apologies to all for outdated info...
I did mention that I was a FORMER congressional staffer, didn't I ?!?!?!

;-)


[log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> Date:   Friday, July 10, 1998 3:27:54 PM
> From:   [log in to unmask]
> Please direct any questions or comments to Michael Claeys,
> PAN's Community Outreach Coordinator at (800) 850-4726
>
> I would like to thank Leslie Lillard Walden for her sound advice on
> communicating with Congressional offices.  Her experience will
certainly
> be an asset as the Parkinson's community's campaign to fully fund the
> Udall Act moves progresses.
>
> To avoid readers' confusion, however, I want to correct some of the
out
> of date or inaccurate information contained in her post.
>
> First and most importantly, the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Research
Act
> of 1997 has already passed the House and Senate and been signed into
law
> by President Clinton -- signed on November 13, 1997 -- as part of the
> fiscal year 1998 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and
Related
> Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations Act.  The Udall Act authorizing
the
> NIH to direct up to $100 million in research focused on Parkinson's
> disease in fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may be necessary for
> fiscal years 1999 and 2000 is now the law of the land.  Our challenge
> now is to ensure that this authorized funding get appropriated at the
> highest amount possible.
>
> This appropriated funding will come about through specific language
> included in the fiscal year 1999 Labor/HHS Appropriations Act.  This
> massive bill will contain language setting the funding levels for all
> research conducted through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as
> well as funding and directions for the entire Departments of Health
and
> Human Services, Labor, Education and other government agencies.
>
> The House and Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittees are each
> currently crafting their own versions of the fiscal year 1999
Labor/HHS
> bills.  Each version will move from the Labor/HHS Appropriations
> subcommittee to the full Appropriations committee in their respective
> body (House and Senate).  (This step has already occurred in the
> House.)  Later in the year, the full House and Senate will pass their
> own respective version of the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill for fiscal
> year 1999.
>
> The two versions of the Labor/HHS bill will likely contain slightly
> different language regarding Parkinson's disease research funding - as
> well as lots of other differences (some of them major) in both
> descriptions and funding levels for various programs.  All these
> differences will be worked out by a "Conference Committee" comprised
of
> the members of both the House and Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations
> Subcommittees - these are the 29 highest priority Members of Congress
> our grassroots and professional activists have spent so much time
> targeting this year.  The Conference Committee will produce one final
> version of the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill for fiscal year 1999, and
> that version must be passed - without amendment -- by both the House
and
> Senate and then signed by the President.  If any of these steps is not
> accomplished, the bill is sent back for further consideration and
> adjustment until a mutually acceptable version is agreed upon.  As
this
> is an election year, it is highly unlikely that the Congress will
> adjourn without passing some version of a Labor/HHS bill for 1999.
>
> At the present time neither the House or Senate versions of the
> Labor/HHS Appropriations bill has been assigned a bill number.  At
some
> point in the near future, bill numbers will be assigned and
Parkinson's
> activists will be notified.  The bill numbers "S. 535" and "H.R. 1260"
> were for the freestanding Udall bill as introduced in 1997, and have
no
> relevance to this year's campaign.  In fact, bill numbering begins
from
> scratch each legislative session (each year) and the numbers S. 535
and
> H.R. 1260 have likely been assigned to new bills.
>
> Since the Udall Act has already passed, there is no need to get
> cosponsors.  Furthermore, cosponsors are typically not gathered for
> appropriations bills.
>
> One other technical correction:  As the description above indicate,
both
> the House and Senate have jurisdiction and committees organized to
both
> authorize and appropriate new spending.  Authorization and
> appropriations bill can be initiated in either body, but must
ultimately
> be approved by both before proceeding to the President's desk..
>
> A final note about the House and Senate calendars.  The Senate is
> currently in session and will remain so through July 31.  They are
> scheduled to recess from August 1 through August 30.  The House is
> currently in recess and is scheduled to return on July 14.  They will
> remain in session through August 9, before recessing until September
9.
> Both bodies are scheduled to adjourn for the year on October 9.  All
of
> these dates are subject to change.
>
> The Parkinson's Action Network will soon distribute more information
> concerning advocacy activities during the upcoming congressional
> recesses.
> Please direct any questions or comments to Michael Claeys,
> PAN's Community Outreach Coordinator at (800) 850-4726
>

==
Leslie Lillard Walden  ([log in to unmask])





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