Maria Williams: New president shouldn’t forget old president cancer promise

Earlier this year, President Obama announced his intentions to redouble the rate of progress to find new treatments and cures for cancer through a National Cancer Moonshot. As a cancer survivor, volunteer and caregiver with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), I have experienced a renewed hope that we can come together as a nation to finally end suffering and death from a disease that still kills 1,600 people every day.

Congress can do its part by funding the Moonshot by the end of this year. Research requires investment and a boost of money to the National Cancer Institute, which can provide researchers across the country with the resources they need to capitalize on today’s scientific opportunities. There remains strong bipartisan support in Congress for increasing funding for cancer research. Doing this will fuel the hope of the millions of Americans with the disease and the people who love them. Let’s prove our country can come together on an issue that matters to us all.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Maria Williams: New president shouldn’t forget old president cancer promise."