March 8, 2010

Honorable David Obey                                               Honorable Todd Tiahrt

Chairman, Subcommittee on Labor,                           Ranking Member, Subcommittee on

Health & Human Services, Education                        Labor, Health & Human Services,

and Related Agencies                                                 Education and Related Agencies

House Appropriations Committee                              House Appropriations Committee

B-2358 Rayburn House Office Bldg.                         1016 Longworth House Office Bldg.

Washington, D.C. 20515                                            Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Tiahrt:

We write today to respectfully request that you provide full funding for the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-285, 122 Stat. 2628-2631) in the FY2011 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. We believe that this funding is essential to provide effective, widespread and speedy research to help eradicate the cancers that plague our nation's youth.

As you may know, The Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act is named in honor and memory of former Representative Deborah Pryce’s daughter Caroline, who passed away in 1999 at age nine from Neuroblastoma. This authorization bill enjoyed bipartisan support, passing the House unanimously 416-0, and passing the Senate by unanimous consent. The House Appropriations Committee included $10 million for this authorization in the House-Passed FY10 Labor-HHS Appropriations Act, however, only 4 million was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act calls upon the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of NIH and other Federal agencies with an interest in prevention and treatment of pediatric cancer to continue to enhance, expand, and intensify pediatric cancer research and other activities related to pediatric cancer. These expanded investments include therapeutically applicable research to generate effective treatments, pediatric preclinical testing and pediatric clinical trials through National Cancer Institute-supported pediatric cancer clinical trial groups and their member institutions. This research, and the treatments it will help to develop, will allow children with cancer the opportunity to enjoy full and healthy lives.

The Act also authorizes grants to childhood cancer professional and direct service organizations for the expansion of activities that provide information on treatment protocols to ensure early access to the best available therapies and clinical trials for pediatric cancers. Ensuring that children get the best type of treatment as soon as possible is especially important for pediatric cancer both because children and adolescents are much more vulnerable to the side effects of these treatments and because they have the ability to recover fully if they get the right treatment. Additionally, these grants would also be used to provide information on the late effects of pediatric cancer treatment to ensure access to necessary long-term medical and psychological care, specialized education resources for school reentry and postsecondary education and other support services.

Additionally, this legislation authorizes the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award a grant to enhance and expand existing infrastructure to track the epidemiology of pediatric cancer into a comprehensive nationwide registry of pediatric cancer cases.

As you are aware, each year cancer kills more children between 1 and 20 years of age than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS, combined. Because of research in pediatric cancer, up to 75 percent of the children with cancer can now be cured. However, despite significant improvements in our ability to fight pediatric cancer, some types continue to lack effective treatment and thousands of children still lose their bouts with cancer. Indeed, cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children. It is with these children in mind that we seek your support in securing this much needed funding for FY2011.

Thank you again for your consideration of this request. We look forward to working with the Appropriations Committee and appreciate your support for eradicating this devastating disease.

This letter was signed by: Representatives Michael Arcuri, Tammy Baldwin, Melissa Bean, Shelley Berkley, Howard Berman, Russ Carnahan, André Carson, Emmanuel Cleaver, Steve Cohen, Joe Courtney, Danny Davis, Diana Degette, Bill Delahunt, Lloyd Doggett, Sam Graves, Raúl Grijalva, Luis Gutierrez, Maurice D. Hinchey, Walter B. Jones, Dale Kildee, Mary Jo Kilroy, Peter King, Leonard Lance, Robert E. Latta, Christopher John Lee, David Loebsack, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Stephen Lynch, Carolyn Maloney, Betsy Markey, Michael McCaul, James McGovern, Charlie Melancon, Dennis Moore, James Moran, James Oberstar, William Owens, Collin Peterson, Janice Schakowsky, Allyson Schwartz, Bobby Scott, Joe Sestak, Jackie Speier, Betty Sutton, Chris Van Hollen, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Charles Wilson, and David Wu.

Click here to see a PDF of the signed Dear Colleague.

Click here to read a press release on this Dear Colleague.