EDUCATION & OUTREACH
Cancer touches all of us—and it takes all of us to beat it.
The Congressional Families® Program is a bipartisan, non-political effort to increase the public’s understanding of cancer prevention and early detection through education and outreach. Members of Congress and their spouses/partners are supported in using their unique platforms to raise awareness, highlight resources and inspire action in their home districts and states through site visits, op-eds and social media content, building a nonpartisan community focused on stopping cancer.
The Congressional Families Program, led by a congressional spouse, includes more than 180 congressional spouses as part of its Executive Council and Advisory Committee.
The Program began in 1991 as a collaboration of the Prevent Cancer Foundation and the Congressional Club and focused on the areas of breast and prostate cancer. The success of the Program’s first five years, combined with medical advancements, led to the expansion of its scope to include more cancer types that can often be prevented or detected early. Using the Program’s tools, congressional members and spouses have a national impact by educating the public and encouraging steps to prevent cancer and detect it early for better health outcomes.
Lisa McGovern
Executive Director, Congressional Families
Spouse, Rep. Jim McGovern (Democrat, Mass.)
Charlie Capito
Spouse, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (Republican, W. Va.)
The Honorable Debbie Dingell (Democrat, Mich.)
Brenda Fleischmann
Spouse, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (Republican, Tenn.)
Patti Garamendi
Spouse, Rep. John Garamendi (Democrat, Calif.)
Lorena Saenz Gonzalez
Spouse, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (Democrat, Texas)
Barbara Grassley
Spouse, Sen. Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa)
Mikey Hoeven
Spouse, Sen. John Hoeven (Republican, N.D.)
Sarah Hospodor-Pallone
Spouse, Rep. Frank Pallone (Democrat, N.J.)
Wayne Kye, D.D.S.
Spouse, Rep. Grace Meng (Democrat, N.Y.)
Martha Hill
Spouse, Rep. French Hill (Republican, Ark.)
Marcia Latta
Spouse, Rep. Bob Latta (Republican, Ohio)
Laina Marshall
Spouse, Sen. Roger Marshall (Republican, Kan.)
Colleen Ochoa Peters
Spouse, Sen. Gary Peters (Democrat, Mich.)
Monica Ruiz
Spouse, Rep. Raul Ruiz (Democrat, Calif.)
Alfredia Scott
Spouse, Rep. David Scott (Democrat, Ga.)
Ex-Officio members
LeeAnn Johnson (Republican, Ohio)
Barbara Morris-Lent (Republican, N.Y.)
The Honorable Marie Royce (Republican, Calif.)
Betty Ann Tanner (Democrat, Tenn.)
Our unique, bipartisan program was recently showcased on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
Listen HereThe Program hosts invitation-only events attended by numerous Members of Congress and their spouses, as well as leaders in the cancer community. Since 1993, the Action for Cancer Awareness Awards Luncheon has been the program’s signature event. Awards are presented in the following categories: Congressional Families Leadership, Distinguished Service in Journalism and Excellence in Cancer Awareness. Previous honorees include: the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Chris Evert, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Hamilton, Hoda Kotb, and Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D, Ph.D. Full list of recipients here.
Since 2023, the Program has also hosted a Spring Reception on Capitol Hill, to unite the congressional community with leaders and supporters from the cancer community on shared goals. At the event, the Carolyn “Bo” Aldigé Visionary Award has been presented to Program co-founder Rep. Doris Matsui (Calif.) and Dr. Francis Collins, who led the Human Genome Project.
The Congressional Families Program travels to communities across the U.S. (and around the world), joining with Members and spouses to highlight community grant projects or other local cancer prevention and early detection resources.
Equal Hope met with the Congressional Families Program to share how the organization is combatting healthcare disparities with the support of a Prevent Cancer Foundation grant.
Comadre a Comadre is a culturally and linguistically designed project that provides training to trusted peer breast and cervical cancer survivors (also known as comadres) in the community.
Lisa McGovern and Charlie Capito (married to Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, W. Va.) visit West Virginia University Cancer Institute’s LUCAS, a mobile lung cancer screening unit.
Congressional members and spouses are offered the Program’s toolkit and resources to educate their communities about cancer prevention and early detection.
Congressional members and spouses are powerful voices to spread the message of cancer prevention and early detection across the U.S. This series invites Program members to share timely and vital information to educate the public and inspire action.
Examples of past participants include Rep. Troy Carter (La.) on Prostate Cancer Awareness Month; Rep. Debbie Dingell (Mich.) on routine cancer screenings; Rep. John Garamendi (Calif.) on UV Safety Month; Rep. Nikema Williams (Ga.) on National Minority Health Month; Charlie Capito, spouse of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) on Lung Cancer Awareness Month; Dr. Laura Cassidy, spouse of Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.), on Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month; and Dr. Wayne Kye, spouse of Rep. Grace Meng (N.Y.) on Oral Health Month.
