Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joins with Pierce Brosnan to launch the One Degree campaign, urges Congress to step up cancer funding

Piece Brosnan & Deborah Morales
The Washington Post

Celeb: Actor Pierce Brosnan, most famous for his turn as the suave, martini-swilling supersleuth James Bond, took to Capitol Hill looking every inch the dapper 007: tan and fit in a blue shirt and tie and dark suit.

Cause: He was helping launch the One Degree campaign, an effort by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Stand Up To Cancer to enlist the public in urging Congress to boost funding to the National Institutes of Health for research. Brosnan’s first wife, Cassie, and daughter, Charlotte, both died of ovarian cancer.

imrsScene: A breakfast at the Cannon House Office building’s ornate Caucus Room, which was packed with pastries, coffee, dozens of volunteers, a handful of members of Congress — along with fellow celeb advocates retired NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and “Desperate Housewives” actress Marcia Cross.

Soundbite: Brosnan was effusive in his ode to the Hill, telling us that his son Dylan’s internship last summer in the office of Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) “changed his life considerably.” The now-18-year-old aspiring filmmaker (and sometimes model) “really came to know his own country and to be a citizen who is aware and concerned,” Brosnan said of his son’s experience.

As for the cause that brought him to Washington, he was somber. “We’re at a point that is absolutely critical,” he said. “Funding is being cut, and if not now, when are we going to come together to help save lives?”

Read More at The Washington Post

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