Statement by Senator Obama on Lance Armstrong's Efforts to Raise Cancer Awareness

Des Moines -- U.S. Senator Barack Obama released the following statement on Lance Armstrong's efforts to raise cancer awareness:

"Like many Americans, I understand in a very personal way the need for greater medical research to fight cancer. I watched my mother die of ovarian cancer in the prime of her life. Today, under Lance's inspiring leadership, The Lance Armstrong Foundation is giving millions of Americans a sense of hope and empowerment. It's time that our government matched this dedication on an urgent national priority.

"We need to wage a war on cancer with far more resources. Although biomedical research costs are increasing each year, annual funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have not kept up, and the last Congress actually cut cancer funding for the first time in a decade. This isn't just counter-productive, it is a failure to keep faith with so many Americans who are in the fight of their lives against cancer, and it overlooks our country's tradition of medical innovation.

"America has always pushed the boundaries of science to seek new cures and treatments that have saved and extended the lives of countless Americans. When I am President, we will reclaim that tradition of medical innovation and wage a more aggressive war on cancer. As President, I will make ending cancer the top priority it needs to be by increasing funding for the NIH, NCI, and other medical research grants. The fight against cancer is a critically important issue in the lives of millions of Americans. It needs to be a top priority for our government."