Proposition 15 is a constitutional amendment that would create the single largest state-level investment in cancer research, prevention, early detection and control programs in the nation. Proposition 15 will go before Texas voters on November 6, 2007. Learn more about Proposition 15.
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See when the Survivor One tour bus will be coming through your city! Monday, October 15, 2007 Scott & White West Campus 5701 Airport Road Temple, TX 76502 9:00 AM Hood County Courthouse 100 East Pearl Street Granbury, TX 76048 12:20 PM Cook Children's Medical Center 801 Seventh Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76104 2:15 PM Tuesday, October 16, 2007 Kelsey-Seybold Clinic — Main Campus 2727 W. Holcombe Blvd Houston, Texas 77025 9:45 AM Cancer Therapy and Research Center 7979 Wurzbach Road San Antonio, Texas 78229 2:30 PM Saturday, October 20, 2007 Floyd Casey Football Stadium Waco, Texas 10 AM Sunday, October 21, 2007 Texas Stadium Irving, Texas 10 AM Monday, October 22, 2007 Northcross Mall Austin, Texas 10 AM Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Texas State University San Marcos, Texas 10 AM Thursday, October 25, 2007 21st Annual Harvest Moon Regatta Galveston, Texas 2 PM Sunday, October 28, 2007 Czhilispiel Flatonia, Texas 10 AM - 8 PM Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Smith County Courthouse Tyler, Texas 4 PM Thursday, November 1, 2007 First Monday Canton, Texas Noon Saturday, November 3, 2007 Tour of Gruene Gruene, Texas 7am Saturday, November 3, 2007 Koman Race for the Cure at Auditorium Shores Austin, Texas 10am Sunday, November 4, 2007 Koman Race for the Cure at Auditorium Shores Austin, Texas 10am

Presidential Meeting

October 23, 2007 Posted by: Lance

Hey Folks,

I'm back from Houston today with President George H. W. Bush talking about Proposition 15.

President Bush announced his support for Proposition 15, a ballot measure that will establish the Cancer Research and Prevention Institute of Texas that I am passionately behind and committed to making a reality here in Texas.

I'm honored that the President asked me to join him in speaking in support of this critical proposition that will go to voters on Nov 6.

The President and I share a passion in fighting cancer. The President is a founding member of a unique organization called C-Change which is a group of public, private and non-profit organizations working together to achieve common goals toward eliminating cancer as a major national health problem.

Read the press release. Learn more about Prop 15.

Tune into your local news tonight to watch the coverage.

Miles and Smiles of Texas

October 16, 2007 Posted by: Lance

Our Texas Proposition 15 tour ended this afternoon in San Antonio at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC). A crowd of supporters greeted us under a somewhat cloudy sky, but luckily the rain stayed away.

I met pediatric and adult patients at the Center and signed some autographs and took a tour with CTRC president Karen Fields.

My mom and I visited with Connor, a 3-year-old boy with an inoperable brain tumor. Connor was just waking up from radiation. Mom and I agreed that he was a really cute kid. CTRC is the only NCI-designated cancer center in this part of the world and I'm glad it is here for Connor and the other patients I met today.

We have traveled more than 500 miles across the state from Round Rock to Temple and Granbury and Fort Worth and Dallas and Houston to San Antonio and back home to Austin. The team is worn out, but completely exhilarated. It was worth every mile.

Cathy Bonner, the "mother" of Proposition 15, has been with us all the way. She's a trooper. Representative Patrick Rose has made every stop and Senator Nelson has logged a lot of miles, too. This afternoon, we added Representative Geanie Morrison, Senator Jeff Wentworth and Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros.

Again, the crowd at the event and on stage with me reminded me that this is a bipartisan issue. Cancer doesn't care about how you vote or the color of your skin or whether you are an athlete or couch potato. It doesn't care if you live in Texas or not. It doesn't care where in the world the lab was that discovered the treatment you need. It is rare and refreshing to see this kind of politics and this kind of determination to do the right thing.

