Golden Toast

Michael McCaul and his wife Mrs. Linda McCaul invited me to share Carson’s story in their Washington, D.C. living room at the inaugural Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus (CCCC.)

Their home was packed with dignitaries, Senators, Congressmen, and a rag-tag group of moms and dads, who had lost a child to cancer. We were seeking help from congress to combat the deadliest disease of our nation’s children.

A man of action, Rep. McCaul built a 100-member strong, bipartisan caucus and that rag-tag group of moms and dads morphed into a sophisticated-unstoppable movement of childhood cancer advocates who together, are changing laws that benefit childhood cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access and Research.

This is bipartisan politics at its PUREST.

Together, unified we fight for the smallest, most innocent cancer patients among us; our collaborative accomplishments the past 10 years include passing:
– The STAR Act which addresses the four major concerns facing the pediatric cancer community: Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research, and will elevate and prioritize the fight against childhood cancer at the National Institute of Health (NIH).
– The RACE for Children Act (Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity for Children Act) which allows the most innovative adult treatments for cancer to be studied for use in children.

We quote in part, Theodore Roosevelt’s man in the arena at each Golden Toast, it surmises what Representative McCaul launched and relentlessly champions…
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”