I hope everyone’s enjoying a nice Friday and getting ready for the weekend.  As you make your plans for the weekend I hope you’ll consider joining me tomorrow morning Saturday, February 23rd at 10 am at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara to help kick off the Amgen Tour of California.  I’ll be joined at the race by local cancer survivor 17 year old Logan Kelley and Santa Barbara County Supervisor Janet Wolf. 

In 2005 Amgen launched the Breakaway from Cancer initiative as a complementary component to their sponsorship of the Amgen Tour of California.  Through this campaign Amgen wants to empower patients and their caregivers with education and hope to help fight cancer.  I completely support these goals and this professional cycling event will raise awareness and funds to support programs offered by the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) and the Wellness Community.

More than 1.5 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year alone and we have to do all that we can to help them and their loved ones as the fight this disease.  That’s why I’m partnering with Amgen, the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, and the Wellness Community to build greater awareness in our community about the need for enhanced treatment and survivorship support for cancer patients and their families, in addition to continuing our aggressive efforts to more effectively prevent and detect cancer.  I’m proud to participate in this event as part of my larger effort to fight cancer including passing my legislation, the Comprehensive Cancer Care Improvement Act, to facilitate a more comprehensive approach to providing care for our cancer patients.

Hope to see you tomorrow! 

Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.