It also occurred to me that during the 15 or 20 minutes I spent talking to our audience, we lost 15 to 20 people to cancer. It's unacceptable. Because I was just walking the halls of this center. There is potential and energy here and real stakes. We can do many more great things... we just need the funding and the will.

We can't wait for Washington to take the lead. We need to get serious about it now. And we need to do it for all the patients I met today and for everyone who cares about them and for people being treated for cancer across the country and around the globe.

So I'm asking you ... Make sure you vote, no matter where you live. If you are a Texas resident, vote FOR Proposition 15. And tell all your Texas friends and neighbors to vote FOR Proposition 15.

Thanks for coming along with us!

Winning when it counts

October 16, 2007 Posted by: Lance

Hello from Houston. Survivor One is loaded with our team and Texas legislators for day two of our bus tour.

We started our day at the Kelsey-Seybold clinic near downtown Houston. Dr. Jim Hoyle, director of Kelsey-Seybold, welcomed us and we addressed a big crowd of supporters and patients on the second floor of the clinic. Senator Nelson and Representative Rose joined us again, along with Representative Morrison, Representative Bohac, Representative Coleman, Representative Cohen, Representative Allen, Representative Vo and Representative Hernandez.

Dr. Grace Butler, a cancer survivor, devoted advocate, LAF friend and founder of Hope Through Grace, inspired the crowd with lengthy remarks. After she introduced me, I teased her, telling her that I have a daughter named Grace... and she also likes to talk a lot.

My mom, Linda, came along, too.

As I told our audience this morning, I'm not in the business of losing. Never have been. I don't intend to lose this time either. We must pass Proposition 15 and we will with the support of Texas voters. I think we will win. And, more importantly, a victory for Prop 15 means we have a better chance of winning an even bigger fight — against cancer.

I visited a few patients before I left the clinic and boarded Survivor One. We are bound for San Antonio. I'll report in from there...

Texans Big and Small

October 15, 2007 Posted by: Lance

The bus tour continued on to Fort Worth this afternoon and to Cook Children's Hospital, which was also one of the first LAF grantees way back when.

Several legislators and reporters and the great Cathy Bonner, who is the mother of Prop 15, are onboard with us. Between meetings and interviews, we had sandwiches for lunch and we watched the movie, Spinal Tap, which I've never seen.

Cathy Bonner is a talented and tireless Texas businesswoman who, after losing her good friend, Texas Governor Ann Richards, to cancer last year, was inspired to get the Texas legislature to do something about it.

The result was, eventually, Proposition 15.

Our next stop gave us the opportunity to visit with people that can't yet vote for Prop 15, but would certainly benefit from it.

At Cook Children's, I visited three kids in their hospital rooms and then a group of kids in a play room. One little girl, Ciara, was drawing and coloring bikes for me. I also visited with Sadie. Her mom and I attended the same high school. They were all transplant patients.

Later I made my way to the main foyer at the hospital to discuss Prop 15 with the crowd. There I had the honor of sharing the stage at with a young woman named Melanie. Melanie is 14 and is being treated at Cook Children's with surgery and chemotherapy for a malignant bone tumor in her foot. She gave me a special Cook Children's Prop 15 cycling jersey. I joked that maybe that was a sign I should put away the running shoes and get back on my bike. Well, not until after the NYC Marathon.

The foyer of Cook Children's was filled with kids being treated for cancer. They represent the best reason for us to vote for Prop 15.

They reminded me of another young girl, Kelly Davidson, who was also treated at Cook Children's. I met Kelly many years ago at an autograph signing at a sandwich shop. She was first in line, so she had clearly been waiting for a while. She was also, clearly, a cancer patient. As I told the crowd today, she won me over right away. We lost her to cancer several years ago. She deserved a chance to be 18 and a high school grad. She deserved a life that included college graduation at 22 and maybe a wedding and kids and grand kids years later. All those kids do. We should invest in them and their future. In comparison, considering what is lost, $3 billion over 10 years is marginal.

