I just wanted to echo Greg's plea for help for helping yourself and add
an idea that has worked very well for my husband, Joe and me.

Take it one step further. The numbers multiply quickly when you take the
time to email or call others to email and call others.

When checking out the list, even if you don't see your senator listed
below, note if you have FAMILY or FRIENDS who live in one of the states
listed. They don't have to know everything about the program.  Just ask
them (and their family and friends) to call or email this simple
statement:

As a continutent of Senator _____ I want to go on record as stongly
being in favor of $50 milllion in funding for the Department of Defense
Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research Program (NETRP.)

Advocacy works!!!

Nina

-----Original Message-----
From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Greg Wasson
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 3:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Support Needed for Army Neurotoxin Program - $50 mil in the
Balance


Fellow PWP's,
The Parkinson's Action Network (PAN) needs your help. Funding for the
Army's Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research Program (NETRP) will soon
be considered by the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. 50
million in targeted research into the causes and treatment of
Parkinson's, and its connection to environmental neurotoxins, is at
stake. PAN's Washington staff has been meeting every day with key
members of the House and Senate defense appropriations subcommittees to
secure their support for the NETRP. But those meetings may come to
nothing unless they also hear the clearly expressed support of the
Parkinson's community as a whole. We can show that support with our
phone calls, e-mails and faxes to Senators who are committee members
(Members listed below). As a constituent of a listed Senator, you have a
right to ask that he or she take the time to listen to you and consider
your opinion. If enough constituents send the same message demanding
support for this vital program, Congress will listen. A mere 300 phone
calls to a US Senator on a particular issue is widely accepted as the
threshold amount to get their attention. If you see your Senator's name
in the list below, pick up the phone, send a fax or e-mail, and let your
Senator know that you are watching, that you vote, and that you are
asking for their support. All members of the Senate Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee are listed below with the phone number of
the Caitol Switchboard. Once you reach the switchboard, ask to be
transfered the office of your Senator. Please go to the Homepage of the
Parkinson's Action Network (www.parkinsonsaction.org) where an
explanation of the Program and talking points are provided for your
convenience. As a PAN National Field Representative, I have seen PAN
help to raise awareness about the benefits provided by funds for this
program. Now we will be testing the collective power of our community to
make Congress listen to us. The question is whether we have the will and
the inclination to spend a few minutes looking at the program and then
expressing our support for it to Senators who are members of the
committee. I think we do, and I urge you to join with thousands of other
PWP's in seeing that this vital program is fully funded. I cannot
overstate the importance of seeing that this program is fully funded in
a year which will see cuts in almost every program associated with
neurological research. Just yesterday the House Labor Health and Human
Services subcommittee voted appropriations for NIH which failed to
increase the NIH budget even one dollar over the President's proposed 2%
increase. Last year that increase was almost 15% and the NIH budget
doubled over the last five years. The likelihood that similar increases
in the NIH budget will be repeated anytime soon is very slim. The NETRP
may offer the one opportunity this year to commit substantial funds to
Parkinson's research. Let's not sit back and watch $50 million in
focused research disappear into the air. Pick up the phone. Please.
Thanks THE INDIVIDUAL OFFICES OF ALL MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE CAN
BE REACHED BY CALLING THE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD - (202) 224-3121 - AND
ASKING TO BE TRANSFERED TO THE OFFICE OF THE PARTICLULAR MEMBER Members
of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee: Senator Ted Stevens
(Chairman) (AK) Senator Thad Cochran (MI) Senator Arlen Specter (PA)
Senator Pete Domenici (NM) Senator Christopher Bond (MO) Senator Mitch
McConnell (KY) Senator Richard Shelby (AL) Senator Judd Gregg (NH)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) Senator Conrad Burns (MT) Senator
Daniel Inouye (Ranking Member) (HI) Senator Ernest Hollings (SC) Senator
Robert C. Byrd (WV) Senator Patrick Leahy (VT) Senator Tom Harkin (IA)
Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) Senator Richard Durbin (IL) Senator Harry Reid
(NV) Senator Diane Feinstein (CA)




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