Support Legislation for Children’s Cancer Research

I'm about to go into Mommy Advocate Mode, and I'm about to be a Big Fat Bully, but if you keep reading, I promise it'll be worth the read.

There's not enough that can be said or done in support of Children's Cancer Research or our support and our voices for it. The biggest hurdle is getting the public involved in making sure our government knows that this should be a priority. I would much rather have my money going towards healing our future, than building bigger and better weapons that are killing another country's future. I honestly feel that making sure our local, state, and federal representatives know that this is as urgent as giving money to our schools and the only way to do that is to contact them directly.

Many of you know that I co-host a birth club on BabyCenter for Anneliese's birth month and year. If the big BabyCenter blinkie in my layout wasn't a big enough clue, it's the February 2005 birth club. The link for it is in the section where I hold court, if you're interested in checking it out. Well, one of our toddlers has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Jenna Kenney has touched our board, and little girls and boys like her exist all over the United States and need our help. Darling little Jenna was recently diagnosed (this past Sunday) with a cancerous tumor on her right kidney. Her family, and families like hers, need help from our government. Her mother, Antonia, has started a CarePage for Jenna (click here), as a way to post updates and keep family and friends informed about her progress. I know I personally plan to check it every single day and to offer my prayers and support.

Our reps won't know unless we tell them that this is important to us and to the future of our children, though. Here is a letter below that I sent this morning, through a site called CureSearch, thanks to Mom2BBE aka Katy from the November 2005 board, who posted in support because her own child went through cancer over a year ago.

Message sent to the following recipients:
President Bush

Senator Dodd
Senator Lieberman

Senator Coleman
Governor Rell
Representative Larson
Representative Sayers


November 28, 2007

[recipient address was inserted here]


Dear [recipient name was inserted here],

Hello,
I'm writing to make an urgent request that you support this legislation,
specifically for children who have cancer. It is one of the most
important causes we can support, and the money couldn't go to a better
place. These children and their families need help that can only be given
by the government. We need to increase funding for research and raising
awareness for childhood cancer issues in order to elevate childhood cancer
to a national public policy priority.

The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act S911
This bill authorizes $150 million dollars over five years to expand
childhood cancer research

and

The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act HR1553
This bill authorizes $150 million dollars over five years to expand
childhood cancer research

Sincerely,


[sender name was inserted here]
[phone number was inserted here]

I've already received an e-mail recognizing that my contact was received from my state Governor, Jodi Rell:

Thank you very much for your email. It is important to me that I hear
from constituents on issues that matter most to them and I appreciate
you taking the time to contact me. My Constituent Services staff and I
will review your correspondence and respond to you as soon as possible.
If you are in need of more immediate assistance, please call my office
directly at (860) 566-4840 or 1-800-406-1527 and my staff will be happy
to assist you.

If you would like to view a video message from me, please follow this
link
http://www.dir.ct.gov/governorrell/video_response/video_response.html.

Again, thank you for contacting the Office of the Governor. Your
interest in my administration is appreciated.

Sincerely,

M. JODI RELL

Governor

Please remember that THIS WORKS and just because it's not happening to your child, that doesn't mean that it couldn't. It doesn't mean it couldn't happen to a child you know personally. Cancer doesn't care about age, or finances. But we can show we care, and make ourselves part of our communities, not simply be bystanders wringing our hands wishing there were something we could do. There's nothing worse than doing nothing. THERE IS SOMETHING WE CAN ALL DO and this is something you don't even have to donate your own money for. There's nothing to regret by being an advocate for children with cancer and it will just take five minutes. You can even copy/paste the letter I wrote and send it to your own reps.

I've even made it even easier for you to look up your local, state, and federal reps, by having you check out the html to the left, under the heading "Help Cure Childhood Cancer."

The below article is copied from www.curesearch.org

The "Conquer Childhood Cancer Act" Passes Unanimously in the HELP Committee, Moving on to the Senate:

On November 14th, CureSearch staff and parent advocates joined forces on Capitol Hill for the mark-up of the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act by the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

We are pleased to announce that the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act was considered in the HELP committee and was passed unanimously, without amendment, and after minimal discussion or debate. This brings us closer than ever to passage of this legislation.

During the mark-up, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, one of the bill's sponsors, emphasized to his colleagues on the Committee that parents and advocates have a right to have a voice in how their tax dollars are spent. The childhood cancer community has a powerful and passionate voice and has used it well. Over the past several months thousands of letters have been sent by childhood cancer advocates to their Members of Congress and information about the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act has appeared on hundreds of parent web pages, list servers and blogs. We are grateful for your impassioned, relentless support!

There is still much work to be done and many challenges lie ahead. The bill now needs to either pass by unanimous consent by the full Senate (which is unlikely) or to be voted on by the full Senate. If the latter happens, we will need 60 yes votes in order for the bill to pass the Senate.

Please continue to reach out to those Senators who are not yet co-sponsors to secure their support.

Information about those Senators who are not yet co-sponsors

Send a letter to your Member of Congress urging them to vote to pass the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act

Thank you for your help in achieving this milestone; together we will continue to move forward to get this historic legislation passed.

Thank you for supporting this cause. I swear it's worth it.