Rep. Payne, Jr. Joins President Biden for his Cancer Moonshot Event at the White House     

Washington, D.C. — Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. joined national leaders today at a White House event to promote more robust funding of cancer research and treatments.  The event served to re-launch President Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot” program to decrease cancers deaths by 50 percent in the next 25 years.  President Biden started the program in 2016 to accelerate the development of therapies to prevent, detect and treat cancer.

“It was an honor to attend President Biden’s event to promote cancer awareness and the need for more research,” said Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr.  “I have been a dedicated fighter for efforts to increase survival rates from cancer since the death of my father, Congressman Donald M. Payne, Sr., from colorectal cancer in 2012.  I applaud President Biden’s commitment to this cause and the relaunch of a project that will save millions of lives in the future.”

Rep. Payne, Jr. has taken a number of actions to increase cancer screenings and treatments for Americans nationwide.  He introduced the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act, so Medicare beneficiaries could get polyp, or cancerous growth, removals covered during routine colorectal cancer screenings.  The bill was signed into law in 2019.  Recently, Rep. Payne, Jr. introduced the Colorectal Cancer Payment Fairness Act to provide complete coverage for these treatments by the end of 2023.  Rep. Payne, Jr. is the co-leader of the bipartisan Congressional Colorectal Cancer Caucus.  Overall, cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and more than 1 million people are diagnosed with the disease every year.

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