On Apr. 20, 2007,

President Bush signed critical legislation into law today to expand a successful program that provides lifesaving breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income, uninsured and underinsured women. Bush’s approval of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (S. 624/H.R. 1132), which took place during National Minority Cancer Awareness Week, followed passage in the House and Senate last month with strong bipartisan support.

The legislation, which was introduced in February by Sens. Barbara Mikulski (DMD) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Sue Myrick (R-NC), reauthorizes this program, which is administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), giving some states greater flexibility to reach more eligible women.

Moreover, the law sets increased funding targets for the program from $202 million currently to $275 million over the next five years, allowing it to serve an additional 130,000 women. As currently funded, the program can serve only 1 in 5 eligible women. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action NetworkSM (ACS CAN) will be urging Congress to honor the targets and boost funding for the program.