Action Alert!
Let Your Elected Officials Know That Medical Research is Important to You!
The Scleroderma Foundation's advocacy team has watched with great interest over the past weeks as the United States Congress and the President's Administration have battled over issues pertaining to raising the nation's debt ceiling, managing the national debt, and establishing funding priorities.
The intense partisan debate over these issues has resulted in only a temporary fix to many complex issues that have huge implications for the overall health of the U.S. economy and possibly on the future of medical research funding in the United States.
Among other things, the current debt-ceiling agreement that was recently passed establishes a 12-member bipartisan, bicameral congressional committee charged with identifying $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction by November 23, 2011.
Because medical research funding is in jeopardy - including monies that are available for scleroderma-related research through the National Institutes of Health - we ask members of the Scleroderma Foundation let your elected officials know that medical research is important to you!
We know that members of the scleroderma community represent all sides of the political spectrum. But if we, as a community of concerned individuals, don't stand up for scleroderma research, who will?
The Time to Act is Now!
If you care about the future of scleroderma-related research and protecting its funding through the National Institutes of Health and other federal entities, we ask you to make your voices heard on the FY12 appropriations measures starting immediately. Contact your representative and two senators before Labor Day while they are in your district/state.
Scleroderma Foundation Priorities
- Provide overall funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at a level of $35 billion for FY12.
- Provide funding for core programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at a level of $7.7 billion for FY12.
If you do not know who your representative is, please go to http://www.house.gov and enter your zip code. Phone numbers for all congressional offices district offices are also listed.
Some tips for communicating with district congressional offices:
- Identify yourself as a constituent and ask to speak with the legislator's health legislative assistant who handles health care issues in the district/state.
- Tell the aide that you are a member of the Scleroderma Foundation.
- Ask that the legislator support the appropriations priorities as well as programs of importance for the Scleroderma Foundation in the FY12 Labor-Health and Human Services (L-HHS) bill (see list above) by communicating their importance to the L-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee.
- Briefly explain why these issues are important to you.
- Give the aide your contact information and ask to be informed about the actions the legislator takes in response to your request.
- Please meet with your congressional representatives while they are in-district/state and participate in local town hall meetings in support of funding for the Scleroderma Foundation's priorities.
- If there is a phone town hall meeting, please join in and ask how your member plans to protect the Scleroderma Foundation's priorities in the upcoming L-HHS spending bill.
Further NIH Advocacy
Here are additional resources on NIH funding you may wish to share with your Senators and Congressman:
If you have any questions, please contact the Scleroderma Foundation at (800) 722-HOPE (4673) or email sfinfo@scleroderma.org.
Thank you in advance for your efforts to safeguard research funding for scleroderma! |
