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Hi all, My fellow advocate, Bill, asked me to post these two approaches/letters to legislators while there is a little time to be heard before Super Tues. Please read and respond and/or take action. Each of us thank you. Charlotte ----------------- From: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] SUBJECT: Parkinson's Disease Cure Do you want a Parkinson's Disease Cure? If you answer yes, one very important step is to get government support. This is a U.S. election year and it is an excellent time for us to ask our elected officials to take a stand on medical research and especially their support for curing Parkinson's Disease. There are issues that their support can have a major positive impact on curing PD such as stem cell research, funding the Udall bill, and NIH allocations to PD research. Many representatives will only respond to their constituents. National Organizations can not do this for us. Each of us needs to take action ourselves. The process is simple, 1. find your congressional representatives email address - URL … http://www.house.gov/writerep/ 2. find your senator's email address - URL … http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm 3. if on AOL, reference the government races (this will include candidates also) by accessing the URL - http://election2000.aol.com/ 4. copy the following message (you have a choice of two formats - Option #1 and #2) and email it your Senators, Congressional Representatives, and candidates, if you know them. If you use option #2 you will need to substitute the comments with your personal information and story. For either option, you might need to enter your name, address, and email address -- this way they see that you are one of their constituents. If you get a reply, send it to us and we will consolidate and create a report noting the degree of support we have for PD. Do not assume that someone else will do it. Maybe they are counting on you. It is better for our representatives to get multiple emails than none at all. By being silent we are saying to everybody that we accept having PD and do not care about a cure. Show that you care. Be visible. Take action. Make it happen. [log in to unmask] (Bill) (not receiving email on Listserver) OPTION #1 - ADDRESS TOPICS / SUBJECT / QUESTION (this is the way some web sites are set up to receive questions) TOPIC: Health SUBJECT: Funding medical research/especially for Parkinson's disease. QUESTIONS: What is your position on increasing funding for medical /biotech research? Do you support stem cell research? Do you support the full funding of the Udall bill? If you have not already done so, do you plan to join any of the Biomedical / Parkinson's working groups? If yes, which ones? if not, why not? Do you consider yourself a Parkinson's disease advocate / supporter? BACKGROUND: There is significant public support for increasing Federal funding on medical research that will lead to cures for many fatal and disabling diseases. There is the belief that we need to accelerate funding for many health issues, especially those that we do not know how to prevent. We're making great progress in neurological diseases such as Parkinson's. Experts say that Parkinson's Disease is the most curable of the neuro-degenerative diseases. A cure for Parkinson's should move us closer to curing Alzheimer's Disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), Huntington's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and help others such as depression and epilepsy. With proper funding we will find a cure for Parkinson's disease in a very short amount of time. The cure could be a win for approximately 1.5 million Americans and many more worldwide. According to a leading neurologist an estimated $20-$40 million per year to fund the 100 most effective preclinical and basic research programs will produce new treatments in two to three years and an effective therapy or cure for Parkinson's disease within five years. The economics are simple. Parkinson's costs America an estimated $25 billion per year in health related expenses and the costs are rising. We can eliminate that expense through a relatively small investment. This generates an excellent return on investment for our society and an effective use of tax dollars. It is a win for all. OPTION #2 - LETTER APPROACH WITH RECOMMENDATION SUBJECT: Funding medical research / especially for Parkinson's disease. I am writing you to let you know of my support for medical research. I am especially supportive of Parkinson's Disease research. I would like to let you know something about myself and my situation, give you some background on Parkinson's, and then ask you where you stand on this issue. << INSERT YOUR PERSONAL STORY HERE - MAKE YOURSELF SEEM LIKE A REAL PERSON WITH DREAMS FOR THE FUTURE - NOT JUST A STATISTIC>> BACKGROUND: There is significant public support for increasing Federal funding on medical research that will lead to cures for many fatal and disabling diseases. There is the belief that we need to accelerate funding for many health issues, especially those that we do not know how to prevent. We're making great progress in neurological diseases such as Parkinson's. Experts say that Parkinson's Disease is the most curable of the neuro-degenerative diseases. A cure for Parkinson's should move us closer to curing Alzheimer's Disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), Huntington's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and help others such as depression and epilepsy. With proper funding we will find a cure for Parkinson's disease in a very short amount of time. The cure could be a win for approximately 1.5 million Americans and many more worldwide. According to a leading neurologist an estimated $20-$40 million per year to fund the 100 most effective preclinical and basic research programs will produce new treatments in two to three years and an effective therapy or cure for Parkinson's disease within five years. The economics are simple. Parkinson's costs America an estimated $25 billion per year in health related expenses and the costs are rising. We can eliminate that expense through a relatively small investment. This generates an excellent return on investment for our society and an effective use of tax dollars. I believe that it is a win for all. I hope you will join Senators Cochran, Harkin, Specter, Wellstone; Representatives Evans, Maloney, Upton; and others in this fight against Parkinson's Disease. THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE FOR YOU ARE: What is your position on increasing funding for medical /biotech research? Do you support stem cell research? Do you support the full funding of the Udall bill? If you have not already done so, do you plan to join any of the Biomedical / Parkinson's working groups? If yes, which ones? if not, why not? Do you consider yourself a Parkinson's disease advocate / supporter? Thanks for reading my letter. Looking forward to your response. Best Regards, (your name) (your address)