After years of stalled and anemic funding levels for critical cancer research, Congress came together at the end of last year in a major way to pass the biggest funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) in more than a decade. Champions, including Rep. Kevin Yoder from Kansas, acknowledged the importance of making cancer a national priority and rallied together to make sure resources were available to advance detection tests, treatments and therapies for a disease that is expected to kill nearly 600,000 people in America this year.

Today is the start of ACS CAN's signature annual event: our Leadership Summit and Lobby Day. We'll be welcoming more than 750 cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district to Washington, D.C. for three days of training, presentations, media opportunities and, of course, meetings with lawmakers.

One thing that Former President Carter said during this morningŠ—'s press conference that has stuck with me is his appreciation for his doctors and the top-notch cancer centers that are collaborating on his treatment.

There are few things in life that we all share in common, but we are all just one degree from cancer. Whether itŠ—'s a parent, grandparent, other relative, friend, co-worker or even you, we all know someone who has faced this disease, and thus we all know just how important cancer research is to the quality of life and survival of our loved ones.

I was saddened to learn late last week that Dr. Harold Varmus will step down as director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the end of the month.

During his State of the Union address last week, the president announced a new initiative to increase funding into promising new research to deliver the right treatments to patients at the right time.

The budget agreement would restore more than $22 billion that was cut through the across-the-board reductions known as the budget sequester. This agreement is an important first step toward seeing Congress return to a constructive process of setting budget priorities.

Undoubtedly you saw the countdowns on your local news stations Š—– sequestration took effect on Friday. Sequestration is what Washington is calling the $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts to domestic and defense discretionary spending agreed upon in the 2011 Budget Control Act. While a lot remains unknown about how the cuts will affect us, we know one thing is for sure: funding for cancer research and prevention programs is taking a dangerous hit.

I was pleased to hear President Obama mention the need to invest in science and innovation in TuesdayŠ—'s State of the Union address. Cancer patients and survivors nationwide need a renewed commitment from Congress and the administration to fund the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute at levels that keep up with inflation and allow promising research to continue.

To illustrate just how crucial federal funding is for cancer research, ACS CAN released a new report this week, Š—“Catalyst for Cures: How Federally Funded Cancer Research Saves Lives.Š— This report underscores the threat posed by sequestration to future progress in the fight to end death and suffering from cancer by highlighting federally-funded scientists who have discovered new ways to treat specific cancers, including breast cancer, melanoma and lung cancer and the patients who benefited from those advances.