mastectomies and other surgeries. The Secretary
made it clear that plans may not set ceilings for inpatient treatment or requirements for outpatient
treatment. Those decisions belong exclusively to a patient and her doctor.
I'm pleased that with us today are some of the strongest champions of breast cancer
patients and leading voices in the effort on Capitol Hill to protect women from being forced out
1
of the hospital too soon after surgery. With me on stage are members from both houses of
Congress and both sides of the aisle who have introduced legislation that will guarantee a woman
at least 48 hours to recover in the hospital after a mastectomy and 24 hours after a lymph node
dissection. This legislation is modeled after the law that was passed last year to end drive-
through baby deliveries.
I'm delighted to welcome Representatives DeLauro, Roukema and Dingell; and Senators
Mikulski, Kennedy and Ford. Sen. Tom Daschle, another sponsor, very much wanted to be here
as well, but couldn't get away today. And I'm pleased so many of the bill's co-sponsors are in
the audience today: Sen. Hollings, Sen. Bryan, Rep. Clayton, Rep. Eshoo, Rep. Fox, Rep. Furse,
Rep. Ganske. Rep. Mink, Rep. Pelosi, Rep. Quinn, Rep. Rivers, Rep. Roybal-Allard, Rep.
Slaughter, Rep. Thurman. [Still pending: Senator Moseley-Braun; Rep. Waters]
I thank each and every one of you for your leadership, for your commitment and for your
unceasing efforts on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of women living with breast cancer and
their families.
Many of these members will tell you that the fight for the passage of this bill has become
a personal one. Whether it's a mother, a daughter, an aunt, a sister, a close friend, a colleague,
or a constituent, every one of us has found our lives touched by breast cancer.
That is why we can't allow this issue of hospital stays to become a partisan one. It's an
issue that affects too many of the women we love. It's an issue that affects all of us. Just as we
united to pass the Kennedy-Kassebaum health insurance reforms, so must we again work
together to end this practice. Ideally, we would not need to seek legislation to end specific
troubling practices. But as long as women continue to find themselves in the nightmarish
situation of leaving the hospital before they are ready to take care of themselves, then we must
act decisively.
Let's not forget that the bottom line -- especially when it comes to the health of those we
love -- can't be set by dollars saved and costs avoided, but in lives saved and people valued.
And we can work together not only in ensuring that all breast cancer patients receive the
best care possible, we can also continue to support efforts to strengthen research and early
detection. Over the past four years, funding for breast cancer research, prevention and
treatment at the Department of Health and Human Services has nearly doubled - from $276
million to $541 million. This research is bringing much new hope to patients and their
families. We must continue to support the new Office of Cancer Survivorship that provides
information and research for those living with cancer and for their families and caregivers.
And I hope all of you will support the President's plan to provide free annual mammograms to
Medicare beneficiaries, so that the women have greater access to this life-saving test.
Perhaps the best reasons why this issue and the fight against breast cancer shouldn't be a
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partisan issue can best expressed by our next two speakers.
Many of you will recognize Dr. Kristen Zarfos, the Connecticut surgeon whom the
President introduced in his State of the Union address. Her story also demonstrates what can
happen when one person takes the time to speak out against something he or she believes is
wrong. After being alerted to the problem of short hospital stays by Dr. Zarfos, Rep. Rosa
DeLauro stepped forward to champion this issue. In many ways, Dr. Zarfos inspired this
legislation.
Our first speaker is Connie Shorter, who works as Rep. John Dingell's district
administrator. Connie will tell us what it was like to be sent home just hours after a mastectomy
and why it is important for all of us to make sure that in the future, no other woman ever has to
experience the same nightmare. Connie
###
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
October 26, 1995
REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
AT THE NATIONAL BREAST CANCER COALITION SECOND ANNUAL GALA
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
MRS. CLINTON: Thank you all. Thank you so much, Fran.
You're right, I was a little put out when you picked my
birthday. I grumbled, I complained, but I decided that it was
much more important for me to be here with all of you,
particularly those of you who are survivors. Because, birthdays
are only as important as the quality of life and the
opportunities we have to be with people we love and we care about
and I'll be home tonight and they'll be there, so I am very
honored on behalf of the President and myself to celebrate
survival, to celebrate courage, to celebrate perseverance, to
celebrate all those virtues and traits that bring so many of you
here in this room tonight.
I'm particularly pleased to be with Patricia Duff and Ron
Pearlman and salute them for their individual and corporate
devotion to this cause and so many others that they have
championed. I'm pleased to be with Monty and Suzie Herwitz and
to have met their family tonight. I also am always delighted to
see Paula Zahn who always does a wonderful job and tonight shared
that personal story with us. And I was so pleased to see the
three honorees accepting their awards this evening. All of them
stand for the hundreds of thousands of women and families who are
being honored through them because of their activism and
commitment on behalf of the coalition and the cause of
eradicating breast cancer.
I don't know that I could ever say quite enough about Fran
Visco. She is a fearless advocate. She is someone who believes
with every cell of her being that things can be better if enough
people banned together to work on behalf of the common good. I
happen to believe that also, and felt from the very moment I met
her in Williamsburg those three years ago, now, that she was
someone with whom I had a great deal in common and I am honored
to be anywhere she is.
I also want to acknowledge and thank someone who is here,
Dr. Susan Love, who will be speaking to you later. I know that
everyone in this room appreciates her pioneering work in breast
cancer treatment and prevention. But I hope you also know that
she has changed the way medicine treats breast cancer. She has
1
taught a whole generation of medical students how to take better
care of breast cancer patients. And so we owe her so much, not
only for the obvious work she does with individual patients, for
the extraordinary effort she has made to educate all women about
issues effecting our health, but the way she has changed the
medical professions attitude about this illness.
The kind of coalition that has been put together that we are
honoring here has only been in existence for five years, but it
has accomplished so much in a short period of time. It has
literally changed and saved lives which is something not many of
us can say. It has walked into the midst of grief and tragedy
where children have been robbed of their mothers and we as adults
have lost our own, where husbands have lost wives, where mothers
and fathers have lost daughters. And walking into the midst of
that, the coalition in its many forms of all the women and men
who support its work, have said you too can be part of this
fight. Turn your loss into an energy designed to eradicate
breast cancer. Help us change the way we think about this
disease. Help us find a cure. Help us prevent it. Hope has
often replaced the grief and the tragedy.
I know that when my own mother-in-law went through her four
years of struggle with breast cancer. What I admired most about
that remarkable woman's courageous efforts, is how she found
energy to keep working on behalf of breast cancer prevention and
treatment, to travel when she could barely walk to make speeches,
to lend her name to fund raising efforts, because she wanted so
much to continue every single day to be part of the eventual
solution.
We all know the frightening statistics and we all have our
personal stories. We know that breast cancer is no respecter of
race or ethnicity, it strips all of us down to our basic human
essentials. It reminds us that, beneath the differences that we
too often use to divide ourselves, one from the other, we really
are all the same. We have the same hopes and dreams and
aspirations, the same fears and challenges. Breast cancer has
been a disease that, for too many years, was not talked about --
left on the back burner of medical research -- and not considered
a disease that was as important as some others.
Thankfully, that has changed and we are making progress, but
the progress must be continued. In the four short years that the
national breast cancer coalition has worked to make government
funding for breast cancer research a priority, we have seen an
increase in the money allocated from ninety million to six
hundred million dollars today. That funding addresses breast
cancer on all from; from research into its causes, its genetic
roots, its possible environmental connections, to the improvement
of mammography, tot he development of innovative treatment and
prevention strategies.
2
But you know because you are here, that as with so many
other aspects of our life together, government can not fight this
disease alone. Private support and funding are critical to
keeping both advanced breast cancer research and public outreach
efforts on track. Every dollar donated to breast cancer research
prevention and treatment brings us years closer to the final
eradication of this disease.
