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# 137 Friday, April 28, 2006 - GOING TO WASHINGTON Tricia Brooks of the Christopher Reeve Foundation (to whom I owe at last count about two gazillion favors-she and Michael Manganiello are non-stop workers in the patient rights/stem cell research community) finally asked me to do something. "Huge rally, May 1-2, please come", is what it boiled down to-only it is on the East Coast, three thousand miles away. I tried to weasel out of it with the usual "our-hearts-are-with-you" balderdash, but Tricia wasn't having it. "This is important," she said. I finally figured a way out. I would credit card the airfare if-if-she could find me an activist with a spare couch for me to sleep on. Plainly this was the end of it. Organizers at Tricia Brooks's level do not have time to arrange accommodations. Whew, I thought, one less chore to worry about, plus if I had gone, that would have meant I had to miss at least one and maybe two ICOC subcommittee meetings. (May 1 and May 3). But why did Tricia have to mention Susan Sarandon was going to be there? Susan Sarandon, in person? Naturally, as a happily married man, (not to mention a terrified one) I am above such low carnal considerations as thinking about one of America's hardest-working human rights activists in physical terms. Far be it from me to have knees that quake when that sultry smoky voice says sensual things like the "A" section of the phone book, or those eyes, huge pools of unspecified individual promise, and a body that-that-- BULL DURHAM, don't think about that scene in the movie where she tells the young ball player how she is going to. encourage and inspire him-- or ATLANTIC CITY, especially not Atlantic City-- The telephone rang. For a frantic instant, I thought- I always answer my calls in the middle of the first ring, even if I have to leap across the dining room table to do so-just politeness. "Hello, hello?!!" "Hey, Don, it's Kris Gulden!" Kris Gulden is one of the quiet workers behind the scenes on which our progress depends. But when there is need to speak up in public, she has no qualms, testifying in clear people terms about what it is like to be paralyzed, and why it is just good sense to support research for cure. She is also, like Tricia, a favor-doer. Years ago, I needed an effective speaker to help out the Roman Reed Act before a crucial committee. Paying her own way, Kris Gulden flew cross-country to help, was there when the battle was fiercest, and then quietly went home. And I always remember one photographic instant, when Kris became part of the history of our cause. Orrin Hatch, conservatives' conservative, the most pro-life member of the United States Senate, had just publicly come out in support of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. His advocacy for us was on a level with Nancy Reagan's kindness and courage; it meant so much to us. Spontaneously, Orrin Hatch hugged Kris Gulden on the White House steps. That hug, between a conservative Senator who could stand, and a woman in her wheelchair who could not-- was a symbolic promise that politics would not stop research for cure. "Tricia Brooks just talked to me," she said. Which is why, 5:48 Monday morning, Kris Gulden will be picking me up at the airport, and why three hours later, I may be within 100 yards of Susan Sarandon. Susan, Tricia, Kris, John Smith and friends of the key organizing group United 2 Walk are putting together a dual-purpose rally and Congressional visitation. We will be talking about the Christopher Reeve Act, which has languished far too long in the wings of Congress, and the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, of which exactly the same is true. (Do you realize it has been almost exactly one year since the latter passed the House of Representatives? One year, waiting, one year-time the Senate acted-no more promises, we want action!) We will visit Senators and Representatives. And then my advocate friend Kris Gulden will inconvenience herself yet again, and drive me to the airport. I will fly back to the Bay Area, and the continuation of the fight against SB 401. The Appropriations Committee meets on Wednesdays, and while it has not been posted yet, I suspect SB 401 will be rushed to that day, May 3. If so, naturally I have to be there, which means I will miss an ICOC standards working group meeting in San Diego, which I hate to do, with things getting so exciting now. Remember, if you have not yet sent your letter to Assemblymember Judy Chu, chair of the Appropriations Committee-it's not too late. CLICK HERE FOR ADDRESS. Today is Friday. You can still fax and email the message today, and over the weekend, even Monday or Tuesday-- but if you don't send it today, chances are, the swirl of life will sweep you away to the various personal emergencies-and you may forget. Maybe, do it right away? It would be such a help. FLASH! Nancy Reagan sends a personal message of support for Prop 71 and the recent crushing decision against the trash-talk lawsuits against us. "I am delighted with the decision to uphold Proposition 71. I am hopeful now that we can move ahead with this important work that means so much to so many." -- Nancy Reagan, April 24, 2006 DOUBLE FLASH! Los Angeles Times, the most important paper in the state, came out strongly against Senate Bill 401 (Ortiz/Runner)! The editorial, "Let Science begin", comments about the spurious lawsuits, and then. (SB 401) ".another effort to rein in the stem cell agency's work, in the Legislature, should be rejected as well. Senate Bill 401 would put on the ballot a measure to set up various rigid and picayune regulations on the institute. The agency's board already has adopted key elements of these proposed regulations. But by carving the rules into stone now, the measure would take away any flexibility the board might need as this fledgling research unfolds. The bill's author, state Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) has been one of those forces pushing the agency in the right direction, but her measure is at best premature. the agency is on the right track. It should be given the chance to work out its rules and begin its important research before the Legislature starts micromanaging every aspect of its work."-Los Angeles Times, April 27, 2006 YAYYYY! Thank you, Los Angeles Times! I mean, share this important information with your friends. By Don Reed, www.stemcellbattles.com Submit Questions or Comments ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn