In mid-September, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to represent cancer patients and survivors from northern Minnesota and to call on Congress to make cancer a national priority. I joined more than 600 American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteers from all over the U.S. to ask lawmakers in our nation's capital to protect funding for cancer research and prevention programs.
I met with representatives of U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., and Democratic Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, making it clear Congress needs to put partisanship aside on behalf of the nearly 14 million cancer survivors in the United States and the more than
1.6 million people in America who will be diagnosed this year. More than half a million Americans will die of cancer in 2012.
Funding for research at the National Institutes of Health and for cancer prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and through the new Prevention and Public Health Fund must be top priorities in the federal budget. Legislation recently introduced in Congress to improve the quality of life for cancer patients also must be an important priority.
By making these life-saving programs a priority, we will ensure progress continues in the fight against cancer.
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Patti Maguire
Duluth
The writer is a volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