By your grass-roots activism, your outspokenness, your
persistent lobbying, you have raised awareness about this disease
and you have frightened a lot of officials into doing exactly
what they should have done anyway. I hope that you appreciate
the importance that this coalition has played, because even if
you have a very supportive President, as you do, someone who is
committed both because of his head and his heart, it is still
difficult unless there is a network of activists who are
constantly keeping watch to know exactly what is going on, even
in the government.
As Fran mentioned, there was a moment a few months ago when
it appeared that because of budget cuts and the like, that the
money that had been fought so hard for in the Defense Department
would be lost because it was not considered essential to our
national security. The President was able to step in and put a
stop to that because he had made it a priority. But it's that
kind of constant vigilance that is required.
We are moving forward on the National Action Plan on Breast
Cancer and it's very important that this plan stay on track as
well. It has been formulated by consumers, clinicians,
scientists, government officials, and other experts. It is a
part now of the government, it is being implemented through the
public health services office on women's health, whose director,
Dr. Susan Blumenthal is here with us tonight and whom I would
like to thank for her constant and vigilant watch over what
happens with this plan. But each of us who care about what
happens to our friends, our family members, ourselves must remain
vigilant.
If I have any message this evening, in addition to
congratulating all of you and thanking you for your efforts, it
would be to please ask you to give as much attention and energy
as you can in the coming weeks and months. To being sure that
the gains that have been made on behalf of breast cancer and
medical research, prevention, and treatment will continue.
I am worried about the cutbacks in medicare and what that
will mean in the decrease in the accessibility of older women to
mammograms and to clinical visits. I am worried about the
cutbacks in Medicaid and what that will mean to poor women who
will not have access. I have met too many women, who, as Fran
said, are cut out of our existing health care system. I've had
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women tell me that at their annual check-up, which they paid for
out of their own pocket because they had no insurance, their
doctor found a lump, referred them to a surgeon, where they were
told that because they didn't have insurance, it should just be
watched for a while.
I've been at breast cancer awareness meetings like the one I
attended in San Diego, where I was trying to encourage older
women on Medicare to take advantage of the medicare benefits to
have mammograms, when a woman stood up in the back of the room
and said: I'm only sixty, I don't qualify for medicare, I still
work, I have no insurance, I have a lump, what can I do? So I
worry about whether we will be taking one step forward with
respect to the prevention and research and two steps back with
respect to affordability and access for women.
We all have to be vigilant, because as we continue this
fight against breast cancer, we know that there will be many
competing considerations. There will be other diseases, there
will be other needs that people have, and as we watch the budget
battles that are going to be engaging the Capitol and Washington,
and the capitols around the country, we have to be sure that
women's health and diseases like breast cancer are not once again
relegated to the back of the concerns where, for too long, they
were.
I also want to say that I am particularly worried about the
impact on women in minority communities who are already less
likely to seek treatment, less likely to be able to afford it,
and I was pleased to see the honorees this evening who, in their
own way are working to reach out to women across the board in
every community. But we have to speak out, about what budget
cuts and budget priorities mean in real people's lives. Behind
the statistics and all the numbers, are women, women who need
treatment, women who need care, women who need the kind of work
that you are doing so that the disease can be prevented.
This is not a faceless disease, nor is it just a woman's
disease, it is a family disease, and it's a national epidemic.
The President and I will continue to do everything we can to
assist the coalition in its endeavors. And I look forward to the
day, very honestly, when the coalition will be disbanded because
we will have a huge gathering in a much larger room where we
will have Billy Joel be the warm-up act for an announcement that
breast cancer, like polio, is through.
That's what we are working for. Thank you for what you are
doing to make that day possible.
###
4
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
October 7, 1994
REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY
AT ST. JUDE'S CHILDREN'S CENTER
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
MRS. CLINTON: Thank you so much, Marlo, and the
entire Thomas family. Thank you, Dr. Nienhuis and the entire
staff of this remarkable, wonderful hospital. Thank you all
who are part of ALSAC (phonetic) and the supporting
organizations that make this hospital live and give life to
so many children.
This is an extraordinarily emotional time for many
of us, as we are here for this dedication. Sitting up on
this platform and looking at the front row of patients and
parents, seeing all of you who stood when the Board of
Governors were introduced, when the ALSAC acknowledgements
were made, makes me so proud to be an American, so proud to
be here for this.
I'm also pleased to be back in this part of the
country, where it does take some people (inaudible) -- across
the river from my adopted state of Arkansas, and knowing that
all of us here are committed not only to this hospital, but
to the vision that Danny Thomas brought to it.
One cannot tour this hospital, as I have just done,
(inaudible) without being reminded of the extraordinary
commitment of individual men and women to do things that
(inaudible) envisioned. Today is a celebration, certainly,
but it is also a recognition that this remarkable institution
is here because of the countless hours of dedicated effort by
literally thousands and hundreds of thousands of people.
I have heard all of the stories and I've heard
again today how Danny Thomas committed himself to every
child's future when he began to fulfill his dream of this
hospital. He had faith that when he prayed to St. Jude, his
fortunes would improve. And he had faith that with those
(inaudible) fortunes he would find a way to help others.
I didn't know Danny Thomas personally, except I
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knew him as so many of my friends did, because of "Make Room
For Daddy. I spent hours and hours in front of the one
television that we had in our house, which provoked much
family argument, but I think it also a lot of togetherness as
we would decide what we were going to watch. And there would
be lots of arguments, but there was never an argument about
that show.
My father, also a conservative Republican with a
huge heart, related to Danny Thomas. My brothers and I and
my mother would gather around to see what happened in his
household that week. We felt a personal connection because
he was bigger than a character on a television program, as we
learned more about what he stood for and what he was
committing his life to achieve.
St. Jude's Hospital is not only his shrine to his
patron saint, it is also a beacon of hope. And it is also a
statement of values. No one can come to this hospital
without remembering the scriptural admonitions that guide so
many of our upbringings: The Golden Rule, loving thy
neighbor as thyself, and realizing there is always a way to
translate into action what we were taught.
Whether it be a $17 a month pledge, whether it be a
large fundraiser in New York, whether it be volunteer hours,
there is always a way to make good on the promises we have
lived on and the blessings we have been given.
As we reflect on the extraordinary success of this
hospital, as we see the survival rates and cure rates for
dreaded childhood diseases improving year by year, as we
visit with the fine medical staff and researchers here who
are on the verge of breakthroughs, we feel so good because we
know efforts are being made to fulfill the ultimate goal of
this hospital; that every child will receive the care that
every child needs in the face of catastrophic illness.
But I must say today that in my traveling around
our country over the last twenty months, I have also walked
into hospitals that could not hold out the promise of St.
Jude's. Today, as I met the patients and parents, as I shook
hands with nurses and doctors, you can feel a sense of
(inaudible) -- are building off of a team role.
And I know from my own experience there are still
too many children who cannot (inaudible) that sense of
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(inaudible). I cannot tell you how many times I have seen
fear and panic written on the faces of parents who don't know
whether they can afford treatment for a child
catastrophically ill.
I've met grandparents who had two grandchildren,
both of whom suffered an attack of meningitis, one of whom
lived, the other died, the sole difference being that when
the one with insurance showed up at the hospital, that child
was admitted, and when the other grandchild showed up, that
child was sent from hospital to hospital and finally sent
home with aspirin because there was no insurance and there
was no eligibility for government assistance.
I've sat in the atrium of the Children's Hospital
in Cleveland, talking with parents of chronically ill
children who could not get insurance, but make too much money
to qualify for Medicaid. And I've listened to a mother tell
me that she went from place to place looking for financial
help, not a handout, so her child could get the treatment
that was needed only to be met by (inaudible), "You just
don't understand, do you? We don't insure dying children or
burning houses.
