National Mammography Day is an important reminder that early breast and cervical cancer detection saves lives.

At a rally on Tuesday morning with our volunteers, the coaches shared their personal stories and connections to cancer. Each of them also emphasized the importance of Congress restoring funding for cancer research if weŠ—'re ever going to beat this disease.

Today is the start of ACS CAN's signature annual event: our Leadership Summit and Lobby Day. We'll be welcoming more than 600 cancer patients, advocates, survivors, caregivers and their families from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district to Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, for most of you the answer to the question above is Š—“not well.Š— According to a new edition of the ACS CAN report How Do You Measure Up? released today, many state legislatures are missing opportunities to enact laws and policies that could not only generate new revenue and long-term health savings, but also save lives.

Dr. Laura Witherspoon is an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteer from Tennessee. Below is her account of her participation in the One Voice Against Cancer lobby day on July 9.

Together with the cancer center, ACS CAN hosted a briefing for state legislators and community and business leaders to showcase the groundbreaking research researchers are conducting at Hollings and the people who are alive because of it.

Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. represents the 10th Congressional District of New Jersey

Undoubtedly you saw the countdowns on your local news stations Š—– sequestration took effect on Friday. Sequestration is what Washington is calling the $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts to domestic and defense discretionary spending agreed upon in the 2011 Budget Control Act. While a lot remains unknown about how the cuts will affect us, we know one thing is for sure: funding for cancer research and prevention programs is taking a dangerous hit.

I was pleased to hear President Obama mention the need to invest in science and innovation in TuesdayŠ—'s State of the Union address. Cancer patients and survivors nationwide need a renewed commitment from Congress and the administration to fund the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute at levels that keep up with inflation and allow promising research to continue.

To illustrate just how crucial federal funding is for cancer research, ACS CAN released a new report this week, Š—“Catalyst for Cures: How Federally Funded Cancer Research Saves Lives.Š— This report underscores the threat posed by sequestration to future progress in the fight to end death and suffering from cancer by highlighting federally-funded scientists who have discovered new ways to treat specific cancers, including breast cancer, melanoma and lung cancer and the patients who benefited from those advances.