Breast cancer coalition to honor Sen. Snowe

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine will be inducted into the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s “Hall of Fame” on May 4. At a ceremony to be held on Capitol Hill, Snowe will be honored for her leadership in the fight against breast cancer.

“I pledge my continued support and work in Congress and on the grassroots level to support and promote women’s health and combat breast cancer, a disease that has robbed us of too many of our nation’s women,” Snowe said in a prepared statement.

In the 108th Congress, Snowe has introduced two bills to combat breast cancer: S.415, the “Consumer Involvement in Breast Cancer Research Act,” which would amend the Public Health Service Act to provide increased involvement of advocates in decision-making at the National Cancer Institute, specifically for research on breast cancer, and S.1730, the “Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 2003,” which would require health plans to provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer.