Presidential Candidates Offer Plans for Defeating Cancer

With 35 days until the election IŠ—'m sure youŠ—'ve seen the presidential candidates spreading their message on TV, on the radio and across the web. Where I live in Virginia, I see an ad for President Obama or Gov. Romney just about every time I turn on the TV. And tomorrow night, weŠ—'ll hear the candidates defend their stance on issues such as the economy and health care in their first debate. For the nearly 1.6 million people in America who will hear the words Š—“you have cancerŠ— this year, there is no more important position the candidates will take than how they would put the country back on track toward defeating cancer. ACS CAN set out to clarify those positions so the public would know where the candidates stand on defeating a disease that kills one person nearly every minute in this country. ACS CAN sent President Obama and Gov. Romney identical questionnaires that asked how they would make the fight against cancer a national priority. The questionnaire was part of Cancer Votes, ACS CANŠ—'s nationwide program to educate voters about the positions of federal and state candidates on issues important to people with cancer. Here are the four questions we asked the presidential candidates:

• If you are elected president of the United States, how will you use the power of your office to fight cancer and put our country on track toward defeating this disease that touches every American either as a patient, survivor, beloved family member or friend?
• As president, how will you ensure that providing increased federal funding for cancer research becomes a higher national priority?
• As president, how will you protect the health of cancer patients and ensure that affordable insurance coverage is available to them?
• As president, what would you do to reduce tobacco consumption in the furtherance of protecting public health? How would you continue to ensure the implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act safeguards Americans from the dangers of tobacco usage?

IŠ—'m pleased to say that both President Obama and Gov. Romney responded to our questions. You can see their full answers to all of the questions on the Cancer Votes website. Then I encourage you to go use email, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of communication to share these answers with your friends and family. ItŠ—'s important that everyone understands the candidatesŠ—' positions on cancer so we can stand together to make the fight against cancer a national priority. With 13.7 million cancer survivors alive in America today, weŠ—'ve made great progress against this disease. But cancer continues to kill 1, 500 people every day in America. The next president will have the power to bring us closer to defeating a disease that touches each and every one of us.  

  ACS CAN is strictly non-partisan and does not endorse, oppose, or contribute to any candidate or political party. *Image retrieved from: http://bit.ly/QAJe3F