Senator Specter (R-PA) and Senator Harkin (D-IA) offered a Budget Amendment on Wednesday proposing a $2.2 billion increase for health programs in America. A vote is expected as early as Friday, March 23rd.

WE MUST ACT TODAY!!

This Amendment will help to secure funds for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and for cancer programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including the Colorectal Cancer Screening, Education, and Outreach Initiative.

Please contact your Senators RIGHT NOW and urge them to vote in favor of this amendment.

Follow this link to email your Senators directly through our website.

March 20, colon and rectal cancer advocates from around the country will be be on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC as a part of Call-on Congress. Those not making Congressional office visits can still get on the phone to Capitol Hill.

We want you to make three short phone calls — one to each Senator’s office and one to your Representative’s office — sometime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, March 20. It’s not hard — and it can make a world of difference for colorectal cancer research and screening funding. In other words, your call will help to save lives!

Below are step-by-step instructions and a script for what to say on March 20…

First, phone 1-202-224-3121. This is the Capitol Switchboard number for all Senate and House offices. Ask to be connected to Senator (or Representative)                        [give their last name and state, such as "Senator Schumer from New York"]. The switchboard will connect you, and a receptionist in that office will answer.

Remember to call between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday.

You will repeat the instructions below for all three phone calls, one to each Senator and one to your Representative.

When connected, say:

“I am (first name) (last name) from (city/town) and I would like to speak with the staffperson who handles health issues. I wish to speak briefly to them about colorectal cancer funding.”

The receptionist will connect you either to the health staffperson or to their voicemail. Do not be discouraged if you get voicemail…still leave a message as if you had spoken with someone.

Precisely What to Say When You Phone, Tuesday, March 20:

“My name is (first name) (last name) and I am from (city/town). I’m calling today because of my concern that colorectal cancer has not received the funding it needs from Congress.” If you wish to say IN ONE SENTENCE what your connection is to colorectal cancer, do it here.

“I want to urge Senator / Representative (name to make colorectal cancer a priority for federal funding so that we can win the war against this dread disease. I need [him or her] to support a 6.7% increase at the National Cancer Institute in order to begin turning around the problem we have with decreasing research dollars for colorectal cancer. I also need [him or her] to support a $10 million increase to the Colorectal Cancer Screening, Education, and Outreach program at the Centers for Disease Control. By supporting this funding for NCI and CDC, lives will be saved!”

If you are speaking to a staffperson, ask if they believe “their boss” will support these necessary increases. Feel free to have a brief conversation with them before you end with, “I and colorectal cancer patients and families are counting on you. Thank you very much.”

If you leave a voicemail, end by giving your name (again), phone number, and email address and ask that they reply to you about whether “their boss” will be supporting these necessary increases. Close by saying, “I and colorectal cancer patients and families are counting on you. Thank you very much.”

You should repeat this procedure and this script until both of your Senators and your one Representative have been called.

When you have finished all three calls, let us know how it went by visiting this page on our website, fill out the form and submit.

C3 and colorectal cancer patients and families are counting on your! Thank you!

The Washington State House passed a bill, HB 1337, which requires insurance coverage for colon and rectal cancer screening. The roll call vote was 83 yeas, 13 nays, and 2 excused. The bill was sent to the Senate where it was refered to the Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.

The House Committee on Health Care & Wellness in its report on the bill said beginning July 1, 2008 HB 1337 requires:

“…disability insurance contracts and health benefit plans to cover colorectal cancer examinations and laboratory tests constistent with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendatons or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.”

The report also said:

“Coverage must be provided for the screening and tests at the frequency identified in the guidelines or recommendations, as deemed appropriate by the patient’s physician after patient consultation. These benefits must be provided to individuals at least 50 years old and to those who are under age 50 if they are at high risk or very high risk for colorectal cancer according to the screening guidelines or recommendations.”

The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care March 22 at 10:00 am (Pacific time). This is subject to change.

According to the 2007 Colorectal Cancer Legislation Report Card, Washington received an “F” because the state does not have “legislation that requires insurance providers to cover preventative colorectal cancer screenings.” If you are a resident of Washington you have to opportunity to change this to an “A” by calling your state Senator and tell him or her to vote “yes” on HB 1337.

Suzanne Lindley, colon cancer survivor and C3 advocate sent me a photo of  her daughter’s drill team. As you can see this group performs on horseback which is to be expected as we are talking about Texans. No ten-gallon hats this time. Instead the cowgirls proudly wear colorectal cancer bracelets on their upraised arms. Here is what Suzanne wrote about the team’s plans for this month. 

The Ghostriders Equestrian Drill Team of Canton, Texas is “drilling in” during March which is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. They want to let people know this disease is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States even though it is preventable, treatable, and beatable.

The team kicked of the month at their annual Drillmasters Clinic where they wore Blue Star Buddy Bracelets provided by C3. They plan additional activities at which they will distribute bracelets as well as Caring Star Pins to bring attention to colon and rectal cancer.

Ride’um cowgirls!

Five months ago, one of our volunteers, Rob Michelson, suggested that C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition send a request to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to ring the Opening Bell during the month of March, which is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Rob works for the NYSE.

We sent off the letter but said to ourselves, “No way that’s going to happen” (we consider ourselves realists, not pessimists). But with Rob’s tenacity and hope – the same stuff that is getting him through his colorectal cancer fight – we managed to get a last minute invitation late on Friday, March 2^nd, to ring the opening bell last Monday, March 5^th.

