96-25897. National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 1996

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 195 (Monday, October 7, 1996)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 52675-52676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25897]



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Part IX





The President





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Proclamation 6926--National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 1996

Proclamation 6927--National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, 1996


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 195 / Monday, October 7, 1996 / 
Presidential Documents

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Title 3--
The President

[[Page 52675]]

                Proclamation 6926 of October 3, 1996

                
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 1996

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Each year we set aside the month of October as a time 
                to assess the toll that breast cancer takes on our 
                society and the progress we have made in our battle to 
                overcome it. For those of us who have lost loved ones 
                to this disease--mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, 
                and friends--the battle holds special urgency.

                Breast cancer remains the second leading cause of all 
                deaths among women ages 40 to 55. In 1996, a woman will 
                die from breast cancer every 12 minutes, and 184,300 
                women in the United States will be diagnosed with the 
                disease. Every one of these diagnoses changes not only 
                that woman's life, but the lives of all who love and 
                care for her.

                We have embarked on an all-out assault to combat this 
                threat. The Federal Government has nearly doubled 
                funding for breast cancer research, detection, and 
                treatment since 1993, from $271 million to $476 million 
                in the Department of Health and Human Services alone. 
                And in response to requests from 2.6 million of our 
                Nation's citizens, we launched the National Action Plan 
                on Breast Cancer, an innovative public-private 
                partnership to develop a national strategy for 
                prevention, education and care.

                We can be proud of the progress we are making in the 
                fight against breast cancer. During the most recent 5-
                year period for which data are available (1989-1993), 
                age-adjusted mortality rates for white women fell 
                almost 6 percent. Although mortality rates among 
                African American women are still increasing, the rate 
                of increase has slowed to 1 percent, compared to 16 
                percent during the 1980's.

                One of our most successful weapons in the fight against 
                breast cancer is early detection. The new Mammography 
                Quality Standards Act now ensures that every woman who 
                obtains a mammogram to detect breast cancer in its 
                earliest, curable, stages can be certain that 
                facilities meet the highest quality standards for 
                equipment and personnel. We are implementing the 
                National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection 
                Program to make free or low-cost mammography available 
                to medically under-served women. The First Lady 
                launched an education campaign to inform and encourage 
                older women to use Medicare's mammography screening 
                benefit. And to improve early detection, we are 
                transferring imaging technologies from the space, 
                defense, and intelligence communities.

                I urge women throughout our nation to have appropriate 
                mammograms, to perform routine self-examination, and to 
                take advantage of the latest in preventive medical 
                care. Armed with this commonsense approach and the 
                promising advances in research and treatment, we can 
                look forward with confidence to the day when breast 
                cancer is finally eradicated.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim October 1996 as National 
                Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I call upon government 
                officials, businesses, communities, volunteers, 
                educators, and all the people of the United States to 
                celebrate the successes we have had in advancing our 
                knowledge of

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                breast cancer, and to reaffirm our commitment to 
                continue to work together to fight this disease.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                third day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-six, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
                first.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 96-25897
Filed 10-4-96; 11:28 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P