First, some good news to report!

Members of Congress have reached an agreement on budget and the good news is that the proposed budget (which must still be voted on by Congress), contains $130 million for the Department of Defense (DOD) peer-reviewed Breast Cancer Research (BCRP)program for 2018.  That is a $10 million increase over past years!   Thank you for your ongoing advocacy to support this program.  Your persistence has paid off!

And speaking of that.....

It is time to get signatures on this year's Senate letter in support of funding for the (DOD) Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) for FY2019. The deadline for Senators to sign is  Thursday, March 29th.  

Background:

In order to maintain funding for the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) , money must be appropriated by Congress each year. All Senators have received a "Dear Colleague" letter asking them to sign on from Senator Kristen E. Gillibrand (D-NY)  to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Cochran and Ranking Member Durbin calling for $150 million for the DOD peer-reviewed Breast Cancer Research Program for FY 2019. This letter   also includes highlights of the program's successes.

While both our Virginia Senators are very supportive of the DoD BCRP and have voted for its continuation year after year, Senator Tim Kaine has told VBCF advocates that his policy is to avoid signing on to "disease-specific" letters.  Therefore, our target to sign the support letter this year is only Senator Mark Warner.