| Dr Blumenthal’s Introduction ofSenator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

Our next speaker is Senator Barbara Boxer, and she is aleading advocate for women in the United States Senate. She has been recognized nationallyfor her work on improving women’s health, protecting reproductive rights, and endingthe epidemic of domestic violence. As a congresswoman, Senator Boxer was an author of the Violence Against Women Act. As a senator, shefought to see it become law in 1994 providing, among other programs, a nationwide 24-hourdomestic violence hotline so victims of violence can receive immediate crisis informationand assistance. And let me add that in its first week of operation, that 1-800-799-SAFEdomestic violence hotline received over 3,000 calls.

On women’s health issues, Senator Boxer has workedtirelessly to draw much needed attention and resources to the research and treatment ofdiseases affecting women particularly breast cancer. She has been a champion forwomen’s health, and for all women in our country. It is with great respect,admiration and appreciation for all of her efforts that I want you to welcome SenatorBarbara Boxer.

Senator Barbara Boxer(D-CA)

First of all, congratulations to Dr Susan Blumenthal on thework you’re doing to improve women’s health. So many of us fought long and hardso we would have an Office on Women’s Health in the Department of Health and HumanServices, and it wouldn’t have meant anything if good people weren’t involved init. So I say thank you.

I have a very special privilege today to introduce someonevery special, someone that if you don’t know you should know, and you would feelprivileged to know. Before I get to that introduction, which is the reason really thatI’m here, I just want to make one overview comment. I serve on the Budget Committeein the United States Senate, and I was privileged to do so in the House of Representativesfor a long time. The reason I love being on that committee is because, essentially, thebudget of the United States of America is the blueprint for what our country is all about.It’s the same way in your own lives. When you sit down and decide what’simportant for your families, you make those decisions. We make that decision for theAmerican family. It occurred to me to do some type of survey on my own, quiteunscientifically, and I am going to do it. I haven’t got it exactly lined up, butthere’s been a move lately to revive a full blown effort to build an antimissileballistic defense in the country known as Star Wars to defend us in case a ballisticmissile were to be launched at us, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars. When the ColdWar was over, many of us were quite pleased about that occurrence, and we know we stillhad to have a very strong military. But we also knew that $1 billion, which is hardlyanything when you look at the military budget because it’s so large, about $300billion, could go so far in education and health research and all of those things that weseem to fight so hard for. One of the things I’m working on is putting together asurvey that goes out and says to the people of this country, on a totally nonpartisanbasis, deep at night when you think about your life, what fears do you have themost—a fear for example of being a victim of crime, a fear of having someone in yourfamily diagnosed with a terrible disease such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovariancancer, scleroderma, some other issues, and what are your other fears—and just askfolks the third question, which is a ballistic missile being launched from a foreignnation and landing in our country. I would give them all the information. I’d givethem information from the CIA and everyone who really knows about this. I’d give theminformation from Dr Susan Blumenthal on how many of us will be diagnosed this year withbreast cancer. I’ll give them information that I’ve been learning from SharonMonsky of the hidden women’s disease, scleroderma, that has as many victims asmultiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy, which we don’t even know about yet becausepeople haven’t been as brave as Sharon to come forward and tell us about it.

I am really confident that when we do this research,we’re going to find out that folks will probably put health or crime first, and adistant third will be a ballistic missile that gets launched by one of our enemies.That’s really what priorities are all about, and frankly, that’s what electionsare all about whether you’re Republican or Democrat. It’s a decision that is soimportant for you to make as to what is the most important thing. This kind of conferenceis so important.

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