Hundreds of Cancer Patients, Survivors to Congress: Make Cancer a National Priority

WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 12, 2016 – More than 600 cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district will be on Capitol Hill this week to ask members of Congress to make the fight against cancer a national priority. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is hosting its annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day to urge lawmakers to increase funding for cancer research and prevention programs, advance legislation that supports patients’ quality of life and ensure lifesaving colon cancer screenings are affordable for seniors.

“We are calling on members of Congress to put aside partisan politics and voice their support for increased funding for the fight against cancer, which will kill an estimated 595,690 people in America this year,” said Chris Hansen, president of ACS CAN. “Lawmakers can make their support for the fight against cancer a reality by passing laws that will help to eliminate death and suffering from this dreaded disease, including through research funding the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative.”

The Cancer Moonshot, led by Vice President Joe Biden, has the potential to accelerate progress against cancer through increased research funding and the development of new targeted detection tests, treatments and therapies. All week Washington’s Union Station metro station will be covered in ads supporting the Cancer Moonshot initiative featuring iconic space and moon images alongside cancer and medical research photos, illustrating the historic opportunity Congress has to significantly advance progress against cancer.

“The opportunity to make conquering cancer the next great frontier comes nearly a half century after we mustered our collective resources as a nation to put a man on the moon,” said Gary Reedy, CEO of the American Cancer Society and ACS CAN.

In Capitol Hill meetings Tuesday, ACS CAN’s volunteer advocates will urge lawmakers to increase federal research funding at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) through the appropriations process and by passing 21st Century Cures legislation. They will also encourage lawmakers to advance legislation that supports patients’ quality of life by increasing access to palliative care, an extra layer of support that can be provided at any age or any stage of illness. Additionally, they will call on lawmakers to close a loophole in Medicare that often results in surprise costs for seniors when a polyp is found during a routine colonoscopy.

Today at noon at the Grand Hyatt Washington, advocates will hear from the directors of three leading cancer research centers – Augusto Ochoa, PhD, from the Louisiana State University Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Michelle LeBeau, PhD, from the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center and Beverly Mitchell, PhD, from the Stanford Cancer Institute — about the impact of inadequate federal funding on promising research projects.

Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m., NCAA Division I basketball coaches Ron Hunter of Georgia State University, Mike Martin of Brown University, and Jim Harrick, retired coach from the University of California Los Angeles will rally advocates as they head to Capitol Hill for meetings. The coaches are members of Coaches vs. Cancer®, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches™.

Tuesday evening at 7:45 p.m. will feature a moving ceremony at the U.S Capitol Reflecting Pool with more than 20,000 lights honoring cancer survivors and memorializing those who have lost their fight with the disease. Cancer patients and survivors will position the lights to spell “1.7 M” and “HOPE” to represent the nearly 1.7 million Americans who are expected to be newly diagnosed with cancer this year on the steps adjacent to the reflecting pool. Over the course of the evening, the lights will be moved to spell “FUND” and “CURES”. The ACS CAN Lights of HOPE ceremony is presented by Merck.

ACS CAN will also honor a select group of lawmakers and others who have made exemplary contributions to the cancer fight. The National Distinguished Advocacy Award, ACS CAN’s most prestigious honor, is being presented to U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and State Rep. Daniel Hawkins of Kansas.  ACS CAN’s Judicial Advocacy Initiative award, which recognizes attorneys from law firms that generously donate their services to the cancer fight, is being given to John Longstreth of K&L Gates. Longstreth’s work has been instrumental to ACS CAN’s work on access to health care issues.

“Everyone is just one degree from cancer – a relative, a friend, a co-worker – and many of us have faced the disease ourselves,” said John Hamilton, volunteer chair of ACS CAN’s Board of Directors. “Those who have traveled to Washington this week are here on behalf of the more than 14 million survivors and the countless millions who have lost their battle, and they want a commitment from lawmakers to take action to defeat this disease.”

ACS CAN is the non-profit, non-partisan advocacy affiliate organization of the American Cancer Society, which is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage lawmakers, candidates and government officials to support laws and policies that will make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Allison Miller or Alissa Crispino
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: 202-585-3241 or 202-661-5772
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]