Our appointments today reinforced what I already knew. This is the right time and the right place to fully invest in cancer research. We have the research institutes, the doctors, the cancer groups, the overwhelming need. While that would be enough, it is also true that, as a Texan, I would be so proud to see my state take the lead in saving lives from our own backyard to the farthest corners.

So, tomorrow the Prop 15 tour continues. We'll be in Houston and will check in from there...

Where's the party line?

October 15, 2007 Posted by: Lance

From my vantage point at the City Hall building here in Granbury, Texas, there is no party line. It has been vanquished by a more formidable foe — cancer.

Cancer is not a partisan issue. Proposition 15 is not a partisan initiative.

The legislators who sponsored the bills that became Proposition 15 are a testament to that — Democrats Patrick Rose and Kirk Watson and Republicans Jim Keffer and Jane Nelson. The couple hundred locals who came out to see us at lunchtime also heard from other lawmakers from both parties.

It is clear that cancer is what we have in common. We all have an interest in fighting cancer, no matter what party we might typically support.

I also had the opportunity to address that room, crowded with friendly Granbury locals at the City Hall. I told them that we lose an American to cancer every minute. Imagine how unimportant partisanship is compared to that awful fact.

We can't wait for the federal government. We can't wait for a miracle. We can't wait for someone else to step up.

Cancer costs Texans alone $30 billion dollars in direct and indirect costs. That before we even consider the emotional costs — lost friends, lost family members, lost potential, lost time.

That's too high a price. It seems like the nice folks in Granbury agree.

On to Cow Town, also known as Fort Worth...

Why Texas?

October 15, 2007 Posted by: Lance

Hello from the bus, Survivor One. We are heading north on I-35 in Texas, with stops along the way to meet voters and promote Proposition 15, a ballot initiative aimed at making Texas the global leader in cancer research.

Our first stop this morning was Temple, Texas, where a cheering crowd of more than 200 doctors, nurses, patients and locals, greeted us at the Scott and White Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Al Knight, Scott and White CEO, welcomed us and Representatives Dianne White and Patrick Rose promoted Proposition 15. Dr. Roy Smythe, who is the director of surgery, said, "Texans are fighters!"

Texans are fighters. Specifically, 95,000 Texans fight cancer every year. About 37,000 Texans lose the battle. Beyond our borders, 1 and 2 men and 1 and 3 women experience cancer in the U.S. Globally, the numbers are overwhelming.

Given that this is a bona fide global problem that affects absolutely everyone, I have often been asked over the past few months, "Why here? Why should Texas take the lead?"

I looked at the crowd in Temple and thought, "Why not?" When I think about our research institutions, our cancer non-profits and our fighting tradition, I think this HAS to happen here — for the benefit of future Texans and people everywhere.

The great university in my hometown, the University of Texas, has a motto I'll borrow — "What starts here changes the world." If we pass Prop 15, that will be true again. We will start something that will change the expectations and experiences of cancer. We will start something that might stop cancer.

Onward to Granbury, Fort Worth and Dallas. I'll report in along the way.

From the Texas Hill Country to a voting booth near you...

October 14, 2007 Posted by: Lance

Today I got on my bike to ride one of favorite rides... and brought 2,500 other people with me. The LIVESTRONG Challenge Austin took on the beautiful roads west of Austin and around Dripping Springs this morning. The riders enjoyed this very scenic part of the world... and they raised $3.8 million dollars for LAF programs along the way. Way to go team!

I rode about 60 miles today, starting the course with my mom, the famous Linda, and her husband, Ed, and continuing on with former teammates, Dylan Casey and Kevin Livingston.

Looking around at all of our supporters — up early and ready to go — reminded me that no one ever accomplishes anything great alone. We count on our supporters to raise funds for the fight against cancer, raise their voices to speak up for those with cancer and raise spirits of anyone who is fighting it. We need to be focused. And we need a team.

