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St. Baldrick’s Hero Fund Manager, Kelly Forebaugh, and board member Amy Bucher at Childhood Cancer Action Days 2014
In June, Childhood Cancer Action Days brought together advocates from across the United States to meet with members of Congress in Washington, D.C. This year, 259 people participated in the event. Of these, about 65 were from the St. Baldrick’s community, who took part in 185 scheduled meetings.
During the event, volunteer activists visited the offices of 123 distinct voting districts in the U.S. House of Representatives and 64 Senate offices, asking for two things: reauthorization of the Caroline Pryce Walker Act and $5.26 billion in funding for the National Cancer Institute in fiscal year 2015.
Thanks to the efforts of these dedicated childhood cancer advocates, eight more congressional representatives and two more senators have signed on to cosponsor the Caroline Pryce Walker Act. In total, there are now 65 co-sponsors for the House bill and 15 co-sponsors in the Senate.
Click here to download the list of co-sponsors (41KB).
During OVAC’s Lobby Day event on July 8, some 130 volunteers were split into 25 groups that met with 131 different offices in the U.S. House and Senate. Members of the St. Baldrick’s community wrote nearly 400 messages to Congress in support of the OVAC message in the days immediately following the event.
Like the Action Days requests, OVAC’s Lobby Day also included a request for $5.62 billion in NCI funding next year, along with other funding requests.
With Action Days and Lobby Day behind us, let’s keep the momentum going. Remind Congress how important it is that NCI be fully funded and the Caroline Pryce Walker Act be reauthorized before Congress adjourns for the year.
Congress is in session now until July 31 before its August recess. In September, Congress will only be in session for a couple of weeks before campaigning begins in October. The in-session dates are September 8-19, September 29-30, and October 1-2.
Considering the amount of critical legislation pending, both chambers may return for a “lame duck” session once the November elections are over, and the session could stretch to the end of the year.
Contact your elected officials today. Urge them to increase federal funding for cancer research and co-sponsor the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act.
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