Senator PEPPER. Mr. Read, we will be glad to have you present your statement. Mr. READ. My name is Harry Read, executive assistant to James B. Carey, secretary-treasurer of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. I am making this statement in his behalf, Senator. STATEMENT BY JAMES B. CAREY, SECRETARY-TREASURER, CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS (Read by Mr. Read:) In considering the proposed legislation your subcommittee is confronted with, you cannot evade the stark fact that there is abroad in this land today an insidious, deadly enemy of human welfare. A people that is properly shocked by a single evil homicide in any community is now looking to the Congress for the prevention of a steadily growing number of deaths each year attributable to cancer. Physicians may refer to this dread affliction by soft and fancy technical terms. I am not interested in the technical aspects of the problem. I say that the affliction called cancer amounts to the murder of a human being each time it strikes. In 1942 cancer murdered 163,000 persons in the United States; in 1943 it murdered 166,848; in 1944 it murdered 171,171, for a total in the 3 years of 501,019. Those figures do not represent dollars or automobiles or radios. They represent more than one-half million human beings who constitute the United States of America. This Nation is not composed of cities, towns, factories, farms, rivers, lakes, and forests-it is made up of people. They and they alone go to make our country what it is today and yet cancer murdered more than one-half million of them in the brief space of 36 months. Nor is this all. The figures, gentlemen, indicate that cancer murders are increasing steadily and inexorably, with the result that a great fear is held constantly in growing proportion over the heads of every man, woman, and child in the United States. Every 280 of our people know that one of them will die this year of cancer. Those are short odds where human life is concerned, and the odds are growing shorter as time goes on. A great many things are blamed on Congress these days and many of the accusations are true. I am not accusing Congress of responsibility for cancer. I believe though that as a spokesman for some 24,000,000 American citizens whom we represent through our membership, we have a right to ask that the Congress make its contribution in the fight against cancer. The Congress most certainly is charged with observance of the preamble of the Constitution of the United States; and it seems to me that more than one-half million cancer murders in 36 months come under the general welfare clause. There will be of course, as usual, advocates of economy in the Congressional Halls, who will argue that the $100,000,000 appropriation provided for in S. 1875, the Pepper bill, and H. R. 4502, the Neely bill, is a lot of money. If the discussion is to be a fiscal one, I submit that such a discussion will suggest a horrible price tag of $200 apiece on each of the one-half million persons murdered by cancer in 1942, 1943, and 1944. I believe this problem should be approached as we approached our problem of human security and the right to life during the war. During the entire war period the enemy killed 273,000 of our soldiers, sailors, and marines. This is: a little more than half the number murdered by cancer during the same period. In the matter of battle deaths, however, we moved swiftly to stamp out the source of the plague. It may be claimed that the provisions of the bill under your consideration constitutes a gamble. In other words. $100,000.000 may be spent vainly in an endeavor to learn means of curing and preventing cancer. It is a gamble; but we gambled $2.000.000,000 during the war in an effort to perfect atomic energy so we could halt the killing of our people on land and sea and in the air. We had no assurance that our $2,000,000,000 expenditure would give us what we sought, but we gambled. Now I am suggesting that we gamble 5 percent of $2,000,000,000 in an effort to halt murder by cancer. Gentlemen, this bill presents a challenge. It calls for the mobilization at some convenient place in the United States of an adequate number of the world's. outstanding cancer experts to put forth a supreme endeavor to overcome cancer.. In the light of our accomplishments in the fields of science and industry we and we alone of all the people on earth stand the best chance of attaining success. We owe it to ourselves and to all other human beings to meet our obligation in the premises. Senator PEPPER. Thank you very much, Mr. Read. We appreciate your coming and giving us your views on the matter. Mr. READ. We do not purport to go into the technical end of this. Senator PEPPER. I understand. Mr. READ. We have too many people going into the technical end of our affairs that know nothing about them. Senator PEPPER. Yes; I understand. Thank you very much. Now, that will conclude these hearings, so far as I know, upon this measure, and we thank all who have participated with us. (The following statements will be inserted in the appendix of the record as follows:) 89471-46- -12 APPENDIX EXHIBIT 1 [From the Washington Daily News, June 29, 1946] ATOM BYPRODUCTS AID IN TWO TYPES OF CANCER (By Science Service) SAN FRANCISCO, June 29.