On the recordJuly 29, 2015
I am pleased to be joined by Senator Capito in the introduction of the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research, STAR, Act of 2015. This legislation is an extension of ongoing bipartisan efforts in the Senate over the past decade to get us closer to the goal of hopefully one day curing cancers in children, adolescents, and young adults. Representatives McCaul, Van Hollen, and Speier are introducing the companion legislation in the other body. I first started working on this issue after meeting the Haight family from Warwick, RI, in June of 2004. Nancy and Vincent lost their son, Ben, when he was just 9 years old to neuroblastoma, a very aggressive tumor in the brain. The heart-wrenching story of Ben Haight highlights the importance of this legislation. It is my hope that one day Ben's story, and thousands of other children like him, will be one of survival. With the strong support of families like the Haights for increased research into the causes of childhood cancers and improved treatment options, I introduced bipartisan legislation that eventually was signed into law in 2008 as the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act. This was an important step. Yet, more work remains.…