I cannot imagine how I would have felt if someone
said that to me if my daughter had ever faced a catastrophic
illness. I do not believe that any parent should ever have
to experience that. I believe every parent should have the
(inaudible) of knowing there is a St. Jude's or other medical
facility always available to their children should the need
arise.
That has been the guiding principle for my interest
in health care reform and for the many millions of Americans
who recognize the need to ensure that every child has the
right to receive the health care he or she needs. St. Jude's
reflects that conviction and ethos. This is the (inaudible)
and all of its supporters and advocates really understand
that in the eyes of every child is the future of us all.
But like any great institution, St. Jude's future
depends on its continuing support from all of you who have
been there and who have walked the miles, walked the miles
with Danny Thomas, walked the miles with the Thomas family
and will continue to do SO.
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As a former board member of the Arkansas Children's
Hospital, I know the effort required to raise funds through
private philanthropy. I also know that government support is
essential, particularly when that support acknowledges there
is a difference between treating children and treating
adults.
And I'm proud that the federal government supports
this hospital and its research through the National
Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
There is not a better investment of your tax
dollars than research into the future of medical cures and
scientific advancements. None of this support would matter
much if the people who work and serve here did not make the
real difference.
As I walked through the halls that sparkle, I knew
there were people cleaning who were devoted to the future of
the children who came through here. As I went to the
ambulatory unit and met the people caring for the children
who were there for their treatment, I knew what a difference
they were making.
As I met the researchers and heard them excitedly
talk about the break throughs in genetic research that they
are on the brink of, I knew that the real joy that this place
inspires in all who enter it is rooted in the commitment of
the people who work and serve here.
What ultimately matters in a life, it seems to me,
is to be able to say after one has received a blessing that
none of us deserve, but are given by grace to all of us, that
we can look into a mirror and say we have done something to
help improve life around us, because we have reached out to
help.
There is not a more important way of expressing
that than reaching out to help make a child's life better.
That is the real measure of who we are as individuals and who
we are as a society. This place stands for what is best
about America. Danny Thomas's legacy (inaudible) a great
challenge that we should continue always to try to meet.
And I believe as we dedicate this new patient
center today, we are not only making life possible and better
for the thousands of children who will go through these
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doors, but we are renewing the spirit of selfless commitment,
of caring and compassion, of responsibility and giving that
are the real building blocks of a worthwhile civilization.
Thank you for your contributions to St. Jude's and
America.
*****
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
September 19, 1994
REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY
AT "FASHION TARGETS BREAST CANCER"
WASHINGTON, D.C.
MRS. CLINTON: Good afternoon. (Applause.) Good
afternoon, and welcome to the White House. I know some of
you have been here over the years, and for others, this is
your first trip. I hope that you feel as welcome as we want
you to. We are grateful for this event today, and we are
grateful for the American fashion industry's contribution to
our country.
And it is an exciting day for us here in the White
House because of the events of the last 24 hours. And what
better way to celebrate than to have all of you here and to
be doing something as important as this?
It is a special pleasure for me to not only welcome
you but to talk a little bit about what we hope to accomplish
with this very exciting kick-off event. In order to
understand how important this is to all of us, I think we
only have to pause for a minute to consider the woman who is
being honored, Nina Hyde, whom I did not have the pleasure of
knowing personally, but who certainly made her mark in so
many ways on so many lives.
In addition to Nina Hyde, who inspired this event
and has inspired so many to commit themselves to the fight
against breast cancer, I would imagine that every one of us
knows at least one other person who we are honoring today
silently because of her valiant fight against breast cancer,
perhaps becoming a survivor, with all of the lessons that
that gives to the rest of us; or perhaps someone like Nina or
my mother-in-law, who lost the fight against breast cancer,
but whose lessons about living and dying remain a constant
inspiration to the rest of us.
We all know the grim statistics about breast
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cancer. We all know how every three minutes, a woman is
diagnosed with breast cancer, how now, one out of every nine
women in America will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some
point during her life, and how every 11 minutes, a woman dies
of breast cancer, because it is the leading cause of death
among women between the ages of 35 and 54.
More than 180,000 women, women of all sizes and
shapes and colors and religions and ethnic backgrounds and
from every region of our country, will be diagnosed this
year. Over 2.6 million women are currently suffering from
breast cancer, and 46,000 will die.
The statistics are troubling enough, but what
brings us all together and what inspired this very exciting
campaign is that for too long, except for the example and the
voices of individuals, we did not do enough to combat breast
cancer.
We know now that we had to redouble and retriple
our efforts. And thanks to the examples of women like Nina
Hyde and her many friends and thanks also to scientists and
researchers and medical doctors like Dr. Mark Lippmann and
his team at Georgetown and thanks also to an Administration
with leadership like Dr. Susan Blumenthal and others, who
believes that breast cancer is a disease that must be
combatted as vigorously as we can possibly do so, we are
slowly beginning to make progress.
Last October, when leaders of the National Breast
Cancer Coalition met with the President here at the White
House, they pushed for a national action plan on breast
cancer. That is something that the President had promised
during the campaign. It is something that I personally felt
very strongly about, based on my own work and my own contact
with friends and other women who often waged a lonely battle
against this disease.
We have since then established such a conference
and created such a plan. We now have a frame work in place.
We have increased dramatically the amount of money spent on
research into this disease. We have also increased research
into the technology that can help diagnose it and treat it in
its current stages.
That is one of the reasons why many of us were and
remain so committed to health care reform, because we know
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that for every research breakthrough, there will be women who
will not be able to access that research. We know that
despite remarkable discoveries like that of the BRAC-1 gene
last week, that millions of women will be left out of those
breakthroughs without guaranteeing that every woman has
access to quality health care.
As I have worked on behalf of health care reform, I
have a movie in my mind. The movie is of the faces and
stories of men and women and children all over our country.
One of the faces is that of a woman whom I met in New
Orleans, a woman who had worked at the same job for more than
15 years, a woman who took care of herself, paid out of her
own pocket for a yearly physical because she could not afford
insurance and did not have it through her workplace, a woman
who when she had her annual physical, was told a lump had
been discovered in her breast and was referred to a surgeon.
But when the surgeon found out she did not have
health insurance, he told her that they would just watch the
lump instead of taking a biopsy of it, because she could not
afford the biopsy. That woman, like many women around our
country, was left not knowing; in many ways, a fate that
befalls to many in our health care system today, who even
despite their own best efforts, cannot achieve the health
care that would save a life or possibly minimize the damage
of a disease.
So in order to make progress against this disease,
we must move on many fronts. We must move as you are moving,
led by the fashion industry, to continue to raise awareness
and to continue to raise funds, so that we can combat breast
cancer. We must move on the scientific and research front,
and we must move on the governmental front, so that breast
cancer is a disease that we all can feel we are contributing
toward the cause of and also toward the amelioration of, by
making sure that we have leadership in our public and private
sector that is dedicated and compassionate and understands
what this disease means in the lives of women.
Probably no industry understands women better. As
I've told some of our guests, I've never seen the women in
the White House get more dressed up. (Laughter.) People
were making mad phone calls around town, borrowing things,
trying to do their best. Even though they may not even see
you, they know you are here. (Laughter.)
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I was particularly touched and moved by the stories
I've read about Nina Hyde calling in columns from Tibet,
befriending people in the industry, taking care of her
assistants at the Post. And we are honored to have Kay
Graham with us, who really has helped to spearhead this work
on behalf of Nina Hyde and the Georgetown Center. And we are
also pleased to have Nina's daughters and her husband with
us, people who knew her well and still miss her.
But I was particularly moved by learning that Nina
Hyde always felt well-dressed with a swatch watch. I went
through my closets and drawers looking for a swatch watch. I
mean, after you've been on the worst dressed lists of People
magazine, you will look for anything that can possibly give
you some surcease from that.
