A long time ago I visited my grandfather, who was bedridden and dying of bone cancer.

I was unable to touch him or even hold his hand, because the slightest pressure on his body made him scream in pain. He was a big, strong man, but cancer had reduced him to skin and bones. After my grandfather died, an autopsy revealed that every bone in his body was broken. I served as one of six pallbearers, but two people could have easily carried his practically weightless coffin.

Last summer my mother was recovering from her latest bout with breast cancer, a horrible disease she has been fighting for almost three years. One evening we poured over her hospital bills, trying to resolve some discrepancies with the charges. I had never seen my mother's medical bills before and I had never realized how much it costs to be a victim of cancer. I was astonished at the financial costs of cancer.

Since cancer is basically incurable, research to find effective treatments is the main line of defense against the disease. Congress directs about $2 billion every year for cancer research, prevention and control. Despite all the billions of dollars, cancer continues to rage out of control.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, claiming about 500,000 lives annually. Heart disease is the number one killer, with about 735,000 Americans dying each year. Mortality from heart disease, however, is steadily declining and cancer will soon become the leading cause of death.

Cancer research deserves much more national funding than it presently receives. Congress should be devoting more resources to cancer research, but the well only runs so deep. Funds are limited, our debt is enormous and our "kinder and gentler" nation is presently spending many of our precious dollars to fuel the war machine in the Persian Gulf.

The administration's supposed effort to liberate Kuwait is wasting money that could be used for cancer research. A confusion of priorities seems to exist among some of our nation's leaders.

President Bush has repeatedly stated his concern for protecting the lives of our soldiers in the Persian Gulf. More Americans will die of cancer this year than in any confrontation with Iraq, yet our government is taking no extraordinary measures to ensure the health of our citizens at home. How can we justify engaging in hostilities abroad when a war with a true moral purpose exists in the fight against cancer?

The government demands so much of our income but fails to appropriate enough money to defeat our deadliest health threat. The National Cancer Institute wants to reduce cancer mortality by 50 percent before the year 2000. A noble and inspiring goal, but only a pipe dream unless Congress directs more money towards cancer research. Federal funding for research is invaluable, but present levels are simply inadequate to realistically combat the disease.

Private industry has a mixed record on funding cancer research. Tobacco companies reside at the lowest extreme, spending millions of dollars to advertise their lethal products and propagate death by lung, mouth and throat cancer. At the other extreme is Armand Hammer, the late chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Hammer founded the Stop Cancer campaign, which has a goal of raising $500 million for cancer research.

We will have to rely increasingly on efforts like the Stop Cancer campaign and the IFC Dance Marathon to raise money for cancer research. Private and public fund-raisers are becoming more effective each year, but without additional help from Congress cancer will continue to kill and destroy.

The financial costs of cancer are astounding, but the physical and emotional costs are incalculable.

My mother first developed breast cancer during the spring of my freshman year at Penn State. I heard the bad news just before final exams, so I was unable to be with my mother when she needed me. I knew she was suffering considerably, but I couldn't fathom just how much.

When I finally saw her, I was amazed at the incredible toll cancer had so quickly exacted. The pain and torment the disease was inflicting on my mother clouded any thoughts I might have had about the benefits of cancer research. Now I realize that cancer research has probably saved my mother's life.

Successful research can mean the difference between life and death for the more than one million Americans who will develop cancer this year. Money for cancer research is the only way to make progress against the disease, so Congress must increase funding for research programs.

We must get the message across to our representatives in Congress that we want an increased emphasis placed on our greatest health threat. Letters and protests can be effective, but the power of our votes is the strongest voice.

Defeating the nation's number one killer should be our top priority. An end to cancer will mean less pain and anguish for everyone.