WHEREAS, cancer is the second leading cause of death and touches almost every family, with over ten million Americans now living with a history of cancer; and

WHEREAS, cancer affects one out of every four Americans or one out of every two men and one out of every three women; and

WHEREAS, this year alone, cancer will claim the lives of more than 570,000 Americans or 1,500 people per day; and

WHEREAS, 1,700 Hawaii residents or roughly one of out every five deaths in Hawaii is attributed to cancer; and

WHEREAS, more than 1,300,000 cancer cases were diagnosed in 2005; and

WHEREAS, it is estimated that cancer cost the Nation nearly $190 billion in 2003, including more than $69 billion in direct medical costs; and

WHEREAS, the Nation's investment in cancer research and programs have led to actual progress; and

WHEREAS, between 1991 and 2001, cancer death rates declined by more than nine percent and about 258,000 lives were saved; and

WHEREAS, at least half of all cancer deaths could have been prevented by applying existing knowledge; and

WHEREAS, the Director of the National Cancer Institute has set a bold goal to eliminate suffering and death from cancer by 2015; and

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Hawaii State Legislature supports the goal of eliminating suffering and death due to cancer by 2015; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Hawaii Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and to the Director of the National Cancer Institute.