But I don't have a swatch watch, but I have
something even better. I have the honor and pleasure of
introducing one of the leaders of this effort, someone who
has committed himself and his company to making sure that
these T-shirts are sold everywhere and become the fashion
statement; with or without a swatch watch, for every woman
and, I suppose, man who we can get to wear one.
And I think we all owe him and his colleagues a
great deal of thanks. So join me, please, in welcoming Ralph
Lauren. (Applause.)
MR. LAUREN: Just before we came out here, I was
standing out on the terrace, and Donna said, "Ralph, this
look becomes you, standing on the terrace." (Laughter.) I
said, "Donna, I really do like this. It feels very good. "
I do want to say that I am here not for Ralph
Lauren. I am here for this industry. I'm here for the
Council of Fashion Designers, Fern Malase (phonetic), Stan
Herman (phonetic), Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta, Louis de
Olio. I'm here for Ricky Lauren, who inspired me when I
worked with Nina. I'm here for Kay Graham, who has worked
with us. And it was inspiring to watch her.
As I was sitting here and I looked to my left, I
looked at a fellow here that might get embarrassed as I say
it, a boy by the name of Jeffrey Banks, who's not a boy
anymore. He's a man. And Nina Hyde introduced me to Jeffrey
about 30 -- Jeffrey, is it 30 years ago, 25 years ago?
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MR. BANKS: Twenty-five.
MR. LAUREN: Twenty-five years ago. (Laughter.)
Believe it or not, he was in high school and graduated in my
tuxedo. But he has been in this industry for these years and
has had a success.
And Nina was that kind of person that would really
be involved with people, no matter where you came. When you
were coming into Washington -- Nina was not my best friend,
but she treated every person she knew in that same way as if
you were her best friend, as if she was thinking about you.
And she was very intelligent and very caring about all
people.
And I'm here for those reasons, but I'm here for a
lot of different reasons. I guess I have had much success in
my career. I've enjoyed wonderful spreads in magazines,
lifestyle images of my wife and my family and all that, which
are wonderful. But one of the lifestyles you did not see was
New York Hospital, with bandages around my head and a person
who could not walk down the hall, so weak that it didn't
matter anymore.
On one hand, you're on the cover of Time magazine;
on the other hand, the world is forgetting you, and you know
what it feels to have that sensitivity. That type of
sensitivity, I'm glad for today. I was not happy about doing
what I had to do. But it does open your mind and your life
to thinking about the world. I work as hard today as I ever
did, but there is something extra that I carry along with me,
and I'm always sensitive to what goes on.
When I met Nina, I had just come out of the
hospital. I guess we had a sort of a kinship, because at
that time I had seen her, she did not look too happy. And I
had not seen her for a few months. And I said, "Nina, you
don't look so well. Why are you not smiling?" Because she
was always very gracious and very open and very -- and she
really did look down. She said, "Ralph, I have breast
cancer."
And I was taken by it and shocked. And I said,
"Nina, what can I do?" And she said "Ralph" -- and I can
remember driving along in a car with her. And she said, "It
would be really wonderful if you could talk to the fashion
industry about this." And I was saying to myself, "Talk to
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the fashion industry? It's a big industry." The fashion
industry is the largest industry in America. I said, "How am
I going to talk to the fashion industry about this?"
But, you know, you can do things that you never
think you could do. You can say, "It's too big; I'll never
get there, " or you can say, "I can get there, one by one."
This did not happen overnight. We did not plan this event.
This took many years of thinking and trying to do things.
Anyway, in working with Nina and talking to Nina,
we did do something. And I called every designer and wrote
to every designer in the world. And we got responses from
everybody. And we had a cocktail party, and we raised a
million dollars. Nina was alive then, and she spoke. And it
was quite amazing. From nothing, we had a Nina Hyde
Foundation.
And I've often asked these questions of myself, and
these questions that I will have to ask you and hit you real
hard. If someone said to you -- if it was your sister, your
aunt, your wife, your girlfriend said, "I have breast cancer;
I'm dying,' what would you do? What would you do? And I
would have to ask everybody out there in the world that
passes notes that go by them, because we're SO busy in life,
all the big industries, all the big-time power men out there
that are wheeling and dealing and shuffling and moving
dollars all over the places, if their wife had breast cancer,
and they loved their wife, would they have not paid millions
to make sure she lived? Would they not have done everything
in the world?
And we can say, "Beware of this terrible disease."
We can say, "Let's really know about this breast care
awareness. But it's not about awareness. It's about doing.
It's about getting a job done. It's about motivating and
getting these people to spend the money that it's going to
take to really cure this disease.
We have Dr. Mark Lippmann, who I had met through
Nina. Mark was just another doctor to me until I met him.
And he was inspiring, because he really explained what could
be done. And he explained that this is not going to be
forever. Breast cancer can be cured and will be cured,
possibly or maybe totally, in our lifetime.
If you know that and you're well, wouldn't it be
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great to prepare for that today? Wouldn't it be great to be
ready for that, so that you don't have to ever go through
that?
I would like to introduce Dr. Lippmann and have him
explain exactly what is being done. Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
DR. LIPPMANN: Mrs. Clinton and many honored
guests, it's an incredibly joy for me to be here today on
this occasion. But I wish to say to begin with that I'm
really not for here for myself.
I think it's essential that you recognize that I'm
not here for the Nina Hyde Center, the Lombardi Center at
Georgetown University, but I'm here, in some sense, for
thousands of dedicated scientists and physicians around this
country who have worked tirelessly towards gaining a better
understanding of breast cancer and better means of treating
it. And I'm also here on behalf of patients, patients that
are alive now, patients that are to be, and patients who are
no longer.
For the last 20 years, my entire life has been
dedicated to breast cancer, and it's an incredibly
overwhelming thought to know that in the United States alone
in that period of time, almost a million women have died of
breast cancer. It's enough to give one very, very serious
pause.
And some time ago, when Nina Hyde was my patient
and my friend and my colleague and, in some ways, my goad,
when she knew what lay in store for her, in many ways, she
did not give up. She most emphatically appreciated that much
could be done. And she collared many of the people in this
room, grabbed them, and wouldn't let go, got them, got their
attention. When their attention wandered, she got it again.
And when their attention wandered, she grabbed them again.
And because of her and other women like her, there
is a great deal that we can be thankful for already in the
story about breast cancer. And there are three pieces of
this story that, very briefly, I would like to touch upon.
The first one that we have already talked about is
awareness. But awareness isn't a vague concept when you talk
about breast cancer. Awareness is human lives that need not
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8
be lost. It is a simple fact that easily, one-third of the
women who die of breast cancer in this country every year
would not die with optimal care delivered equitably
throughout this country with technologies and means that we
have already discovered.
And certainly, when I say "awareness," I don't
simply say awareness philanthropically. I say awareness from
the vantage point of getting that care to people who need it,
helping them understand why they need it, helping them
understand that they're entitled to it, and helping them with
that entitlement to get what they need for themselves.
Secondly, and extremely importantly, there has been
progress made. And that progress has not come easily, but it
has not come by serendipity alone. Thousands of human hours
spent in the laboratory and in the clinic with women brave
enough to be part of clinical trials and to face the unknown,
together with their caregivers, have led to a variety of
therapies that are capable of saving lives.
Drug treatments given prophylactically following
surgery can improve the survival for women with breast
cancer. There's no question about it. New therapies with
citochines (phonetic) and new drugs clearly can increase the
response rates for many women with breast cancer. And that's
encouraging, as well.
Perhaps the most important message, though, that I
think I can bring to you is my own personal sense of optimism
and hopefulness, which is reality-based, which comes from an
increased understanding of this disease.
It is simply no longer true to say that we have no
idea what causes breast cancer. "It's just a terrible
mystery; it's a curse." That's not true. In many cases, the
specific proteins produced by breast cancers which are
responsible for their behavior, for making the breast tumors
grow and spread and metastasize have been discovered, are
known and identified.
