You may start hearing the word “sequestration” a lot over the coming months. It’s a big word that might not mean a whole lot to you now, but make no mistake – it could have a big impact on your life.

To sequester means to set apart or to take something away until a debt has been repaid. Last year, when Congress passed the Budget Control Act, it said that funding for discretionary programs – those are programs that Congress funds each year through the appropriations process – must be cut by $1 trillion over 10 years. It also directed a joint Congressional committee to identify an additional $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years.

This “super committee” failed to agree on a deficit reduction plan, and that failure put discretionary programs – like cancer research and cancer prevention programs – on a collision course with sequestration; automatic funding cuts set to take effect on January 2, 2013.

Throughout the fall, Fight Colorectal Cancer will keep you updated on this issue and we will likely ask you to speak up about it as well. In the meantime, we urge you to take a moment to learn more about sequestration, and how it may impact your life.

More information, provided by the Coalition for Health Funding

• Sequestration Frequently Asked Questions
• “Think Before You Cut” flyer
• Grassroots Tool Kit

Fight Colorectal Cancer, along with five other cancer groups, has sent a letter to Congress urging action to protect patients from counterfeit or unsafe medicines.

In February 2012, vials of fake Avastin (bevacizumab) were distributed in the United States. Avastin is a critical drug for metastatic colorectal cancer patients. The fake vials did not include bevacizumab at all – which could have put patients at great risk.

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This weekend, Congress completed work on a large spending bill that maintains funding for colorectal cancer research and prevention. In the current budget-cutting environment, holding the line on research and prevention programs is a remarkable accomplishment and reflects the power of grassroots advocacy.

I congratulate the Fight Colorectal Cancer volunteers who took action this year to protect colorectal cancer research and prevention funding. We should be proud of our achievements, but we cannot become complacent. We must prepare for the Fiscal Year 2013 budget battle that lies ahead. Please register to attend Fight Colorectal Cancer’s Call-on Congress next March – where advocates from around the country will be urging their legislators to continue to protect colorectal cancer research funding.

The following are the spending outcomes on Fight Colorectal Cancer’s three appropriations priorities:

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Legislation in Congress will help raise money for colorectal cancer research without increasing federal spending.

Representative Charlie Dent

Pennsylvania congressman Charlie Dent has introduced a bill that would direct the U.S. Postal Service to sell a semipostal stamp to raise money for federally funded colorectal cancer research and prevention programs. Semipostal stamps are regular postage stamps that are sold at a surcharge over their postage value. The additional charge is a voluntary contribution by the purchaser to a designated cause.

Under the “Fight Colorectal Cancer Stamp Act” (H.R. 893), funds raised from a semipostal colorectal cancer stamp would be used for colorectal cancer programs at the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

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Join Fight Colorectal Cancer March 5 – 7, 2012 in Washington, DC

Registration is now open!