Senator Patty Murray, Washington State, Replied to My Inquiry on Funding Cancer Research.

 

Dear Mr. Miller,

Thank you for contacting me regarding funding for cancer research and legislation to expand cancer screenings. As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I have long fought to increase access to preventive care like cancer screenings—and I have repeatedly bolstered our investments in biomedical research—including the cancer moonshot. This is a devastating disease that millions of families grapple with every year, and I want to make sure we are doing everything we can to help people, save lives, and beat cancer for good.

In Fiscal Year 2024 I worked to successfully secure a $120 million funding increase for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I am committed to building on that momentum for Fiscal Year 2025 and working with my colleagues to bolster crucial funding for NIH, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI), as well as for cancer screening and prevention services through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These investments are essential to ensuring advancements in cancer prevention and treatment, and ultimately in finding a cure. I also worked recently to establish ARPA-H, a new agency focused on leading the cutting edge of biomedical research.

I am proud to lead the Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women’s Health Act (S. 5428), which would increase women’s access to preventive services and lifesaving screenings for breast and gynecological cancers. I am also a cosponsor of the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (S. 2085), which would expand Medicare beneficiaries’ access to early detection for multiple cancers by allowing Medicare to cover multi-cancer early detection screening tests that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

These bills and other pieces of legislation that aim to increase access to cancer screenings are currently pending in the United States Senate. I will be following their progress and will keep your views in mind if they come before the full Senate for consideration.

The views and perspectives of Washington residents and all Americans are central to my work in the U.S. Senate, so I appreciate you contacting me. Please don’t hesitate to reach out again to express your views on any issue, or if I may be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray
United States Senator