With all the disagreements and spin and partisanship we have to deal with these days, it's nice to see a cause we can all get behind every once in a while. A very important piece of legislation, the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act, is currently pending in Congress.
The legislation would amend the Public Health Service Act to 1) require the establishment of Special Programs of Research Excellence in Pediatric Cancers, 2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in cooperation with NCI-supported pediatric cancer clinical trial groups, to establish Research Fellowships in Pediatric Cancer, 3) require the Director of NIH to award a grant for the operation of a population-based national childhood cancer database and the Childhood Cancer Research Network, and 4) require the Secretary of HHS to award grants to recognized childhood cancer professional and advocacy organizations.
The legislation would authorize the appropriation of $20 million for each of the fiscal years 2007 through 2011.
For more details, visit
http://olpa.od.nih.gov/legislation/109/pendinglegislation/childhoodcancer.aspI am from a part of the country where childhood cancers claim way too many lives. I lost a cousin to cancer as a youngster, a best friend to cancer as a teenager, and have watched as numerous friends have recently lost their children. It has truly made me numb, I'm afraid. But there are times I do try to do something about it.
A friend who lost her child last year is the Louisiana representative for the groups CureSearch and the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. On Monday, she will be returning to D.C. to lobby with her surviving son. On this visit, she would like to leave legislators with "books" comprised of letters sent by people whose lives have been touched in any way by childhood cancer. She is asking for letters now. Here's an excerpt from her online journal:
I have a special request from all of you. Actually I need a HUGE favor. When I go to D.C. and to the Hill they ask us to leave them with something to remind them of our visit other than the legal jargon. Last time I had an incredible book that I did and had bound that had many pictures and Stanton’s story. It was very moving and brought tears to many eyes. I have been brainstorming on what to do this time around, they all already have the books so this is where you come in. As you know all of my congressmen/women signed up to cosponsor their respective bills. This is HUGE to say that Louisiana loves their kids all over the state. The whole idea behind leaving something with them is to show them how childhood cancer has affected people, not just from La. So I thought what better way to say thank you than to have all of you who have been touched by Stanton or any child with cancer be it a survivor or angel to please send me a letter telling the Congressmen and women how a child with cancer has touched your life. If you have a picture that is great. I think this will do wonders in just thanking them and reminding them why they did it...I am going to address mine Dear Louisiana Congressman or something rather than having to type 7 or 8 letters. Remember you don’t have to have ever met these kids to write, if they touched your life that is all that counts. Please, Please, Please help me out. I know you guys will come through. I will take all the letters that I get so don’t think I can get to many.
So you can see she's trying to get national support. You can just generally address letters to your state rep. If you are interested in helping out, please send your letters or questions to me at
, and I'll pass them on to where they need to be. I know this is kind of short notice, but I appreciate anyone's help on this.
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