CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE YOUNG WOMEN ABOUT BREAST CANCER RISKS REAUTHORIZED BY SENATE – HEADS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA’S DESK

WASHINGTON – The Breast Health Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act, or the EARLY Act, was reauthorized for five years today by the Senate by Unanimous Consent. H.R. 5185 was introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) in the House and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and David Vitter (R-LA).

Authored by Rep. Wasserman Schultz and originally signed into law in 2010, the EARLY Act created an education and outreach campaign administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to highlight the breast cancer risks facing young women and women of higher-risk ethnic and racial backgrounds, while empowering them with the tools they need to fight the disease. The EARLY Act also targets health care providers with education and information to ensure they are better equipped to catch breast cancer in young women, as well as providing a grant program for organizations doing work targeting the unique challenges faced by young breast cancer survivors.

“Reauthorizing the EARLY Act means the important work the CDC has done educating young women about the breast cancer risks they face will continue. We will continue supporting state-led initiatives helping identify high-risk women, collecting family histories and educating doctors,” saidWasserman Schultz, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41 and learned she was at high risk as a carrier of the BRCA2 genetic mutation. After undergoing seven surgeries during that year, she is now seven years cancer-free.

“My deepest thanks go to Congresswoman Renee Ellmers and my colleagues in the House for their support.

“Thanks go to Senators Klobuchar, Vitter and Leader Reid for their dedication to this initiative and moving this bill through the Senate. I look forward to this going to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law.”

“We’ve made enormous strides forward in the fight against breast cancer, but more work remains to ensure all women – and especially young women – have the tools and support they need to protect themselves from this disease,”Klobuchar said. “Our bipartisan bill will go a long way toward elevating breast cancer awareness and supporting critical research, and today’s action means this important legislation will now become law.”

“My wife Wendy tragically lost her mother to breast cancer when she was just 6. Her loss serves as a continual reminder to our family, including our three daughters, of how important it is to raise awareness about breast cancer and increasing resources to fight the disease. Elevating breast cancer prevention and early detection, increasing research, and expanding access to care will help combat this disease that affects all of us,” said Vitter.

“I am so proud to have joined my colleague, Rep. Wasserman Schultz in passing the reauthorization of the EARLY Act. This important piece of legislation has touched a countless number of lives and will give hope to women everywhere who are still courageously fighting their battle against breast cancer. It is important that we do everything we can to aid women during their fight and give them the information and resources they need to overcome this disease.

“I look forward to the President signing this legislation into law, and want to thank my colleague, Rep. Wasserman Schultz, for making the EARLY Act a reality,” said Ellmers.
Over the last four years the CDC has already accomplished a number of objectives through the EARLY Act: identifying where the gaps exist in education and awareness among young women and health care providers about breast health; supporting young survivors through grants to organizations focused on helping these survivors cope with the many unique challenges they face, including fertility preservation, and long-term survivorship challenges; and implementing a targeted media campaign, including through innovative social media efforts, to reach women at the highest risks, including those at risk for cancers caused by genetic mutations.

“I look forward to another five years of the EARLY Act helping young women acquire the knowledge and resources they need to not just survive, but thrive,” addedWasserman Schultz. “With this continued work, we can all look forward to a day when young women will no longer face this disease.”