-Cancer treatment by atomic research byproducts is a reality for two types of the disease, a California University medical school physician reported yesterday to the American Radium Society. Successful treatment was to be described by Dr. Bertram V. Low-Beer, associate radiology professor, who has been working since 1911 with radioactive phosphorus produced in the California University cyclotrons. Dr. Low-Beer cautions the treatment is applicable only to superficial skin cancers and warts, and holds no hope it can be applied to deep-seated tumors in the near future. The two types of skin cancer treated successfully are basal cell carcinoma and hyperkeratosis. Neither is a rapidly spreading type which causes death. In basal cell carcinoma cases Dr. Low-Beer's treatment was 98 percent effective, tumors being removed in 51 or 52 patients. For hyperkeratosis, the treatment was 100 percent effective in 36 cases. Dr. Low-Beer refuses to say whether the treatment is superior to X-rays, radium, and surgery, but does assert it is as good as any to be had. WIDE USE POSSIBLE The physician observed that while cyclotrons can produce enough radioactive phosphorus for experimental use, chain-reacting piles of atomic bomb factories should be able to manufacture enough for widespread clinical treatment. The treatment is an excellent illustration of the theory of possible treatment of cancer with artificially radioactive substances, and it brightens the future in this field. EXHIBIT 2 UNITED STATES SENATE, July 2, 1946. Hon. CLAUDE PEPPER, Chairman, Subcommittee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR PEPPER: I am taking the liberty of enclosing herewith letters from the Governor of Idaho's office, and the office of the Department of Public Health of Idaho, regarding Senate bill 1875. Please give the suggestions contained in these letters full consideration during the hearings which are now being held by your committee. Thanking you and with kindest regards, I am, Sincerely, CHARLES C. GOSSETT, United States Senate. 171 STATE OF IDAHO, OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, Hon. CHARLES C. GOSSETT, United States Senator, Senate Building, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR GOSSETT: Our department of public health has called to our attention Senate bill No. 1875 on which hearings will be held Tuesday, July 2. This is a bill concerning the control of cancer and research work. There is a companion bill, H. R. 4502, which would make an appropriation of $100,000,000 to be expended within a 5-year period. The department of public health offers these suggestions in this consideration of the bill. 1. If the large sum of $100,000,000 be incorporated in the bill, the time limit for its expenditures should be extended. 2. That there be a provision made in the bill to allow for construction of facilities and the purchase of equipment where needed. 3. That the bill be amended to channel money through existing State agencies as grants-in-aid to the States, in Idaho it would be the department of public health, rather than setting up a special Federal and State agency. This is being submitted to you for your consideration. Very truly yours, R. W. BECKWITH, STATE OF IDAHO, Hon. CHARLES C. GOSSETT. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, United States, Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR GOSSETT: We have recently studied Senate bill 1875 which covers an appropriation and plans for a cancer control program. We are greatly interested in this activity as this department has already done preliminary work in this field and has cooperated with the Idaho division of the American Cancer Society in our Idaho program. We know the United States Public Health Service is also deeply interested in this activity and has already set up extensive cancer research and control programs. In studying this proposed bill we note it sets up a special board to administer the program and neither the United States Public Health Service nor State health departments would necessarily be considered in planning or administering this program even though all such activities have previously been centered in these two agencies. This bill calls for an appropriation of $100,000,000 and limits its expenditure to a period of 5 years. We believe it would be impossible for even an existing agency, let alone a new agency, to establish and administer this amount of money economically in such a short period. We do believe work should proceed as rapidly as possible in this important field, but believe such a program limited to 5 years would result in a great deal of waste. We find no provision in this bill to allow construction of facilities or purchase of equipment which would be needed for any program apparently anticipated by the $100.000,000 appropriation. We strongly urge that you give consideration to amending the bill so that the United States Public Health Service will be the administrative agency on the Federal level with the State health departments responsible for the program on the State level. We also believe the 5-year limit should be taken off the appropriation and that amount of money should merely be appropriated for cancer research and control in order that the program may be properly planned and administered. We will appreciate your favorable consideration of this request and ask that you keep us informed of the progress of this legislation. Sincerely yours, L. J. PETERSON, Administrative Director. |