And in laboratories such as the ones we have in the
Nina Hyde Center and throughout the country, many
investigators are hard at work attempting to exploit that
information with new experimental therapies. And it is
unquestionably the case that some of these therapies will
work. And this requires the dedication and support not only
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9
of the United States government, for sure, of organizations
like the American Cancer Society, and, critically, human
beings like yourselves involved in supporting this process.
Not only is this understanding of the disease going
to alter the entire face of therapy, but a great deal more
can be said about what we would almost all prefer, to wit:
to either prevent the disease or to detect it when the
therapies need be minimal, nonmutilating, and nontoxic.
And the fact is that we finally do have insights
into new approaches to breast cancer detection which can
either supplant or augment mammography. There are new
technologies in trial in experimental work in human beings
now which have enormous prospects of discovering the disease
while it is no bigger than a millimeter. Breast cancer
discovered at that size is curable 95 percent of the time or
more. That reduces the death rate from 46,000 to 4,000.
That would be a major gain.
The will to do these studies needs to constantly be
there among all of us. The financial support, so clearly
flagging over the past few years, needs to be re-enthused and
reinfused into this process, because we do have the knowledge
and the ability to get the additional knowledge to finally
have an impact on this disease, which is why I say thank you
on behalf of my colleagues, for your support.
Because not in some future, ephemeral time, but in
the next few years, I believe that our continued support for
this activity will change this disease for our children and
the people we love. Thank you for your attention.
(Applause.)
It's my pleasure to introduce Dr. Susan Blumenthal,
who works within the system for the U.S. government. And her
efforts have been extraordinarily helpful in attempting to
marshal the kind of support we need to improve this pace of
discovery. (Applause.)
DR. BLUMENTHAL: Thank you very much. Thank you,
Mark, and Mrs. Clinton and distinguished guests.
Over the past four years, our country has witnessed
the greatest focus on women's health in the history of our
nation. The year 1990 marked the beginning of a decade in
which alarming inequities in women's health were exposed --
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10
the lack of women as research subjects in our nation's
clinical investigations; the fact that men were considered to
be generic humans, and yet the findings from these studies
were extrapolated to guide the treatment of women patients;
the lack of analysis of data by gender in diseases that
affect both men and women, such as heart disease and cancer;
the dearth of senior women scientists in our country's
federal and research establishments.
These inequities are now being addressed through
the Public Health Service Office on Women's Health working in
collaboration with all of the agencies of the Public Health
Service and other departments of government and working with
consumers, health care professionals, and others.
There's an old proverb that says, "It is better to
light a candle than to curse the darkness. " There has been
considerable darkness surrounding women's health issues in
the past, but the light that has been shown on these issues
by the dedicated and outstanding leadership of Hillary Rodham
Clinton, Secretary Donna Shalala, consumers, health care
professionals, scientists, so many of you here today has
brightened the prospects for a healthier future for all
American women.
Perhaps nowhere is the need to focus our energies,
our resources, your art, and our science more than the
problem of breast cancer, the most frightening and the most
common cancer for women, a public health issue that is of
highest priority to the Clinton Administration and to our
Office on Women's Health.
As Mrs. Clinton mentioned, a year ago in this room,
signatures of 2.6 million Americans were presented, a
conference was held, and a national action plan was
implemented. Our Office on Women's Health is implementing
that action plan in cooperation, in collaboration with other
private organizations and public sector groups. We have
brought together all the agencies of government, the
Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency,
the State Department.
We're working with consumer advocacy groups, with
health care professional societies, with private industry,
with all of you here today. Work with us to develop concrete
actions to eradicate breast cancer as a threat on the lives
of American women. And we will do that. Concrete
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initiatives -- we have developed working groups with public-
private partnerships on a number of issues, such as putting
together a plan for counseling for this newly discovered gene
that will affect 5 percent of women with breast cancer and 25
percent of women under the age of 30 with breast cancer.
We're developing and linking breast health and
breast services to the information superhighway. We're
developing a data and tissue resource bank, so that there
will be a national registry to help researchers find the risk
factors for breast cancer.
And there are many other important programs
underway in our government today. And let me just highlight
a few of them for you. The National Institutes of Health,
under the distinguished leadership of Dr. Harold Varmis
(phonetic), is the biomedical research capital of the world.
One of his institutes, the National Cancer Institute, is the
steward of research on all aspects of breast cancer,
supporting research both in the labs of the NIH and in
academic centers across the country, such as Georgetown
University Medical Center.
The National Cancer Institute, under the direction
of Dr. Samuel Groder (phonetic), is supporting research on
the biological, hormonal, and environmental causes of breast
cancer. We want to know why the rates of breast cancer have
gone from 1 in 20 women in the 1960s to 1 in 8 women over her
lifetime today.
While the breast cancer gene newly discovered
explains about 5 to 10 percent of those cases, fully 70
percent of women have no known risk factor for the disease.
And we think that 90 percent of them have some environmental
factor that is interacting with normal genes to express
breast cancer. We need to find out what those environmental
-- preventable environmental causes of breast cancer are and
change them.
Additionally, the NIH is supporting a trans NIH
initiative, the women's health initiative. It has been
joking called "the mother of all clinical trials," because it
is the largest clinical trial ever conducted on either men or
women. It is exploring the risk factors for diseases in
older women, such as breast cancer, osteoporosis, and heart
disease. It is exploring the effects of hormone replacement
therapy, estrogen replacement therapy, on the development of
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risks for breast cancer. And it is studying whether low fat
diet, exercise, and vitamin supplements might be helpful in
preventing breast cancer in older women.
Additionally, the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences is looking at environmental
risks for breast cancer. We know that there are particular
pockets, geographic pockets that have higher rates of breast
cancer in our country. We want to know whether there are
pesticides, atmospheric pollutants, other factors that may
increase the risk. And we know that some of these factors
promote the production of estrogen in women's bodies. And
there have been studies that have linked some of these
factors to the increase in breast cancer rates.
Two seemingly unlikely sources of breast cancer
activity are the Department of Defense and the Environmental
Protection Agency. The Department of Defense is about to
announce $200 million of new research money on the causes,
the treatment, and prevention of breast cancer.
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency,
again, is looking at the regulation of some of those
environmental factors that have been identified and
associated with increased risk for breast cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration, under the
direction of Dr. David Kessler, is the agency that approves
all new drugs for the treatment of breast cancer. And they
are also implementing the 1992 Mammography Quality Standards
Act, which is going to ensure now that there is federal
certification of all mammography facilities and personnel, so
that when a woman goes to get her mammogram, she knows that
it's going to be safe, accurate, and reliable. The FDA seal
of approval will guide women to the best mammography in their
communities.
While mammography, as Dr. Lippmann mentioned, is an
old technique -- it's a 40-year-old technique -- and while it
can decrease the death rates from breast cancer by 30 percent
for women over the age of 50, it is less effective for
younger women. Surely, if we can image missiles 15,000 miles
in outer space and we can use the Hubbel telescope to see
those craters on Mars and Jupiter, we should be able to more
accurately detect a small lump in a woman's breast right in
front of us.
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So my office, in collaboration with the National
Cancer Institute and in cooperation with the Congressional
Caucus for Women's Issues, is bringing together radiologists
currently exploring MRI, magnetic resonance imaging,
mammography, PET scans, ultrasound, new technologies to be
applied to breast cancer, and we're bringing them together
with defense imaging experts, imaging experts from the
Central Intelligence Agency, from NASA, and those people who
do computer graphics, those special effects that were done in
Jurassic Park.
We're bringing them together to try to develop a
more accurate and sensitive method for the detection of
breast cancer. And what better peace dividend from our
national investment in defense than to save the lives of
American women? (Applause.)
