WASHINGTON, D.C. – As he continues seeking feedback from Montana and around the country, Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today thanked the American Association for Cancer Research for their support of the bill.

Their letter of support is below:

October 7, 2011

Dear Chairman Rehberg,

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and its more than 33,000 members commend you for proposing a $1 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the draft fiscal year (FY) 2012 Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education spending bill.  Your willingness to make funding for NIH a top priority in the bill demonstrates your strong commitment to cancer research and biomedical science, and for that we are deeply grateful. We also wish to specifically acknowledge the significant increase of $136 million included in the bill for the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

As you know, the vigorous pursuit of new breakthroughs in cancer research and biomedical science not only saves lives, but it also serves as one of our country’s primary paths to innovation, global competitiveness, and economic growth.  Sustaining our country’s commitment to NIH and NCI will result in improvements to the entire spectrum of patient care, from cancer prevention, early detection, and diagnosis, to treatment and long-term survivorship.   We recently released the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011 [www.CancerProgressReport.org], a landmark report documenting the tremendous progress in cancer research that has been achieved over the last 40 years since the signing of the National Cancer Act.  It is a comprehensive, informational tool that provides definitive evidence of the acceleration in the rate of advances against the 200 diseases we call cancer, and it highlights the astounding return on investment in cancer research supported through NIH and NCI.

Again, on behalf of thousands of researchers around the country, thank you for your efforts to boost funding for NIH in FY 2012.  As you are well aware, protecting the federal investment in the NIH and NCI is a smart strategy that will pay off in lives saved, improvements in public health, continued innovation, and economic growth.

Thank you again for your steadfast dedication to the conquest of cancer.

Sincerely yours,
 
Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.)
Chief Executive Officer