After Cancer, Lawmaker Urges Tests
April 14, 2009
By Richard Leiby Washington Post
She didn’t cry on “Good Morning America.” She didn’t cry when she talked to the local press. But on March 28, 2009, surrounded by a sisterhood of other breast cancer survivors, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz stood looking so vulnerable and human — so unlike a typical member of Congress — at a lectern in a small Capitol dining room, and broke down repeatedly.
How could she not? She was telling a roomful of reporters and other strangers about having her breasts and ovaries removed. It’s a remarkable story that hardly anyone in Washington knew about until a few weeks ago.
“I’m sorry,” she said, departing from her text as her tears started. She took several deep breaths and struggled to keep reading. “I cannot end my remarks without thanking my wonderful husband . . . ” More tears.
“So sorry.”
Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), a rising star in her party, was there to announce legislation for a national campaign to educate the public, particularly young women and their doctors, about the need for a much earlier approach to breast cancer detection. The accepted standard of mammograms at age 40, advocacy groups say, creates a false sense of security for younger women. Other cancer survivors, some in their 30s, came to the Hill to ring the alarm, to applaud Wasserman Schultz for going public and to cry with her.
Now 42, the mother of three said she discovered a lump in December 2007 while doing a self-examination, and has since undergone seven major surgeries. She kept the illness private while campaigning for reelection and stumping nationwide for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, then Barack Obama. She didn’t want the illness to “define” her, Wasserman Schultz said. Most of her staff didn’t know about her condition, according to a spokesman.
Wasserman Schultz said that after learning she was at greater risk for the cancer to spread because of her Ashkenazi Jewish descent, she elected to have a double mastectomy, as well as the removal of her ovaries.
Her legislation, which seeks $9 million annually, has one of those memorable acronyms only members of Congress can invent: the EARLY (Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young) Act.
To read more, visit the Washington Post website at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032302801.html
To read about Congresswoman Wassserman’s Early Act legislation, visit:
http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/earlyact/index.shtml
Read the press release submitted by the Congresswoman’s office:
