FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 1, 2007
CONTACT: Geoff Embler or Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison: Breast Cancer Research Stamp Saves Lives
Legislation to extend the sale of stamp passes Senate committee
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, announced that a Senate committee passed a bill she introduced to extend the sale of the Breast Cancer Research Stamp for two years.
“This stamp saves lives by raising tens of millions of dollars for critical breast cancer research,” Sen. Hutchison said. “Extending the sale of this stamp will keep us on the path to finding a cure for this disease which affects so many lives, not just those who suffer from it, but also their families and friends.”
The bill was passed today by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Sen. Hutchison and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the legislation extending the sale of the stamp on Feb. 14, 2007. Under current law, the sale of the stamp will expire on December 31, 2007.
“The breast cancer research stamp has been extraordinarily successful. Not only has the sale of the stamp raised more than $56 million in vital funds for breast cancer research, but the stamp itself has focused public awareness on the devastating disease and provided hope to breast cancer survivors,” Sen. Feinstein said. “Thanks to breakthroughs in cancer research, more and more people are becoming cancer survivors rather than cancer victims. Every dollar we continue to raise will help save lives.”
The Breast Cancer Research Stamp was issued on July 29, 1998 under legislation passed by Congress and became America’s first fund-raising stamp. According to the U.S. Postal Service, over 777.7 million of the stamps have been sold, raising over $56 million for breast cancer research to date. Seventy percent of the amount raised is given to the National Institutes of Health and 30 percent is given to the Medical Research Program at the U.S. Department of Defense. The stamp was designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD.
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