On Aug. 13, 1997, the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act (PL 105-41) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The bill established a special alternative rate of postage up to 25% higher than a regular first-class stamp. Seventy percent of the profits from the sale of the stamp would go to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund breast cancer research; the remaining 30% would go toward U.S. Department of Defense breast cancer research.

The driving force behind the creation of the Stamp was Dr. Ernie Bodai, a Permanente surgeon and director of the Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic at Kaiser Permanente, in Sacramento, California. Dr. Bodai successfully lobbied Congress and the Act, sponsored by Representatives Vic Fazio (D-CA) and Susan Molinari (R-NY). passed the House (422-3), and the companion version sponsored by Senators Feinstein (D-CA), Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY), and Lauch Faircloth (R-NC), and passed unanimously in the Senate. President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law (PL 105-41) on August 13, 1997.