House to Vote on Boswell’s Amendment to Authorize Armed Forces Breast Cancer Study
Leonard Boswell
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Leonard Boswell will urge his colleagues to vote for his amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which would commission a study on the incidence of breast cancer in members of the Armed Forces and veterans, and analyze contributing factors. The amendment will be considered by the House this afternoon.
“For two years, I have fought for answers as to why soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are returning from duty only to be faced with a new battle at home – breast cancer,” said Boswell, a 20-year combat veteran. “With mounting anecdotal evidence that breast cancer is linked to military service, I am hopeful that today the House will pass my amendment to actually do something about it. I personally understand what it means to suffer a service-connected disease. With the make-up of our Armed Forces changing, women accounting for about 15 percent of our active duty troops, 15 percent of our Guard troops and 20 percent of Reserve soldiers, we must make sure that our research on the impact of combat keeps up.”
Boswell first introduced this amendment as a stand-alone bill in the 111th Congress after a staff member, an Iraqi war veteran, returned from a 5-year deployment reunion with news that six of the 70 women (ages 25-35) in her battalion had been diagnosed with breast cancer and another half dozen had discovered non-cancerous masses. That legislation was supported by the Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The House will consider two other Boswell amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act today. The first would give the Secretary of Defense the authority to use revenues generated from alcohol and tobacco sales at military commissaries for substance abuse prevention programs. The second amendment expresses the Sense of Congress that the Department of Defense should give preferred consideration for contracts that utilize alternative, self-sufficient energy sources that reduce costs.
