Congresswoman Beatty Travels to White House, Champions Important Cancer Legislation, Marking the Start of Black History Month, Cancer Prevention Month

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Congresswoman and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (OH-03) traveled to the White House to participate in the Biden-Harris Administration's announcement of the renewed Cancer Moonshot. This comes one day after Beatty sent a letter to President Biden calling for his support for H.R. 1946, the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act. The letter was sent in advance of today's highly anticipated White House announcement on the President's longstanding commitment to ending cancer as we know it by reducing the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years and improving the experience of people living with and surviving cancer.

In the letter, Beatty writes, "This legislation is led by our caucus colleague Representative Terri Sewell, and she joins me and our caucus in asking you to include H.R. 1946 in your priorities. It represents an enormous opportunity to address the alarming health equity challenges surrounding cancer and to help shepherd in a new era of detecting more cancers early. The promise of early detection delivers hope for all of us, but particularly for Black Americans, who, across cancers, have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial and ethnic group in the United States. We must do better. Congress and the Administration have an opportunity to work together, as we have done in the past, to ensure that our constituents have equitable access to new cancer detection tools."

The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, located at The Ohio State University, will play a key role in President Biden's renewed emphasis on cancer research. In March 02 2021, Beatty toured the institute with President Biden, who praised the advanced facilities and world-class staff of medical experts. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be nearly 74,000 new cancer cases, and more than 25,000 deaths, in Ohio this year alone. That puts Ohio at the sixth highest mortality rate in the country.

Read the full letter online HERE.

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