FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                CONTACT: BARBARA RILEY

4/30/08                                                                        202-224-9881

                                                                                    LIZ CHAMBERLAIN

                                                                                    603-430-9560

SUNUNU HONORED BY NATIONAL BREAST CANCER COALITION

 FOR HELPING THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER

New Hampshire Coalition Representatives present

Sununu with “Certificate of Excellence” for legislative record

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Breast Cancer Coalition has honored United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) with a “Certificate of Excellence” in recognition of his support in the fight to prevent breast cancer. New Hampshire representatives of the National Breast Cancer Coalition - Jane Edmunds, of Hollis, Nancy Ryan, of Lee, and Sue Holmes, of Hollis - presented Sununu with the award on Tuesday, April 29 in his Capitol Hill office.

“Breast cancer will take the lives of over 40,000 women across the country this year – hundreds of them from New Hampshire. Great strides have been made in the fight to prevent this tragic disease, due in large measure to the leadership of Nancy Ryan, Chair of the New Hampshire Breast Cancer Coalition and her fellow members,” said Sununu.  “These statistics show how much work remains to be done, and I continue my commitment to fighting for passage of the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act. Research and awareness are key tools in this battle that will help bring about a decline in the incidence and death rate from breast cancer. The highly-successful breast cancer research fund raising stamp has been a great benefit in helping to fund this fight.”

Sununu has co-sponsored the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act in the 108th, 109th, and the current session of Congress. The legislation directs the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to provide grants for the development of eight research centers across the country that would be responsible for examining the potential links between breast cancer and the environment. He has also joined many of his colleagues in sending a letter to the Department of Defense Appropriations Subcommittee requesting $150 million for the Defense Department Peer Reviewed Breast Cancer Research Program for Fiscal Year 2009 – a program that is critical to help research and develop an accurate, reliable early detection, and a cure.

Additionally, Sununu backed legislation in 2007 to allow the United States Postal Service to continue selling its 45 cent of a breast cancer fund-raising stamp through December 31, 2009. Without the change, the sale of the stamp would have stopped at the end of 2007.  Proceeds from the sale of the stamp, minus the costs related to administering it, are directed to the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Department Peer Reviewed Breast Cancer Research Program.

Reflecting Sununu’s strong commitment to study of fighting breast cancer, Sununu was selected to serve as Honorary Co-Chair of the 2007 Susan G. Komen VT-NH Race for the Cure.