1. Findings
The Congress finds as follows:
Dr. Balazs “Ernie” Bodai was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1951.
As a child, Dr. Bodai and his family lived in a bomb shelter for over a year during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 before managing to escape and immigrate to the United States.
Dr. Bodai received his B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and subsequently received his M.D. degree from the University of California, Davis, at the young age of 26.
Dr. Bodai has authored over 250 medical articles and published 5 books, 4 of which focus on cancer.
After working as a breast cancer surgeon for over 30 years and treating more than 15,000 patients, Dr. Bodai remains frustrated with the pace of breast cancer research funding.
In 1996, Dr. Bodai launched a campaign to create a postal stamp to benefit breast cancer research.
After several trips to Washington, DC, and countless visits with United States Senators and Members of Congress, the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act, which allowed a breast cancer stamp to be sold at up to 8 cents above the normal first-class rate, was passed and signed into law in August 1997.
As a direct result of Dr. Bodai’s tireless commitment to breast cancer research, as of February 2015, more than 985,000,000 breast cancer stamps have been sold in the United States—providing over $80,000,000 for crucial, life-saving research.
The Breast Cancer Research Stamp recently surpassed the Elvis Presley Stamp to become the all-time best seller for the United States Postal Service.
In an effort to expand breast cancer research internationally, in 2005, Dr. Bodai introduced the first ever “global stamp” to raise awareness and funding to conquer the disease worldwide.
As of 2014, as a direct result of Dr. Bodai’s tireless commitment, over 70 countries have either created their own stamp or are in the process of doing so—making breast cancer research, early detection, and eradication a global health priority.