September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: Honoring Hyundai Hope on Wheels

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to observe National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and in doing so I wish to recognize Hyundai Hope on Wheels, a leading contributor to pediatric cancer research and the fight to permanently end childhood cancer.

Hope on Wheels has one wish--and it is one that I share as both a father and a grandfather: to help kids fight and beat cancer so that each and every child can live a long, healthy, and joyous life.

Each year, approximately 15,780 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer.

Even with all of the advances in modern medicine, cancer is still the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States. It does not discriminate among its victims; any child can become afflicted no matter how young or how small. It affects children from each gender and all nationalities, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds. In most tragic fact, a child is diagnosed with cancer every 36 minutes. No one and no family is immune from this devastating disease. But there is hope.

Blessedly, modern medical research and treatments have greatly improved the survival rate for children with cancer. As of 2010, there were approximately 380,000 childhood cancer survivors living across our country. This dramatic improvement is a result of an increased quality of care, early detection, and advances in innovative research--along with a growing wellspring of financial support beneath it all.

Hyundai Hope on Wheels is leading the way with its commitment to cancer research. In its 17th year of battling childhood cancer, Hope on Wheels will award $10.5 million in research grants to hospitals across the United States during this September, National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Hope on Wheels has been investing in pediatric cancer research since 1998, and this month they will surpass $100 million in lifetime funding to this critical cause.

I express my most heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to everyone at Hyundai who has made this wonderful investment in our children a powerful reality.

This year, one of Hyundai Hope on Wheels' grants will be awarded to Pennsylvania's own Dr. James Anthony Graves at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, where he is researching neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial pediatric tumor. This award and others will allow doctors like Dr. Graves to continue to work on life-saving cancer therapies and new treatments for children in Pennsylvania and across our country.

Mr. Speaker, for working to improve the survival rate of our nation's children tragically diagnosed with cancer, I ask that my colleagues join with me today in recognizing the heroic work of Hyundai Hope on Wheels. Committed to winning the fight against pediatric cancer, this extraordinary organization is providing generations of American children with the hope of a healthy future.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source