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The White House plans to appoint UNC professor, Barbara Rimer, to chair the President’s Cancer Panel.

Rimer is the Dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.  She is also a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at UNC.

Rimer will chair the three-person panel that reports to the President on the work of the National Cancer Program. The panel meets publicly at least four times each year.

Rimer holds bachelor's and master's from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is a recipient of the Director's Award from the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society’s Distinguished Service Award.  She was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2008.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge to raise awareness of cancer detection.

The House resolution designates May as "Early Detection Month," and is meant to raise awareness about early detection of all forms of cancer, Barb Barrett reports.

Etheridge was diagnosed with melanoma in 1999 and said he credits early detection with his successful treatment. The resolution was co-sponsored by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat who has undergone treatment for breast cancer.

Last year, there were 42,270 new cases of cancer in North Carolina, according to Etheridge’s office.  Each year, almost 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer, and more than one third of these cases result in death.

A military procurement makes up 33 percent of Rep. Walter Jones' earmarks.

As noted previously, the Farmville Republican asked for $43.8 million in special appropriations in next year's federal budget.

That includes $14.6 million for a new control tower at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

Jones also requested $4 million for cancer research that he says would benefit service members.

Military procurements make up 33 percent of Rep. David Price's earmarks.

As noted previously, the Chapel Hill Democrat asked for $264.6 million in special appropriations in next year's federal budget, according to his official Web site.

All of his requests were for military contractors in North Carolina. He did not seek any direct spending on military bases.

They include $7.5 million for spray-dried blood plasma to treat battlefield injuries, $6 million for optical imaging equipment to detect IEDs, $4.95 million to research treatment for airborne weapons and $4 million for carbon nanotechnology research, among other things.

The 22 requests total $87.5 million. His non-military requests total $177.1 million.

Note: Price included $2.9 million for research on cancer in his defense appropriations because of the costs of health care for military personnel, but we're not including it in his military earmarks.

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt is seeking $179.7 million in earmarks.

The Charlotte Democrat released his list of 66 requested appropriations for the federal budget on his Web site.

The largest request is for $30 million to expand Charlotte's Lynx light rail system. The smallest is for $127,849 to research the use of Nigella sativa in treating and preventing breast cancer.

Other notable earmarks:

* Funding a National Textile Center at N.C. State University, $16.5 million.

* Research regenerative medicine for wounded soldiers, $10 million.

* Widen Interstate 85 in Davidson and Rowan counties, $10 million.

* Research cattails as an alternative biofuel source, $2.5 million.

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones is seeking $43.8 million in earmarks.

The Farmville Republican released his list of 11 requested appropriations for the federal budget on his Web site.

The largest request is for $14.6 million for a new control tower at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. The smallest is for $250,000 to dredge a channel at Beaufort Harbor.

Other notable earmarks:

* Perform maintenance dredging of Morehead City Harbor, $9.5 million.

* Fund cancer vaccine research by the U.S. Navy, $4 million.

* Replace aging timber breakwater at Belhaven, $3.13 million.

* Run a N.C. National Guard anti-drug task force, $1.2 million.

In January, Jones renewed a "No New Earmarks" pledge, so all of his requests are for appropriations that have been funded before, a spokeswoman explained.

U.S. Rep. David Price is seeking $264.6 million in earmarks.

The Chapel Hill Democrat released his list of 89 requested appropriations for the federal budget on his Web site. 

The largest request is $28 million for Reading is Fundamental, a Washington-based nonprofit that encourages children to read. The smallest is $75,000 for a prostate cancer initiative through the N.C. Institute of Minority Economic Development.

Other notable earmarks:

* The National Textile Center at N.C. State, $16.5 million. 

* Adding Rocky Fork to the Cherokee National Forest, $13.5 million.

* A virtual reality center on urban warfare and disaster response at UNC-Chapel Hill, $3.7 million.

* An internal wiki system for government intelligence sharing, $2 million.

* A beaver management program that was criticized by Sen. John McCain, $300,000.

In 2008, Price was the top member of the state's delegation for earmark requests, in part because he is the only member of the House Appropriations Committee, which allocates federal tax dollars. 

Rep. Pearl Burris-Floyd spoke about her expertise.

The Gaston County Republican noted that she works as a cancer-detection specialist and served as president of the N.C. Society of Cytology.

She said that she was told when she graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill that lung cancer would be eliminated eventually, but it hasn't.

"I think what bothers me most is that 30 years ago, second-hand smoke wasn't a problem," she said. "It wasn't an issue. It wasn't something taht we even talked about, because we didn't know about it." 

She said that the debate over second-hand smoke is not a partisan issue.

"When I look at cells under my microscope, I don't see R's and D's on those cells," she said. 

Elizabeth Edwards has endorsed U.S. Senate legislation that declares a renewed war on cancer.

The bill, introduced today by Sens. Ted Kennedy and Kay Bailey Hutchison, is the most sweeping cancer legislation in Congress since Kennedy’s bill in 1971, according to his office, reports Barb Barrett.

Edwards, who suffers from an inoperable form of cancer, testified before the Senate last May on new legislation. The new bill is called the the 21st Century Cancer Access to Life-Saving Early detection, Research and Treatment (ALERT) Act.

The Kennedy/Hutchison bill would try to foster better research by linking various organizations and national cancer registries and by boosting funding. It would increase the focus on rare cancers with low survival rates, and would establish a state grant program for colorectal cancers.

The bill also would provide expanded access to clinical trials and set up a new biomarker program for early detection.

Edwards endorsed the legislation in a statement released by the senators’ offices.

"We know how to lengthen and improve the lives of people with cancer, but we've chosen as a nation to turn our backs on some of us who have the disease,” Edwards said.

A giant model of a colon was set up on the Halifax Mall by the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to educate legislators about cancer risks today. (Photo by Ryan Teague Beckwith)