By the end of November, the congressional “supercommittee” is required to submit recommendations to Congress on how the federal government can reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years.

As someone who has been touched by cancer in so many ways, I’m calling on the supercommittee members to make cancer — a disease that kills nearly 1,500 people in the United States each day — a top priority.

Congress already cut nearly $1 trillion from the federal budget over the next 10 years, putting funding for groundbreaking cancer research and lifesaving programs that promote prevention, early detection and improved access to health care at risk of significant cuts. Congress needs to protect that funding for the estimated 1.6 million people in America who will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and the nearly 12 million cancer survivors living in America today. If the money isn’t there, those great ideas stay in the test tubes.

The decisions that Congress makes will not only affect cancer funding for next year, but will set a precedent for the next decade.

If the public wants a future with less cancer, Congress must protect critical funding and further the progress that has been made against this disease.

Janet Miles, Livermore

Volunteer, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network