Hundreds of ACS CAN volunteers met with their lawmakers in Washington, D.C to advocate for critical cancer issues

At the end of September, almost 700 cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico met on Capitol Hill for ACS CAN’s annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day. 
 
Also known by the event hashtag, #CancerLobbyDay, ACS CAN volunteers attended the four-day event to meet with their congressional delegation to advocate for important cancer issues and help make cancer a national priority.  
 
As members of Congress work to determine 2024 priorities before the budget deadline, they will consider three legislative asks that volunteers urged them to consider during Lobby Day: 
 

• Increase funding for lifesaving cancer research and prevention programs at the highest possible increases in this year’s budget bill.
• Improve access to cancer screening tests by co-sponsoring the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (MCED Act), which would create a pathway for Medicare to cover groundbreaking new tests that screen for dozens of cancers in one test once they are FDA-approved and shown to have clinical benefit.
• Reduce barriers to prostate cancer screening by co-sponsoring the Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening for High-risk Insured Men Act (PSA Screening for HIM Act), which would ensure those at high risk for prostate cancer have access to free prostate cancer screenings.

You can send a message to your members of Congress asking them to make these issues a national priority. It will only take a minute. 

 
During the Leadership Summit, volunteers learned how they can use their voices to impact change by attending breakout sessions about federal legislation and advocacy tactics, and preparing for lawmaker meetings by practicing meeting scripts and receiving coaching from ACS CAN experts. 
 
On Lobby Day, hundreds of passionate advocates descended onto Capitol Hill and engaged their lawmakers about how cancer has personally impacted their lives.  
 
Our cancer advocates were successful—they conducted meetings with all 100 Senate offices and 361 House offices, and of those meetings, 183 were with senior staff and 134 were with members of Congress. These meetings made a real impact: the PSA Screening for HIM Act is now up to 35 cosponsors in the Senate, the MCED Act is up to 44 cosponsors in the Senate and 184 cosponsors in the House, and we have seen renewed support for increased cancer research funding. 
 
Lobby Day culminated with the Lights of Hope ceremony, where over 10,000 Lights of Hope bags were displayed at Constitution Gardens to honor those who have been touched by cancer and remember those we’ve lost.  

Volunteers also had the opportunity to stop by Affinity Row during Lobby Day, a collection of ACS CAN’s volunteer Affinity Groups, including the Black Volunteer Caucus, the LGBTQIA+ Allies and Engagement Group, the ACSí Se Puede Hispanic/Latino Advocacy Alliance, the Asian American & Pacific Islander Volunteer Caucus, and the Young Leaders Caucus. Each affinity group is working to decrease cancer disparities that exist in their respective communities. 
 
Another part of Lobby Day is the Advocacy Leadership Awards, which recognize national, international, and state-level leaders and organizations who have demonstrated outstanding support of ACS and ACS CAN’s shared mission to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. View the award winners here. 
 
Throughout the event, ACS CAN launched a national advertising campaign in publications including POLITICO and the Washington Post, as well as social media advertising. The ads remind lawmakers that by fighting cancer through research funding increases, they can actually make it possible for people living in America to enjoy more time and create more moments. 
 
Before returning to their hometowns, volunteers recapped their meetings on Capitol Hill and convened with their regions to begin planning the next steps for engaging their lawmakers on important cancer issues. 
 
We’re grateful for everyone who showed up and made their voices heard this Lobby Day! Advocacy is the key to making impactful change for cancer patients and their families. While there is still work to be done, we are on our way to ending cancer as we know it, for everyone.