All of our lives, I'm sure, have been touched in
some way by this dreaded disease. I know I lost my own
mother of this illness 17 years ago. I watched her be
ravaged by it. We are committed in this Administration, in
this government, working with all of you here today to
eradicate breast cancer as a threat from all of our lives.
In closing, let me remind you of another proverb
that says, "He" -- let's make that "she" -- "who has health
has hope, and she who has hope has everything. " That's what
this Administration's efforts on women's health and the
national action plan on breast cancer is all about, bringing
hope for a healthier future, a future free of the threat of
breast cancer to every American woman. Thank you very much.
We look forward to working with you. (Applause.)
MRS. CLINTON: Well, we hope that all of the
comments from the speakers have been informative and useful
to you, as you launch this very exciting campaign. We now
want to invite all of you to join us for a reception in the
State Dining Room.
I would like to thank each of you individually, SO
I will be in the Blue Room -- it's the Green Room, the Blue
Room, the Red Room -- to have a chance to express my
appreciation on behalf of the President and this
Administration for what you do all the time for our country
and for women, in particular, but what you are doing now,
especially, to bring attention and resources to the fight
against breast cancer.
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I hope that we will have an opportunity to meet on
a regular basis. And Dr. Lippmann, Dr. Blumenthal, their
colleagues will be able to update you and let you know how
important your resources have been and your commitment is.
It's an exciting challenge and one that we are determined to
meet.
Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
END
MORE
SUNTUM M @ A1
09/26/98 03:52:00 PM
Record Type:
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To:
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CC:
Subject: 1998-9-26 radio address
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Sunnyvale, California)
Embargoed For Release
Until 10:06 A.M. EDT
Saturday, September 26, 1998
RADIO ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATION
The Fairmont Hotel
San Jose, California
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. As everyone knows, cancer can
be the cruelest of fates -- it strikes nearly every family. It struck mine; I
lost my mother to cancer.
Losses like these are the reason why tens of thousands of
Americans are coming together today on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.,
with one common purpose: to focus our entire nation's attention on cancer.
Gathering today are patients and survivors, families and friends, doctors and
Americans from all walks of life. The Vice President, who has been a real
leader in our administration's struggle against cancer, will join their ranks,
and will speak about the specific steps we are taking to win the fight.
This morning I want to talk to you about our overall vision of
cancer care and research as we approach the 21st century. This is a time of
striking progress, stunning breakthroughs. With unyielding speed, scientists
are mapping the very blueprint of human life, and expectations of the Human
Genome Project are being exceeded by the day. We are closing in on the
genetic causes of breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer. New tools
for screening and diagnosis are returning to many patients the promise of a
long and healthy life. It is no wonder scientists say we are turning the
corner in the fight against cancer.
For six years now, our administration has made a top priority
of conquering this terrible disease. We've helped cancer patients to keep
health coverage when they change jobs. We've accelerated the approval of
cancer drugs while maintaining safe standards. We've increased funding for
cancer research and, as part of our balanced budget, strengthened Medicare to
make the screening, prevention and detection of cancer more available and more
affordable.
Still, we know that we must never stop searching for
the best means of prevention, the most accurate diagnostic tools,
the most effective and humane treatments and someday soon, a
cure. To that end, there are several steps we must take.
First, to build on our remarkable progress I
proposed an unprecedented, multi-year increase in funding for
cancer research. As studies proceed, we must remember that
patients, as much as scientists, have a critical perspective to
add to any research program. That's why I'm announcing that all
federal cancer research programs will, by next year, fully
integrate patients and advocates into the process of setting
research priorities.
Next, as we continue to unravel the genetic secrets
of cancer we must apply that knowledge to the detection of the
disease. I am therefore issuing a challenge to the scientific
community to develop, by the year 2000, new diagnostic techniques
for every major kind of cancer so we catch it at its earliest and
often most treatable stage.
Also, we should give more patients access to
cutting-edge clinical trials so they and researchers can get
faster results. That's why I'm directing the National Cancer
Institute to speed development of national clinical trials
systems a simple, accessible resource for health care
providers and patients across our nation. I'm also urging
Congress to pass my proposal to cover the cost of those trials
for Medicare beneficiaries who need them most.
Finally, we are fighting against the leading cause
of preventable cancer by doing everything we can to stop children
from smoking. America needs a Congress with the courage to
finish the job and pass comprehensive tobacco legislation.
New technological tools, new networks of
information, new research priorities -- all are part of our
overall approach to health care that puts the patient first. On
this day, as Americans from all walks of life and all parts of
our nation renew our national fight against cancer, we do well to
remember that we are doing more than curing a disease. We are
curing the ills that disease may cause the stigmas, the myths,
the barriers to quality care. The concerned citizens on the Mall
today show that we are overcoming those barriers, one by one, and
at the same time building a stronger and healthier America.
Thank you for listening.
END
Message Sent To:
Chirty
Elizabeth R. Newman
04/03/98 11:36:37 AM
Record Type:
Record
To:
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CC:
Subject: 4-3-98 President's Remarks on the Economy
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release April 3, 1998
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON THE ECONOMY
The Rose Garden
10:08 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Before I read my statement, I'd like to make a brief
comment on a momentous event which occurred during my trip to Africa, back here. The Vice President turned
50, and I hope all of you noticed the increased gravity and maturity of his aura. (Laughter.) I personally am
greatly relieved. Not long before he turned 50, as I told him when I called him, an elderly lady came up to me
and she said, I think you and that young man are doing such a good job. (Laughter.) And it's nice to have a
middle-aged team now at the White House.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: She was very elderly. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Let me say, Hillary and I are delighted to be back from what was a wonderful trip
to Africa. We are working hard to strengthen the bonds of the African continent that I am convinced is in the
midst of a renaissance, where political and economic liberty is on the rise.
I only wish every American could have been with me every step of the way to see, first, Africa, not only
its problems, which are profound, but the energy and intelligence and determination of the people. I also wish
every American could have had yet one more opportunity to see how a very important part of the world see
America -- still as a beacon of equality and freedom and hope for opportunity.
Today we learned that the unemployment rate in the first quarter of this year, averaging 4.7 percent, is
the lowest it's been since 1970, 28 years. While there will be ups and downs, our economy continues to be one of
the strongest in history. Over the past year we've seen the strongest wage growth in 20 years; inflation is still
low; homeownership now at a record level. As we approach the longest peace-time expansion in our history, this
is a springtime of hope and opportunity for the American people.
Our economy is the product of the hard work, the creativity, the innovation of our citizens, and the
ingenuity and drive of our businesses. But also it is the fruit, as the Vice President said, of the comprehensive
economic strategy we have pursued since 1993, a strategy for the new economy.
The coming months will now test our nation. It will determine whether we will maintain our discipline
and pursue our priorities to strengthen our country for the new century. We can make this a time of action as
well as a time of abundance, to secure our prosperity well into the future, to widen the circle of opportunity so
that all Americans have a chance to reap the rewards of economic growth.
First, we should go and balance the budget this year and do it in a way that continues our investment in
our people and their future. With projected budget surpluses of $1 trillion over the next decade, I am pleased that
members of Congress of both parties have joined my call to reserve every penny of the surplus until we save
Social Security first. This is very significant. I compliment the leadership of both parties. It will strengthen our
nation.
At the same time, as we live within a balanced budget, we must invest to create prosperity for the future.
Many times I have said that in the new economy, education is the leading economic indicator. We will continue
to lead the world only if our children receive the world's best education. In that context, I am very concerned
that the budget plan now working its way through the Senate will squeeze out critical investments in education and
children.
I believe America must address the challenges before us. Class size for our children we must hire
100,000 new teachers so that we can reduce those class sizes. We must spur school modernization to make our
classes smaller and our schools safer. We must invest in path-breaking scientific research that will lengthen our
lives and promote prosperity into the 21st century. And we must make those investments which will make
credible our call for higher standards and higher performance in our schools. The budget now being drafted by
Congress simply does not meet these urgent national priorities.
