
ACG Vice President Dr. Mark B. Pochapin addressed an energetic and committed group of colorectal cancer advocates, including patients, survivors and their families, on Capitol Hill at a briefing organized by the nonprofit group Fight Colorectal Cancer on Tuesday, March 20, 2018.
ACG was honored to be part of Fight CRC’s annual “Call on Congress” advocacy day during March Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The College partners with Fight CRC to support its mission to raise awareness of CRC prevention and promote policy change to make colorectal cancer screening more accessible.

The passion and focus of the Fight CRC champions made an impact on many leaders from the U.S. House of Representatives who addressed the group, including: Representative Donald J. Payne, Jr. from New Jersey; Representative Leonard Lance from New Jersey; Representative Charlie Dent from Pennsylvania; Representative Rodney Davis from Illinois; and Representative Phil Roe from Tennessee, who is a physician.
The legislators spoke about their personal connection to colorectal cancer and shared encouragement and insights with the gathered advocates. Mr. Dent, Mr. Payne and Mr. Lance are all original co-sponsors of H.R. 1017, “The Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act.”
Other speakers at “Call on Congress 2018” who shared insights on the public health challenges of promoting colorectal cancer screening included Lisa Richardson, MD, MPH, Director of CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, and Dr. Richard Wender, Chief Cancer Control Officer at the American Cancer Society. Adding the perspective of a courageous CRC survivor was Scott Lagasse, Jr., a NASCAR driver and Stage I colorectal cancer survivor.


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