Title: A resolution expressing support for the designation of the month of November 2020 as "Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month".
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution expresses support for the designation of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 757 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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;
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 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
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the designation of ``Pancreatic Cancer 
        Awareness Month'' for the month of November, 2020;
            (2) recognizes the critical importance of increasing 
        funding for pancreatic cancer research at the Department of 
        Defense and the National Institutes of Health to find effective 
        treatments for this cancer and reduce the disproportionate 
        impact on communities of color; and
            (3) supports the efforts of the many advocacy organizations 
        to educate communities in the United States about pancreatic 
        cancer and the need for more research funding, early-detection 
        initiatives, diagnostic tests, and effective treatments.
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