I'm also determined that highway spending, though it is quite important, and though our budget provides
for a very impressive increase in investment in highways and mass transit, must be -- such spending must be
within the balanced budget, and should not crowd out critical investments in education, child care, health care, or
threaten our budget discipline.
In the coming months I look forward to working with Congress in cooperation with lawmakers of both
parties so that America stays on the path of both fiscal discipline and targeted investment -- a balanced budget that
is in balance with our values and our long-term interest in the future. That is what has brought us this far since
1993. We should not depart from that strategy now.
Finally, I am determined to seize this historic opportunity to pass bipartisan legislation to protect our
children from the dangers of tobacco. This Congress can be the Congress that saves millions of children's lives.
I want to say that we seem to be making some progress on that, with the vote in the Senate committee, but there is
an enormous amount of work still to be done. And I hope during this working recess the lawmakers of both
houses and both parties will be talking to the folks back home about the tobacco legislation and will come back
here at the end of this month with a renewed determination to actually pass legislation that will get the job done.
Our economy is the strongest in a generation, our social fabric is on the mend, our leadership around the
world as we saw on the trip to Africa, remains unrivalled. But our history and our heritage tells us that we can do
better and that our success depends upon our constant effort to do better. The American people want us to use
this sunlit moment not to sit back and enjoy, but to act. We were hired by the American people to act. If we do
so, in the 21st century the American dream will be more powerful than ever.
Thank you.
Q
Do you have any comments on reports that Kenneth Starr is being urged to indict Monica
Lewinsky and name you as a co-conspirator?
Q
On the tobacco deal, sir, how concerned are you that one or more of the tobacco companies
might walk away from this proposed settlement? And do you believe that you need their cooperation both so that
there is money for your budget priorities and so that you can win restrictions on cigarette advertising?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, the latter is of greater concern. That is, their agreement, or lack of it, would
influence the way Congress would have to raise the money, through raising the price of cigarettes to deter more
consumption and to raise the funds for the health care costs of tobacco and the health research and the other things
that I believe should be funded out of this settlement. But on the advertising, of course, that could be a concern
because of the governing legal precedents.
But I still believe that the incentives are there for the tobacco companies to do this. With each new
revelation of the strategies which have been vigorously pursued to market cigarettes to children, I think they have
an enormous interest to reverse the record of the past to try to put this unforgivable chapter behind them and to
start off on a new path. So I still believe that in the end we will achieve an agreement which will convince them,
or which they will be convinced will be in their interest.
The advertising issue is the more important one from a legal point of view, but I think we'll get there
because they have now with this evidence continuing to mount up about the deliberate strategy which was
followed, they have a big interest in pursuing it.
On the other matter, you know, I'm not going to comment on that. I'm going to try to do what the
Supreme Court said I should do, which is not to be in any way deterred by this, and I'm going on with my
business; others will comment on that.
Q
Mr. President, Moody's debt rating service earlier today issued a warning about Japan's
sovereign debt. The United States has repeatedly urged Japan, with little apparent success, to try to jump start its
domestic economy. Do you see any signs that the Japanese government is now ready to take actions that would
help bring it into recovery?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, the Prime Minister keeps moving forward in ways that the market seems to
believe are insufficient. And we have obviously urged aggressive action, because we want the Japanese economy
to grow. We think the Japanese economy is the key to stability and growth in Asia, and we have always wanted a
strong, healthy Japanese partner.
Japan is a great democracy, they've been a great partner for us, they've been a great engine of economic
growth for many years until the last few years. There may be some momentary disruption because now you have
some business leaders speaking out in Japan, but it appears to us on the outside of this that there is an ongoing
struggle between what is now the articulated view not only of the United States and others, but of the business
community in Japan about the direction that country should take and the entrenched resistance to that in the
permanent government bureaucracy that followed a different strategy with great success in previous years. And I
think we need to be both respectful, but firm, in urging the Japanese to take a bold course.
Prime Minister Hashimoto is an able man, and he understands the economy, and I believe he wants to
take such a course. What has to be done is that the people within the permanent government there, which have
always enjoyed great power, have to realize that the strategies that worked in the past are not appropriate to the
present. They have to make a break now in some ways that's not so different from the break that we made in
1993.
You simply can't stay with a strategy that is clearly not appropriate to the times and expect it to get the results that
are needed for the country.
But Japan is a very great country full of brilliant people who have a great understanding of economics.
And as I said, I think the Prime Minister understands this and is willing to take risks and wants to do it. And he's
got this raging battle going on and I have to hope that the forces of the future will prevail.
Thank you.
END
10:20 A.M. EST
Message Sent To:
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
REMARKS FOR ACRC THIRD ANNUAL GALA
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
October 8, 1998
[Acknowledgments: Pat McClelland; Dr. Harry Ward (Univ. Of
Arkansas Medical School Chancellor) and Betty Ward; Dr. Bart Barlogie
(bar-LOH-ghee)(Dir. Cancer Research) Gov. Mike Huckabee; and
Arkansas First Lady Janet Huckabee.]
Good evening. It is wonderful to be back at ACRC, and to see so
many old friends. The Arkansas Cancer Research Center has done so
much for my family, and for so many families. I am proud to say that as
Governor, my husband signed the original law that made ACRC possible
more than 10 years ago. Now, over 60,000 patients come here every
year. That is a remarkable achievement. But one of the things I admire
the most about ACRC is not how many people are treated here every
year, but how you well treat every one of those people -- and their
families -- while they are here.
- 1 -
Anyone who has ever had cancer themselves or seen a friend or
family member go through that difficult experience knows what a
difference a kind word by a nurse can make. How much it means to have
a doctor take the time to really explain a procedure or a prognosis. And
how much easier it is to bear pain, or fear, or loss, when you know that
the medical staff sees you not only as a patient, but as a person.
My family and I experienced that very human kind of treatment
when my mother-in-law Virginia Kelley was here. I know many of you
had the opportunity to get to know Virginia. And even though she was
struggling with breast cancer, in a way, I think you saw her at her best --
her courageous, uncomplaining, irrepressible best. She never wanted
anyone to feel sorry for her. She faced cancer the way she faced every
obstacle in her life - she led with her heart. She looked her cancer square
in the eye, then put on her lipstick and her false eyelashes, and went out
and celebrated life. She was a great inspiration to everyone who knew
and loved her.
- 2 -
I have seen that same simple courage in so many people with
cancer. But courage alone will not conquer this terrible disease. Only a
sustained commitment to cancer research, prevention, detection, and
treatment will win that war once and for all.
For almost six years, my husband has made fighting cancer one of
his administration's top priorities. We have helped cancer patients keep
health coverage when they change jobs. We have accelerated the
approval of cancer drugs. And we are working to end the most
preventable form of cancer by stopping tobacco companies from luring
our children into an addiction that will cut short their lives.
- 3 -
But you and I know that the single most important thing we can do
to beat cancer is to increase funding for cancer research. As we meet here
today, the first medicines to prevent prostate cancer, colon cancer, and
breast cancer are being tested. We are closing in on the genetic causes of
many kinds of cancer. New tools for screening and diagnosis are giving
new hope to cancer patients and their families. None of those stunning
discoveries would have been possible without well-funded research.
Since he first took office, the President has consistently increased
funding for cancer research. Last month, he took an historic step to build
on that commitment when he proposed an unprecedented, multi-year
increase in funding for cancer at the National Institutes of Health. This
action will help to fund hundreds of cancer research projects around the
country. Somewhere in America right now, a young researcher may have
an idea that may one day lead to a cure for cancer. With this single step,
we are closer than ever to that day.
- 4 -
The President is also building on our efforts to find the best means
of prevention, the most accurate diagnostic tools, the most effective and
humane treatments -- and someday soon, a cure.
