IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 739 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President 
should declare lung cancer a public health priority and should implement 
a comprehensive inter-agency program that will reduce lung cancer mor-
tality by at least 50 percent by 2015. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 28, 2006 
Mr. SHAW submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the President should declare lung cancer a public health 
priority and should implement a comprehensive inter- 
agency program that will reduce lung cancer mortality 
by at least 50 percent by 2015. 
Whereas lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for 
both men and women, accounting for 28 percent of all 
cancer deaths; 
Whereas lung cancer kills more people annually than breast 
cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, mela-
noma and kidney cancer combined; 
Whereas since the National Cancer Act of 1971, coordinated 
and comprehensive research has elevated the five year 
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survival rates for breast cancer to 87 percent, for pros-
tate cancer to 99 percent, and for colon cancer to 64 per-
cent, which are decreases in mortality we should seek to 
replicate; 
Whereas the survival rate for lung cancer is still only 15 per-
cent and will require similar coordinated and comprehen-
sive research to achieve decreases in mortality; 
Whereas 60 percent of lung cancer is now diagnosed in non-
smokers and former smokers; 
Whereas two-thirds of nonsmokers diagnosed with lung can-
cer are women; 
Whereas certain minority populations, such as black males, 
have disproportionately high rates of lung cancer inci-
dence and mortality, notwithstanding their lower smoking 
rate; 
Whereas ‘‘baby boomer’’ generation Americans are now enter-
ing their sixties, the most common age for cancer devel-
opment; 
Whereas tobacco addiction and exposure to other lung cancer 
carcinogens, such as Agent Orange and other herbicides 
and battlefield emissions, are serious problems among 
military personnel and war veterans; 
Whereas the National Cancer Institute’s Lung Cancer 
Progress Review Report of 2001 stated that funding for 
lung cancer research was ‘‘far below the levels character-
ized for other common malignancies and far out of pro-
portion to its massive health impact’’; 
Whereas the Lung Cancer Progress Review Report identified 
as its ‘‘highest priority’’ the creation of integrated, multi-
disciplinary, multi-institutional research consortia orga-
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nized around the problem of lung cancer rather than 
around specific research disciplines; and 
Whereas the Federal Government should enhance its response 
to the issues raised in the Lung Cancer Progress Review 
Report: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the President should— 
(1) declare lung cancer a public health priority 
and immediately lead a coordinated effort to reduce 
the mortality rate of lung cancer by 50 percent by 
2015; 
(2) direct the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services to increase funding for lung cancer research 
and other lung cancer related programs within a co-
ordinated strategy and defined goals, including, but 
not limited to— 
(A) translational research and specialized 
lung cancer research centers; 
(B) expansion of existing multi-institu-
tional, population-based screening programs in-
corporating state-of-the-art image processing, 
centralized review, clinical management, and to-
bacco-cessation protocols; 
(C) research on disparities in lung cancer 
incidence and mortality rates; 
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(D) graduate medical education programs 
in thoracic medicine and cardiothoracic surgery; 
(E) new programs within the Food and 
Drug Administration to expedite the develop-
ment of chemoprevention and targeted therapies 
for lung cancer; 
(F) annual reviews by the Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality of lung cancer 
screening and treatment protocols; 
(G) the appointment of a lung cancer di-
rector within the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention with authority to improve lung 
cancer surveillance and screening programs; 
and 
(H) lung cancer screening demonstration 
programs under the direction of the Centers for 
Medicare & Medicaid Services; 
(3) direct the Secretary of Defense, in conjunc-
tion with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to de-
velop a broad-based lung cancer screening and dis-
ease management program among military personnel 
and veterans, and to develop technologically ad-
vanced diagnostic programs for the early detection 
of lung cancer; 
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