Lance Armstrong blasts GOP over cancer cuts

One of the world’s most famous cancer survivors on Thursday fought back against Republican lawmakers’ plans to cut medical research funding in their long-term budget.

Lance Armstrong, who captured seven Tour de France titles after overcoming cancer, argued Republican cuts to federal research agencies would have a startling effect on cancer treatment and research.

“Sometimes in D.C. this can be viewed as a political issue for some,” Armstrong said in an appearance with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN). “This isn’t a political issue. This disease doesn’t care if you’re Republican or Democrat or a Tea Partier or right in the middle.”

Republicans included the research cuts in a long-term budget they approved last month, but Congress has been forced to pass two short-term spending bills to avert a government shutdown as the Democratic-controlled Senate fights back against the GOP’s deep cuts. Advocates are making their cases as lawmakers grow increasingly frustrated with the stopgap spending measures.

Armstrong, speaking at the National Press Club, said he hoped he wasn’t making “a desperate appeal.”

“I look forward to getting the good news that Congress will make the right decision here,” he said.

The House GOP 2011 budget would cut $1 billion from National Institutes of Health’s current $31.3 billion funding level, while the White House’s 2012 budget requests an extra $1 billion for the agency. House Republicans, who proposed $61 billion in cuts from the 2010 budget, also outlined reductions for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute.

ACSCAN released a new poll on Thursday showing more than three-quarters — 77 percent — of adults oppose cuts to cancer research funding as a way to reduce federal spending. The opposition grew stronger, according to the poll, when individuals were told that cuts would reduce cancer screenings, clinical trials and research.

Armstrong, who said he tries to avoid the politics around healthcare reform, criticized Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) for recently describing the law as a “malignant tumor.”

“That would be a very bad choice of words,” Armstrong said when asked about the remarks.