To draw on the critically important perspective of cancer patients,
he has directed all federal cancer research programs to fully integrate
patients and advocates into the process of setting research priorities by
next year.
To help us continue to unravel the genetic secrets of cancer, he has
issued a challenge to the scientific community to develop, by the year
2000, new diagnostic techniques for every major kind of cancer so we
catch it at its earliest and often most treatable stage.
- 5 -
To give more patients access to cutting-edge clinical trials, he has
directed the National Cancer Institute to speed development of national
clinical trials systems. And he has urged Congress to pass his proposal to
cover the cost of those trials for Medicare beneficiaries who need them
most.
This is the kind of comprehensive, sustained strategy we need to
win the fight against cancer. Our families deserve nothing less -- and the
President will settle for nothing less -- than a cure in our lifetimes to this
devastating disease.
- 6 -
Two weeks ago this Saturday, nearly one hundred thousand people
gathered on the Great Mall in Washington to add their voices to the
growing chorus of Americans who say: the time has come to find that
cure -- and we will do it. When our children look back on this time, I feel
certain that they will be able to say that we made good on that pledge.
And when they do, it will be because ACRC led the way.
Thank you, and God bless you all.
- 7 -
Draft 10/21/98 3pm
Waldman/Tamagni
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATEMENT ON BUDGET
THE EAST ROOM
October 21, 1998
I'm very glad to have this chance to join you this afternoon to recognize National Breast
Cancer Awareness Month -- and to tell you about an important victory we have won for
American families -- and for women's health.
Twenty five years ago, America declared war on cancer. Twenty five years from now, I
hope that we will have won that war. Twenty five years from now, I hope that the war on
cancer will have about as much meaning to school children as the War of 1812. Twenty five
years from now, I hope those school children don't even know what the word "chemotherapy"
means.
For nearly six years, our administration has worked hard to bring us closer than ever to
that day. We have helped cancer patients to keep their health coverage when they change
jobs. We have accelerated the approval of cancer drugs while maintaining safe standards.
We have continually increased funding for cancer research. And I appointed Dr. Jane
Henney, the first woman and the first oncologist to be named Commissioner of the Food and
Drug Administration. And I am pleased to report that within the last two hours, she was
confirmed by the United States Senate.
Today, thanks to the efforts of so many people in this room and around the country,
our progress is nothing short of stunning. We are closing in on the genetic causes of breast
cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer, and testing medicines to prevent these cancers.
New tools for screening and diagnosis are returning to many patients the promise of a long and
healthy life. And from 1991 to 1995, cancer death rates actually dropped for the first time in
history.
I am especially proud of the five years of progress we have made in the prevention,
detection, and treatment of breast cancer. As many of you may know, I lost my mother to
breast cancer just a few years ago, and not one day goes by when I don't think about her
courage, and the courage of so many women facing this disease.
But you and I know that courage alone will not find a cure for this disease. Only a
sustained commitment to breast cancer research will win that war once and for all. Without
research, there would be no mammography. Without research, there would be no genetic
testing for vulnerability to breast cancer. And without research, there would be no tamoxifen,
which is showing so much promise in the treatment of breast cancer.
Just this afternoon, [I signed/the Senate passed] a fiscally responsible balanced budget
with breakthrough funding for cancer research. I am very pleased that this new budget
includes a record increase of $400 Million in new support for the National Cancer Institute.
With nearly $3 billion in funding, NCI will now be able to fund critical new research,
including a trial to expand the use of Herceptin [her-septin] to treat breast cancer earlier, and
ten more new clinical trials for breast cancer treatment. This is an important victory for
women's health. It is a balanced budget that honors our values.
In this as in so many things, let me salute and thank Vice President Gore, who
spearheaded our drive to include this research funding in this budget.
Let me mention a few other ways that this budget strengthens our nation.
First and foremost, this balanced budget honors our duty of fiscal responsibility. We
now have a budget surplus, the first in nearly three decades and the largest in history. And
despite the temptation to spend that surplus on tax cuts or spending programs, this budget
meets my challenge to set aside the surplus until we save Social Security.
And this budget will widen the circle of opportunity. By beginning to hire 100,000
new teachers, we will reduce class size, improve discipline, and make our classrooms a place
for learning. And with thousands of tutors to help children to read, and up to 100,000 mentors
to help poor children prepare for college with after-school programs to give 250,000 of our
children someplace to learn instead of the streets with half a million summer jobs to teach
our young people the discipline and joy of work this budget takes dramatic steps to invest
in the next generation.
This budget strengthens our nation in other ways as well. It will bolster our prosperity
at a time of financial turmoil around the world, by meeting our obligations to the IMF. It will
strengthen protection of the environment, guaranteeing safer water, cleaner air, more pristine
public lands. It will help struggling farmers who face natural disasters and declining export
markets.
We had to fight for each of these priorities despite the resistance of the congressional
majority. And we are still learning every day of wasteful spending tucked away in it pages.
But all in all, this is a balanced budget that honors our values. It will strengthen our economy
while it invests in our people. And it is good for America.
The victories in this budget must not obscure the fact that this has been a Congress too
often marked not by progress but by partisanship. We shouldn't have to cram a year's worth
of achievement in a 4000 page, 40 pound document.
Even in its last days, this Congress has persisted on the path of partisanship. The
Congress has just sent me a bill to reauthorize the State Department that contains unacceptable
restrictions on international family planning -- even though women in countries with strong
family planning have fewer abortions. The Congress even seeks to tie meeting our obligation
to the UN to this unrelated and controversial provision. I vetoed this provision once before,
and they sent me this bill knowing full well I would veto it again. And today, I have done so.
The 105th Congress leaves town with a great deal of unfinished business in this country -
- challenges that we must meet in the coming months and years to strengthen our families and
our nation. We know what we must do; and we know how we must do it.
The next Congress must act on behalf of the health of our families by passing a bipartisan
Patient's Bill of Rights. Our plan says to cancer patients and all Americans: You should have the
right to a specialist such as an oncologist. You should not have to worry that you will have to
change doctors in the middle of your cancer treatment. You should have the right to an
independent appeals process if you are getting denied or delayed critical treatment. Managed
care or traditional care, every American deserves quality care -- and we mean to give it to them.
The next Congress should act in other ways to strengthen the health of women. This
year, I asked the Congress to cover clinical trials for Medicare beneficiaries so they can get
cutting edge treatment. I asked Congress to outlaw discrimination based on the result of genetic
screening. This Congress failed to act. The next Congress should act.
The next Congress must meet our obligations to our children by modernizing our schools.
And above all, the next Congress must be the Congress that acts to save Social Security.
Social Security has lifted a generation of elderly Americans from poverty. And as we will be
discussing here at the White House on Friday, Social Security is especially vital to women, who
have fewer pensions and smaller savings. If we want to keep this commitment as strong for our
children as it has been for our parents, we must act now. And this moment of prosperity offers
us a chance to do so.
I am disappointed that the leader of the majority party in the Senate has now said that he
may not be willing to join me in our efforts to save Social Security. That's too bad -- because we
should work together, and we know what good can come to the country when we do. But let me
be clear: We must save Social Security; I am determined that this next Congress will save Social
Security. And I will work to strengthen Social Security with anyone any time anywhere.
On Social Security, we need progress, not partisanship. We cannot let partisanship derail our
best opportunity to strengthen Social Security for the 21st Century.
We now have only 436 days until the new millennium. It can and must be a time to
redouble our efforts, to honor our parents, to strengthen our nation, to honor the tenacity and
courage each of you shows every day. This is a moment to harness the greatest breakthroughs of
science to our greatest challenges as a people. If we do what we must, if we act together and
press our advances against the scourge of cancer, then the dawn of a new century can be a dawn
of a new era of human health. I thank you again for all you do, and ask you to work with me in
these coming days to make that dream a reality