We leapt at the chance. What follows is what happens when a neophyte advocacy group like ours gets the chance of a lifetime.

3:00 PM, the day before
I am on the train up to New York from Washington, DC. I am so excited that I want to tell all my fellow travelers that I am going up to ring the Opening Bell of the New York Stock Exchange. But I don’t.

8:50 PM, the night before
Our public relations folks have been working the financial media all day today, trying to get them to simply mention C3 and/or Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month as the bell rings in the morning. The push will continue starting at 7 AM Monday. As a former PR person, I have realistic expectations that our chances are slim that we will get our wish. But as the Eternal Optimist, I also have talking points for a 60-second live television interview.

9:05 PM, the night before
I learn that there is a back-up bell in case something goes wrong at the podium. I start wondering if it would hurt or help the organization if I were to do something completely nuts up there. Not a bad-nuts, just a get-us-on-the-evening-news-nuts.

7:00 AM
The morning news is reporting that Asian markets dropped overnight, indicating that the US market will open low. I wonder if this will hurt or help our chances of getting a mention at the bell ringing.

8:35 AM
We are on our way! “Wall and Broad” I say to the cab driver in as bored a voice as possible as if it’s just another Monday morning.

8:45 AM
We make our way through security. Eugene with the NYSE welcomes us and escorts us to our holding room.

When we arrive at the holding room, a group of NYSE staff are waiting for us, including the NYSE photographer. We chat. I give them colorectal cancer Blue Star of Hope pins to wear on their lapels. Everyone is extremely friendly. They are thanking us as if we’ve done them a favor.

The holding room reminds me of the United States Capitol. Ornate walls and columns, painted with gold accents. Thirty-foot high ceilings. The holding room opens into the Board Room, and we go in to look around. There is a clock from the original stock exchange that is 140 years old and a Faberge urn given to the NYSE by Czar Nicholas II.

There are three flat screen televisions on one wall of the Board Room. The center TV has a shot of the podium with the C3 logo above it. My stomach gets butterflies.

The photographer takes a picture of us in the room. I say a silent prayer to the Gods of Nothing in My Teeth.

9:20 AM
Presents! We are each given a gold medallion to commemorate our day. It is heavy and inscribed with a picture of a bull goring what looks to be a goat. I wonder if I’d paid better attention in Econ I’d understand what the heck that means. Below the picture it says, “C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Opening Bell Ceremony March 5, 2007.” Might be the coolest thing I’ve ever been given in my life.

9:25 AM
Time to move! We leave the holding room and walk down a short hallway into an elevator, down some stairs and suddenly, I’m on the podium, looking onto the exchange floor, about 15 feet down. It’s not the bustle of activity that I was picturing. There are pockets of people standing on the floor looking up at us. I wave maniacally at them. At stations of computers directly below us, there are others who are completely unaware of our presence. They look concerned. I can’t see what is happening on the rest of the floor, as the view is blocked by the computer stations.

I scan the room for Maria Bartiromo.

Immediately in front of us, about 10 feet away, is a bank of cameras and a large LCD clock. We are instructed to always look at the cameras and not at the folks on the floor.

There are several of us on the podium: the NYSE employees who greeted us in the holding room and three people from C3.

C3 is represented by Rob Michelson, our volunteer who was the driving force behind this. Rob’s a great guy. He has stage IV colorectal cancer. He has had part of his lung removed because his cancer had metastasized there. He’s 40 years old; the father of three.

Officially, the NYSE wanted me to ring the bell, since I’m the head of the organization. But I’m here because I was fortunate enough to have C3 choose me to be its Executive Director. Rob’s here because he’s fighting for his life. We have switched places so that he can be the one who pushes the button.

Standing to my left is Kate Murphy, C3’s Director of Research Communications. Kate’s a legend in the colorectal cancer community. She was diagnosed 23 years ago with stage III colorectal cancer and is a repository of information on the latest in research and treatment for colorectal cancer – which is why she writes C3’s Research News blog. She hasn’t stopped smiling since we arrived and now it looks like she might swoon with excitement.

9:29 AM
The clock in front of us starts to flash. This is our cue to get ready. At 9:29:30, we start clapping. At 9:29:50, Rob pushes the button for ten seconds. The bell is located behind Kate. It is loud.

This is one of the most exhilarating moments of my life.

I promised my husband that I would cough into my hand as a way of giving a shout-out to him on national television. I don’t want to forget to do that. Hilary Swank forgot to thank Chad Lowe when she won her Oscar – and look where that got them.

9:30 AM
Rob’s face as he presses the button is priceless. He could light the earth with that smile. I am moved to tears.

For C3, today’s opportunity was a real gift. In just two days, our web site traffic has increased by 75% percent and we have received attention from all over the country because of it. And we did get mentioned on CNBC and the announcer said that Colorectal Cancer Coalition was ringing the bell in honor of colon cancer awareness month! Time will clearly tell us the effect that it had, but I felt the shift when I was up there on that podium.

Most significant is the impact this will have on the colorectal cancer community. Colorectal cancer patients and caregivers are regularly frustrated by the lack of attention that is given to this disease and they sometimes feel that the world does not recognize how scary, awful, painful and heartbreaking it can be. Today, we stood on the podium, rang the Opening Bell of the NYSE and said to the hundreds of thousands of Americans living with this colorectal cancer, “You matter. We are fighting for you.” It was an honor and a privilege for us all to do that.