Whereas lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among individuals in the United States, accounting for more deaths than colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer combined;

Whereas, in 2025, an estimated 226,650 individuals in the United States will be diagnosed with lung cancer, and 124,730 individuals (approximately 340 individuals per day) will die from the disease;

Whereas 1 in 16 men and 1 in 17 women in the United States will develop lung cancer during their lifetimes;

Whereas each year more women die from lung cancer than breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer combined;

Whereas, in 2025, cigarette smoking directly caused approximately 109,100 of the 124,730 lung cancer deaths, and exposure to secondhand smoke causes over 7,300 lung cancer deaths each year in adults who do not smoke;

Whereas approximately 10 to 20 percent of lung cancer diagnoses occur in people who have never smoked, and the proportion of lung cancer diagnoses in individuals who have never smoked is increasing in the United States;

Whereas women who never smoked are more likely than men who never smoked to get lung cancer;

Whereas Black men have the highest incidence of lung cancer and the highest mortality rate from lung cancer in the United States, and nonwhite individuals are 13 to 18 percent less likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer early in their lives;

Whereas veterans are 25 percent more likely to develop lung cancer compared to the general public, and although approximately 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 veterans have an elevated risk of lung cancer and are eligible for screening, less than 3 percent of veterans get screened;

Whereas lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in veterans;

Whereas the 5-year survival rate is 67 percent for those diagnosed with localized lung cancer and 12 percent for those diagnosed at a stage when the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body;

Whereas the number of individuals in the United States recommended to receive lung cancer screening was estimated to be 14,500,000 as of 2021;

Whereas only 16 percent of individuals in the United States at high risk for lung cancer undergo lung cancer screening;

Whereas limited geographic availability of facilities and transportation barriers are persistent challenges to lung cancer screening;

Whereas 62 percent of adults are not familiar with lung cancer screening and the low-dose computed tomography scan;

Whereas the stigma surrounding lung cancer—

Whereas lung cancer research is leading to breakthroughs in biomarker identification and the development of immunotherapies and targeted therapies that are improving survival and quality of life for those with lung cancer;

Whereas access to biomarker testing and cutting-edge diagnostics is challenging across populations and geographic areas; and

Whereas educational efforts can increase awareness of lung cancer and lung cancer screening among the general public, patients and their families, and health care workers and increase the early detection of lung cancer: Now, therefore, be it