House Set to Vote This Evening on Health Care Reform

Leading up to this evening’s vote on health care reform legislation in the House, much of the debate has focused on whether or not Speaker Pelosi has lined up the 216 votes needed to send a bill to the President.

So, what exactly will the pending legislation do?

Take a look at a side-by-side chart comparing some of the provisions in the House-passed, Senate-passed, and pending House reconciliation bills that C3 thinks are important for people living with colorectal cancer.  The chart also includes links to the full text of each of the bills, so that you can read the complete legislation.

Posted by Catherine Knowles on March 21st, 2010
Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »
Tags: Health Care Reform, President Obama, Speaker Pelosi

Congress Listens to Cancer Survivors

Josh and Kimberly Wimberly

Josh and Kimberly Wimberly traveled from Alabama to Washington DC, and participated in C3’s 4th Annual Call-on Congress earlier this week.  They met with Representative Spencer Bachus’s health policy staff and asked for the Representative’s support of legislation that will help save thousands of lives and increase awareness regarding the importance of early detection and screening for colorectal cancer.

As a direct result of their efforts, Representative Bachus signed on to cosponsor the Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Act (H.R. 1189).

Is your Representative a cosponsor of this important legislation?  If not, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 1189.  Or take a minute to email your Representative and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 1189.

* * * Remember, the House of Representatives is set to vote on health care reform Sunday afternoon.  As a result the House email system and Capitol Switchboard are experiencing high volumes of traffic.  If you can’t get through today please try again next week.  We need your voice to win the fight against colorectal cancer!! * * *

Posted by Catherine Knowles on March 19th, 2010
Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »
Tags: Call on Congress, HR 1189, Representative Spencer Bachus

C3 Advocates Recieve Tips from Congressional Staff and Take to Capitol Hill

Advocates from across the country participating in C3’s 2010 Call-on Congress had the opportunity to get tips on having effective meetings with Members and Congressional staff from two staffers whose bosses are champions for the colorectal cancer community.

Theresa Vawter, Legislative Assistant for Representative Kay Granger (R-TX) who is the sponsor of the Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Act (H.R. 1189) which would put in place a national colorectal cancer screening and treatment program participated in a panel along with Tom Wharton, Health Care Legislative Assistant and Speechwriter for Representative Dan Boren (D-OK).  Representative Boren is the sponsor of the Colorectal Cancer Screening and Treatment Act (H.R. 1330) which will help to increase population-based screening rates for colorectal cancer by requiring all health insurance plans, both individual and group, to cover a colonoscopy for anyone age 50 or older.

Theresa and Tom spoke with the advocates about why each of their bosses is such a champion for colorectal cancer issues.  Like too many Americans, both Representative Granger and Representative Boren have lost family members to this disease.  Each is using their position as Member of Congress to push legislation that if enacted will lower the cost of colonoscopies and expand access to screening and treatment services. Continue reading…

Posted by Catherine Knowles on March 18th, 2010
Posted in: C3 News, Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »
Tags: Call on Congress, DoD, HR 1189, HR 1330

Colorectal Cancer Researchers, CDC Staff, and DoD Staff Address C3 Advocates During C3’s 4th Annual Call-on Congress

On Tuesday, March 16 C3 Advocates who attended the 4th annual conference and lobby day had the opportunity to hear from experts in colorectal cancer research and federal agencies about CRC research and cancer control efforts.

Dr. Jeffery Chou is a medical oncology fellow in the Program in Immunology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Early in his research career as an undergraduate student, he studied the use of radiolabeled anti-CEA antibodies as therapy for colorectal cancer at the City of Hope which fostered in him an interest for colorectal cancer immunotherapy.  He joined the lab of Dr. Edus H. Warren at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to study the immunobiology of colorectal cancer and develop adoptive T cell therapy against colorectal cancer. His project “Epigenetic modulation of colorectal cancer stem cells for immunotherapy” is sponsored by the 2009 AACR/C3 Colorectal Cancer Coalition fellows grant in memory of Lisa Dubow and provides pre-clinical evidence supporting the combination of the epigenetic drug decitabine and T cell therapy against the cancer-testis antigen NY-ESO-1 to treat colorectal cancer. He has also received awards from ASCO and the Cancer Research Institute to support his work.

Dr. Chou spoke to C3 Advocates about the research he has been doing into treatments for late stage colorectal cancer using funding he received from the C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition’s Lisa Fund Grant. Continue reading…

Posted by Catherine Knowles on March 18th, 2010
Posted in: C3 News, Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »
Tags: Call on Congress, Donna Kimbark, Laura Seeff, Lisa Dubow. Jeffrey Chou MD PhD

Advocates Gather in Washington, DC for C3’s 4th Annual Conference and Lobby Day

Grassroots Action Committee Members (left to right) - Liz Dennis, Arlene Murphy, LaRisha Baker, Florence Kurttila, Pam Seijo, and Dave Larson helped to plan and organize the 2010 Call-on Congress

Today, colorectal cancer survivors, caregivers, physicians, and nurses brought their fight against colorectal cancer to Washington, DC.  C3 President Carlea Bauman described the importance of their voices in the war against cancer, “colorectal cancer advocates who speak up and demand change will be the ones who make a difference in the fight against this disease.”

Even with advances in screening technology colorectal cancer continues to be the second leading cancer killer of men and women combined.  In 2010, nearly 50,000 people in the United States will die from colorectal cancer.  The real tragedy is that many of these deaths could be prevented if more people took advantage of colorectal cancer screening and early detection.

Over the next two days, the advocates will hear from experts about current research and cancer control programs aiming to decrease both incidence and mortality rates from colorectal cancer. Continue reading…

Posted by Catherine Knowles on March 16th, 2010
Posted in: C3 News, Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »
Tags: Call on Congress, Department of Defense, HR 1189, HR 1330