May 28, 2008 byLinda Burton

Breast cancer survivor and Grammy award winning singerSheryl Crowwas on Capital Hill last week, urging Congress to pass a bill that would research whether there is a possible link between breast cancer and the environment.

In an ongoing effort to determine what role environmental factors may have in causing breast cancer, the bill would provide $200,000,000 over the next five years to provide research into possible environmental connections. In addition, an attached bill would require health insurance companies to cover the costs for at least a 48-hour hospital stay after a patient has received a mastectomy.

“I don’t live in a political world, and while this might seem like a political discussion, until you are the one in seven women diagnosed with breast cancer, you will never know howNOTpolitical this is,” Crow told a House subcommittee on health.

Crow, who has no family history of the disease, was diagnosed and underwent surgery for breast cancer in the fall of 2006.