III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 757 

Expressing support for the designation of the month of November 2020 

as ‘‘Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 23 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. JONES, and Mr. BROWN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the designation of the month of 

November 2020 as ‘‘Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month’’. 

Whereas pancreatic cancer will kill an estimated 47,050 people in the United States in 2020; 

Whereas pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States; 

Whereas, in 2020, pancreatic cancer has killed two United 

States icons—Representative John Lewis and Associate 

Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg; 

Whereas an additional 57,600 individuals in the United 

States will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020; 

Whereas, of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, 66 percent will die within the first year of their diagnosis; 


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•SRES 757 IS 

Whereas persistent healthcare inequities and disparities for 

communities of color compound the devastation of pancreatic cancer; 

Whereas the incidence rate for pancreatic cancer among 

Black Americans is 20 percent higher than that of any 

other racial demographic; 

Whereas the pancreatic cancer death rate is 17 percent higher for Black men than for White men; 

Whereas the lack of pancreatic cancer early detection research accelerates the racial unfairness in the United 

States healthcare system, with devastating consequences 

for minorities; 

Whereas pancreatic cancer has no early detection test to diagnose this cancer quickly and accurately determine the 

presence of this cancer; 

Whereas, if diagnosed early, the 5-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients is above 80 percent; 

Whereas, if pancreatic cancer is detected late, the 5-year survival rate drops to less than 10 percent; 

Whereas without adequate funding and early detection research, pancreatic cancer is not discovered until the late 

stages of this horrific cancer when treatment options are 

limited; 

Whereas, in fiscal year 2020, pancreatic cancer received its 

own dedicated research program at the Department of 

Defense under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs; 

Whereas, in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 

2020 (division A of Public Law 116–93), Congress appropriated funds to the Congressionally Directed Medical 


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•SRES 757 IS 

Research Programs, with $6,000,000 going to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Program; and 

Whereas the 116th Congress has a unique opportunity to 

make a historic investment in pancreatic cancer research 

at the Department of Defense: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘Pancreatic 

3 Cancer Awareness Month’’ for the month of Novem4 ber, 2020; 

5 (2) recognizes the critical importance of in6 creasing funding for pancreatic cancer research at 

7 the Department of Defense and the National Insti8 tutes of Health to find effective treatments for this 

9 cancer and reduce the disproportionate impact on 

10 communities of color; and 

11 (3) supports the efforts of the many advocacy 

12 organizations to educate communities in the United 

13 States about pancreatic cancer and the need for 

14 more research funding, early-detection initiatives, di15 agnostic tests, and effective treatments. 

Æ 


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