Bushes praise breast cancer survivors before Race for the Cure.(The Dallas Morning News)

WASHINGTON _ Breast cancer survivors dressed in pink filled the White House East Room Friday for a pep rally in the war against cancer.

"This sea of pink stirs mixed emotions,"' first lady Laura Bush said, looking over a crowd of several hundred women wearing pink T-shirts for the national Race for the Cure on Saturday.

"I feel a twinge of sadness because of what this color has come to represent _ lives lost and lives changed because of cancer," she said. "But I also feel joy and pride because every speck of pink represents a victory and a hope for the future."

Both Mrs. Bush and her husband, the president, praised the efforts of Nancy Brinker, who founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Dallas and is Mr. Bush's choice to be the ambassador to Hungary.

"America is grateful," Mr. Bush said, saluting Brinker and others involved in the race to "save lives."

He praised cancer survivors for their courage, their character and their "grit and grace."

"You've endured, and many of you are still undergoing, one of life's toughest and most terrifying struggles," he said. "Through your fight against cancer, you have become witnesses to the power of hope."