New Jersey State Sen. Anthony Bucco’s life journey has carried him past childhood cancer to the Statehouse, and now to the White House.
Having survived thyroid cancer diagnosed at age 8 – and still coping with the serious after-effects of early-generation radiation treatments – Bucco, 62, has studiously avoided playing the cancer sympathy card to win elections, first to the Assembly, and then to the Senate.
But after learning that most states – including New Jersey – committed little in the way of money to fund childhood cancer research, he decided to use his podium so a future generation “of kids and families don’t have to go through what I went through.”
In recent years, he’s engaged with several government and nonprofit groups focused on childhood cancer research, leading to an invitation to speak at a “Biden Cancer Moonshot” roundtable event on Sept. 20 at the White House.
Bucco, who serves as the Senate Republican Minority leader, did not hesitate to cross party lines to address a topic he knows all too well.