NBCC Testimony

The National Breast Cancer Coalition does not endorse candidates.

At the beginning of every legislative session, and with the input of our hundreds of organizational members and women and men across the nation, NBCC determines its legislative priorities. These priorities are developed after a great deal of research and analysis and do not include all issues related to breast cancer - only the ones that NBCC believes will make significant and meaningful progress toward our goal of ending this disease. These priorities are not set by any specific individual, but informed by the broad and diverse perspective that is the world of breast cancer.

NBCC fulfills our responsibility to educate Members of Congress and the public about our priorities through a variety of means:

• We conduct Congressional Briefings on Capitol Hill to educate Members of Congress and their staff about NBCC and our legislative priorities.
• We communicate regularly with the offices of Members of Congress to encourage their support of our legislative priorities.
• We issue legislative updates to our national network of grassroots advocates urging them to contact their local Members of Congress to sign on or support our legislation.
• We conduct an annual Lobby Day where NBCC members from across the country meet with Members of Congress to gain their support for our issues.
• We post information about the priorities and their status in Congress on our web site.
• We issue press releases on important action on specific pieces of legislation.

At the end of every Congressional Session, NBCC issues a Congressional Record of Support. This record is a listing of all of our legislative priorities and how Members of Congress acted on them. The Congressional Record of Support specifically describes the actions we asked Members of Congress to take on each priority. In some cases, that is a vote, in others it is signing on to a letter or a piece of legislation.

NBCC works hard to ensure that the public sees breast cancer not just as a scientific and medical issue but as a political issue as well. To do that, we issue educational tools to help voters review and analyze a candidate's position on important breast cancer legislation. NBCC's Congressional Record of Support is one of these tools.

NBCC will continue its long tradition of establishing its legislative priorities, monitoring their progress in Congress and publishing the voting records of Members of Congress.