More than 180 Congressional spouses of sitting members of Congress have joined the Program’s Advisory Committee. By adding their names, these individuals demonstrate that cancer prevention is important to them and they support our work to stop cancer which knows no political, ethnic, gender, age or socioeconomic boundaries.
Caroline Aderholt
Robin Allen
Linda Bachus**
Abby Bean
Cindy Bergman
Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D.
Kevin Boyce
Charlie Capito*
Myrna E. Cardin
Audrey Case
Rosel Cloud
Catherine “Smitty” Connolly
Stacy Crawford
Pat Cunnane
Rep. Debbie Dingell*
Leah Ott Dunn
Julie Ferguson
Scott Fletcher
Amy Franklin
Patricia Garamendi*
Alexa Gooden
David Gowing
Cheryl Greene
Conan Harris
Mary Herman
Mary Himes
Cathy Holahan
Renee Hudson
Jolene Ivey
Kennisandra Jeffries
Rhonda Kean
Jennifer Kilmer
Kaylie LaLota
Chrissy Levin
Leslie Luttrell
Laina Marshall*
Curtis McBath
Christine McGarvey
Debra Miller, M.D.
Mary Beth Morelle
Jane Mrvan
Tim Mynett
Heather Obernolte
Kelley Paul
Annalise Phillips
Sarah Bloom Raskin
Chelsea Rose
Kay Ruppersberger
Dina Sarbanes
Steve Schultz
Tracy Self
Leslie Small
Amanda Soto*
Laura Strong
London J. Thompson
Terra Valadao
Tonya Veasey
Brenda Weber
Sharon Westerman
Stephanie Williams
Kathryn Wittman
Lola Zinke
Alisha Aguilar
Anne Arrington
M.Priyasri Bala, M.D.
Tamra Bentsen**
Megan Beyer
Cathy Boozman
Sandy Buchanan
Gina Carbajal
Meghan Conrad Carey
Evelyn Chinea-Garcia
Lisa Collis
Sandy Cornyn
Deserai Crow, Ph.D.
Vera G. Davis
Libby Doggett
Pat Engel
Scott Fischbach
Mandi Flood
Bronwen Fry
Isobel Golden
Lynn Gorguze
Barbara Grassley*
Ramona Grijalva
Nicole Beus Harris
Becca Higgins
Mary Hodge
Sarah Hospodor-Pallone*
Susan Huffman
Marisa Jackson
Mereda Davis Johnson
Tevis Keating
Roberta Kustoff
Jill LaMalfa
Bill Lewis
Margaret Lynch
Brianna Mast
Linda McCaul
Simone-Marie Meeks
Emily Miller
Leah Moskowitz
Marion Munley
Andrea Neguse
Leighton Oshima
Paul Pelosi
Katie Posey
Esther Reynoso, M.D.
Monica Ruiz*
Rebecca Ryan
Eve Schiff
Alfredia Scott*
Karen Sessions
Sara R. Smith
Nicole Stanton
John Sundahl
Louis Torres
Katherine Van Hollen
Ray Wagner
Margaret Cheney Welch
Gayle Wicker
Steve Williamson
Steve Wrinn
Leslie Alford
Roxanne Babin
Amanda Banks
Janine Bera, M.D.
Vivian Bishop
Tracy Bost
Fianny Cabrera
Norma Cardenas
Amy Carter
Dianne Cleaver
T.J. Comer
Kris Cramer
Imelda Cuellar
Amy DesJarlais
Rodney Dowell
Suzette Ezell
Brenda M. Fleischmann*
Philip Frank
Sydney Barron Gallego
Lorena Saenz Gonzalez*
Maude Gosar
Carissa Graves
Pam Harder
Matt Harrison
Martha Hill*
Mikey Hoeven*
Bart Houlahan
Emily Hunt
Elizabeth James
Tiia Karlén
Jennifer Kildee
Wayne Kye, D.D.S., M.S.*
Marcia Sloan Latta, Ed.D.*
Betty Lieu, Esq.
Gayle C. Manchin
Rep. Doris Matsui
Corlie McCormick
Tiffany Mfume
Heather Moore
Liz Moulton
Wendy Murphy
Caroline Nickel
Carrie McIntyre Panetta
Colleen Ochoa Peters*
Fred Radewagen
Cynthia Rogers
Patricia Rutherford
Roger Sant
Julie Dann Schneider
Vivien Scott
Lisa Sherman
Mary Sorteberg
Jodi Stauber
Janet Thompson
June Trone
Adrienne Vargas
Sue Walberg
Monica Wenstrup
Patty Williams
Roxanne Wilson
Sallyann Yakym
*Denotes Executive Council member
**Denotes ex-officio member
