英语文摘:White House proposes 1 bln USD for cancer "moonshot"

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The White House said Monday it will propose to invest 1 billion U.S. dollars over the next two years to support what President Barack Obama called a "cancer moonshot" to fight the dreaded disease.

Obama will ask Congress for 755 million dollars in his fiscal year 2017 budget to speed up cancer research and will try to spend 195 million dollars this year, the White House said.

"We're calling it a 'Moonshot,' and that's because I believe that this effort, like President Kennedy's call to land on the moon 55 years ago, is truly a call to humankind -- to be bold and do big things," said Vice President Joe Biden, who is in charge of the initiative.

"In fact, just today we announced a new 1 billion dollar jumpstart to make sure some of the best work going on has the funding that it needs," he said in a statement.

Obama first announced the efforts to find a cure for cancer last month during his State of the Union address. Last week, he signed a presidential memorandum establishing a "cancer moonshot" task force, which included top officials from 13 government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health.

The White House said the "cancer moonshot" will help double the rate of progress in the country's fight against cancer, with the goal of achieving in just five years research and treatment gains that otherwise might take a decade or more.

Biden, whose son died of brain cancer last May, was expected to chair the first "cancer moonshot" task force meeting later Monday at the White House.