Burlington
“We are on the cusp of breakthroughs that are breathtaking, breathtaking,” Biden said. “Let me say that I look forward to the day when my granddaughter — or my oldest granddaughter’s children — are going to go in for a physical procedure, and they are going to get vaccinated for a lot of things that literally prevent cancer.”
In remarks to a panel of UVM doctors and Vermont politicians, the vice president said that more interdisciplinary work and data sharing will greatly accelerate the race for a cure.
He highlighted the results of a recent report from his Cancer Moonshot Task Force, and said America must work to cure cancer with the same relentless urgency President John F. Kennedy applied when he challenged the country to find a way to the moon.
Biden said new federal rules are mandating greater information sharing between private research outfits and federal agencies. He added that private partners, including Google and Microsoft, are in the process of providing free public access online to the vast trove of cancer research.
“We are so far behind the curve on some of the simple things that can make a gigantic difference,” Biden said. “This is a worldwide problem, and we need an organizational structure that will take us to a different place.”
Biden stressed that the government had a major role to play in finding a cure, and urged legislators of all stripes to ensure cancer funding remained a non-partisan issue.
“This is the moment, this is the inflection point, and this is the only bipartisan thing left in American politics,” Biden said.
Leahy — who served with Biden in the Senate and called him “one of my best friends” during the panel — promised to work diligently in his role on the Senate Appropriations Committee to keep the spigot of federal research dollars flowing.
“We will keep that money coming because it is an American thing,” Leahy said. “I admire you for all you are doing and I thank you.”
Leahy has helped secure billions of dollars in federal funding for cancer research over his congressional career.
In the early 1990s, Leahy led the charge to start the Breast Cancer Research Program, an initiative set up within the Department of Defense.
“It is deeply personal in our family,” Leahy said after an emotional pause. “Marcelle is a cancer survivor, and she has become a strong advocate for cancer prevention. A few months ago I lost my older brother that way.”
While the chief reason for Biden’s visit was to discuss cancer treatment and highlight the work being done at UVM Medical Center, there was also a political angle.
Biden made sure to offer glowing endorsements of the state’s Democratic leaders.
He referred to Gov. Peter Shumlin — who sat on one of the panels — as “one of the most competent and effective governors in the country.” Biden then referred to Rep. Peter Welch — who was sitting at the the other end of the table — as “indefatigable.”
Biden ate breakfast at the Penny Cluse Cafe with Leahy and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter, who is in a tight race against Republican Phil Scott.
According to a pool report from Jess Aloe of the Burlington Free Press, Biden consumed a stack of blueberry pancakes before posing for photos with Minter, Leahy and restaurant patrons.
Two of the patrons Biden greeted were Justin White and his wife, Jessica, who were visiting from New Haven, Connecticut, for a last vacation before their baby’s birth.
Biden — who lost his son Beau to brain cancer last year and his young daughter to a tragic car crash in 1972 — offered White a bit of fatherly advice before leaving the cafe.
“Hold them tight,” he said.