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Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Empire State Building Goes Yellow for Lance & LIVESTRONG
Seven-time Tour de France champion and a testicular cancer survivor Lance Armstrong pushed Congress Wednesday to increase funding for early cancer detection and care.
Play Lance’s speech:
The visit marked annual LIVESTRONG day. It coincided with the introduction of the Cancer Screening, Treatment, and Survivorship Act of 2007, which was sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Harkin lost four of his five siblings to cancer.
“The disease is the number one killer in this country under the age of 85 - 600,000 Americans lose their lives to the disease and a full third of them never needed to die,” Armstrong said to more than 200 yellow-braceleted cancer survivors, who are part of Armstrong’s nationwide “LIVESTRONG” army.
The Livestrong members, who are also cancer survivors, spent the day meeting with lawmakers to stir up support for Harkin’s bill. Later Wednesday evening, the Empire State Building will be lit yellow to mark LIVESTRONG day.
Over the years, Harkin and Armstrong have forged a friendship over their common interests in biking and fighting cancer. And in good news for cyclists, Armstrong is going to participate in RAG-BRAI again — this time for the whole seven days.
“For years I was in D.C. working on this issue - and every year, I didn’t know what (Harkin) was talking about. He said, ‘You have to come to RAG-BRAI!’ The first couple of years I am like, ‘sure sure sure … whatever.’ RAG-BRAI is actually the biggest annual bike ride in this country. Last year we went and participated for three days and this year we’re going back for the full seven.”
Armstrong formed LIVESTRONG in 1997, a year after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that spread to his brain.
Wednesday’s event was one of more than 230 across the country held to push cancer awareness, Armstrong said.
White House Sleepover
The queen slept at Blair House. Blair will sleep in the Queen’s Bedroom.
Here’s the deal. When Queen Elizabeth was in Washington last week she stayed at Blair House, the official presidential guest house.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in town for talks with Bush, will stay in the residential section of the White House. Specifically, he will overnight in the Queen’s Bedroom on the second floor. It’s named for the variety of royal guests who have used it.
Snow said Bush and Blair (shown above at a Washington news conference last December) will talk about a variety of topics.
“Certainly the war on terror is going to be a central issue,” says Snow.
The two leaders will hold a White House news conference on Thursday.
FYI, Blair House is named for Francis Preston Blair, who once owned it. That Blair, a newspaperman, was an adviser to President Andrew Jackson.
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Former Clinton Adviser Agrees to Disbarment
Sandy Berger, the Clinton White House national security adviser who was caught stuffing classified documents into his clothing and taking them from the U.S. Archives, has consented to disbarment.
Under an agreement filed in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Berger agreed to forfeit his law license but avoids cross-examination before the Board on Bar Counsel as well as disclosure of an affidavit detailing his misconduct.
Berger was convicted of illegally removing documents from the Archives in 2005. He was fined $50,000, sentenced to community service and ordered to undergo a polygraph test if requested. The Department of Justice, citing the absence of evidence of further wrongdoing, has declined to ask him to take the test.
