Today —  July 15, 2025 — Congressman Jim McGovern will deliver a powerful speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of House Resolution 342 (H), aka the DES Resolution!

This is a HUGE moment in the fight for justice, recognition, and accountability for those harmed by DES. 📣

🕛 The speech is expected to occur between 12:00–12:15 PM ET — tune in on C-SPAN or at http://live.house.gov to watch it live. If you miss it, the speech should be available on demand afterward at the same link (http://live.house.gov).

Before the speech, Congressman McGovern—my representative and an ally in this fight—will pose for a photo with me and three fellow DES Daughters in front of the portrait of the late Congresswoman Patsy Mink at the U.S. Capitol. I’ll be joined by:

• Dr. Gwendolyn Mink, daughter of the late Congresswoman Patsy Mink—a civil rights trailblazer who fought pharmaceutical giants and testified about DES harms. Patsy Mink was one of three DES Mothers who sued the University of Chicago and Eli Lilly for exposure to DES as unwitting subjects of a DES experiment during their pregnancies in the early 1950s (known as the Dieckmann Study). Gwendolyn Mink was exposed in utero to DES by the Dieckmann study.
• Andrea Goldstein, first woman to successfully sue Eli Lilly for DES-related infertility in the 1980s, known as the “Paul Revere” of DES awareness. She was also the very first DES Daughter to become involved with the then-fledgling DES Action organization. 
• Karen Chouinard Fernandes, DES Daughter, registered nurse, and founder of DES Info Association—a community supporting DES Mothers, Daughters, Sons, and their families. Fernandes suffered two Ectopic Pregnancies and continues to experience significant health issues caused by her DES exposure.

We will also attend the speech as guests in the House Gallery.

I helped secure the world’s first government apology for DES from the Scottish Parliament in 2023, and worked with Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown to demand a formal FDA apology for the DES drug disaster in 2010—though the agency stopped short, only acknowledging DES as a “tragedy” in 2011, 40 years after the DES-cancer link was first identified. I've been working with Congressman McGovern on a DES apology and the restoration of funding for the DES Follow-Up Study—which led to this DES Resolution.

What the DES Resolution (H. RES. 342) Demands:

Since President Reagan proclaimed DES Awareness Week in 1985, survivors have waited decades for meaningful action. The resolution calls on Congress and federal agencies to:

• Designate a national DES Awareness Week every April
• Restore funding for the DES Follow-Up Study
• Secure an official FDA apology for failing to protect the public from DES

Why This Matters:

DES isn’t just a tragic chapter in history—it’s a still-raging, multigenerational public health crisis.

Millions were exposed to DES. Many still suffer. Some don't even know they were exposed. And the institutions responsible have yet to face true accountability.

Today, that begins to change.

👉 Please watch and share Congressman McGovern's speech, and keep raising your voice. We are not alone—and this DES Resolution is proof that our stories matter.

Thank you for your support,

Caitlin McCarthy