Congressman Michael Mccaul and Congressman Chris Van Hollen to be honored at the 3rd Annual Golden Toast. The Golden Toast represents bipartisan politics at its finest. It is an evening when members of Congress from both sides of the aisle demonstrate a commitment to some of the most vulnerable members of society—children who are fighting cancer. In an election season marked by divisiveness, the Golden Toast is a visible reminder that our elected officials can put aside disagreements to accomplish meaningful change and advance life-saving research. 

“Serving as co-chair of the Childhood Cancer Caucus is one of the great honors of my time in Congress. The privilege of working together to help improve and save the lives of children afflicted with cancer is unparalleled. The courage and determination these children display each day is the most powerful motivation for our efforts and I could not be more proud the caucus, its members as well as the advocates, families, and the medical community working tirelessly to make transformational change possible,” said Congressman Michael McCaul 

Congressman Van Hollen stated, “I firmly believe that we should be judged by how we care for the most vulnerable in our society, and it’s hard to imagine anyone more vulnerable than a child facing the diagnosis of cancer and fighting to overcome it. That’s why I co-chair the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus—to raise awareness, generate support and take the childhood cancer crisis head-on by focusing every possible resource on improving treatments and finding cures."

Childhood cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death for children under the age of 19 in the United States. Each year, one in 285 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with cancer. In the past 20 years, only two new drugs specifically for childhood cancer have gained approval from the FDA. Despite achieving increased cure rates for childhood leukemia, progress against other childhood cancers has seen no meaningful change in decades. 

The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) applauds Congressmen McCaul and Van Hollen for championing efforts to attack childhood cancer. In Texas, CPRIT has identified childhood and adolescent cancer as a priority and has awarded 65 grants totaling more than $78 million, making up approximately 10% of CPRIT’s overall funding to find cures for childhood cancers, said James K.V. Willson, M.D., CPRIT chief scientific officer

Chairman of the Golden Toast and Co-founder of the Carson Leslie Foundation Annette Leslie said, “It is an absolute honor to toast Congressman Michael McCaul and Congressman Chris Van Hollen and publicly thank them for championing the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus and giving the childhood cancer community a soapbox from which to shout.”

The the 3rd Annual Golden Toast takes place September 22 at the Library of Congress, James Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue, SE, from 6-8 p.m. EDT.