The same can be said for Proposition 15. To make sure we get it passed, we must do what Texans often do... stand up, stir some stuff up, stick together, make history. Whether in the hallways at NASA or on the battlegrounds of the Alamo, Texans can be called upon to do what's hard and defend what's important.

We are going to make sure that happens starting tomorrow as we begin our tour across the state.

It was a great day today. Thanks to everyone who came out and saddled up or volunteered or cheered us on.

Tomorrow we leave the hills of Central Texas for the flat highways north. We are going to rally our citizens in support of Proposition 15. Hope to see you along the way...

They said it wouldn't happen

October 13, 2007 Posted by: Lance

Not too long ago an effort began to make Texas the global leader in cancer research and prevention. The typical response in those first days was one of doubt. They said it wouldn't happen.

Yet this morning some Texas lawmakers and I boarded a bus, Survivor One, just a few blocks from our Capitol in Austin, Texas and continued our efforts to make the impossible a reality — in defiance of conventional wisdom and in support of what's best for Texans and people fighting cancer everywhere.

Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in the fight against cancer. I will be traveling my home state in Survivor One with Texas leaders over the next few days to tell Texans about Proposition 15, a ballot initiative that, if passed, will launch an unprecedented effort to fuel cancer research and help reverse an unacceptable trend — decreasing federal money for cancer science.

Proposition 15 authorizes up to $3 billion in Texas funds for cancer research, prevention, early detection and control programs. It also establishes the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute. It represents what we must do to combat a disease that affects every single one of us.

Some of the Texas legislators who sponsored the bill — Senator Jane Nelson, Senator Kirk Watson, Representative Jim Keffer and Representative Patrick Rose — will be coming with me along the Texas highways. We are going to stop at hospitals and town squares. And I am going to convince every Texan I can that we must vote for Proposition 15.

This morning, we launched our journey before a crowd of about 3,000 LIVESTRONG Challenge participants, all of them gathered on the grounds of the Capitol and eager to hit the pavement of Congress Avenue for a 5K run or walk in support of the Foundation and people battling cancer. It's a beautiful day in Austin. My friend, tennis player Andy Roddick, came out to run with me. Tomorrow we will be riding in the hills west of Austin as the LIVESTRONG Challenge continues.

As I said to the crowd this morning, this is a vote for the future of Texas and future Texans.

They said it wouldn't happen. But we like to do things they say will never happen. I hope you'll join us ...

Upcoming Tour

October 10, 2007 Posted by: Lance

On October 12th, I'm hitting the road asking Texans to vote FOR Prop. 15.

Be part of my Texas tour and help lead the charge in the fight against cancer. Visit this page to see when I'm bringing Survivor One—the Texans Curing Cancer bus—to a city near you, and learn how you can be part of the action.

This year alone, more than 95,000 Texans will be diagnosed with cancer, and more than 37,000 Texans will lose their lives to the disease. We can't wait for Washington to respond. Together, we can make Texas the leader in cancer prevention and research.

Celebrating Cancer Survivorship

October 2, 2007 Posted by: Lance

Eleven years ago today, I was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer. I probably felt the same as anyone else who has ever been diagnosed — I was in complete shock. But cancer gave me focus, a purpose and a lot to live for.

I would not be here today if it were not for medical research and science.

Right now, in Texas, we face the historic opportunity to become the leader in cancer prevention and research, saving millions of lives in our state and across the globe.

Prop. 15, a Constitutional Amendment on the Texas ballot November 6th, will authorize the investment of $3 billion to fund cancer research, prevention, early detection and control programs that we know will save lives. This type of commitment of resources led to the virtual eradication of polio in the 20th century, and it can be successful against cancer in this century.

In honor of my cancer anniversary, I am dedicating myself to passing Prop. 15. This month, I'm taking Survivor One, the Texans Curing Cancer Prop. 15 tour bus, across the state, asking Texans to vote FOR Prop. 15 and support programs we know will save lives.

Please be part of my tour across Texas and join me in this fight.

Together as Texans we can save lives. Together, we can change the world.