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I've sent my letter to Casey. Please help by sending yours, Don has made it easy for you. Ray # 280 January 12, 2007 - A LETTER TO BOB CASEY It has begun. Remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon where the bull attacks Bugs and knocks him out of the arena? And as our urbane rabbit is flying through the air, he looks back and says: "I suppose you know, this means war." The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, as promised by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was brought forward in the House of Representatives in the first 100 hours of the 110th session-and we won. No cause to celebrate, however. We got 253 yes votes; we need 290 to overcome President Bush's expected veto. We will have to revisit the 174 "no" votes, and turn at least 37 around. It will be difficult. But it can be done. But first we have to get that veto proof win in the Senate. It will take 67 votes. Right now, we can count on 66. We need one more. and the person most folks consider able to go with us is Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. He is new, a conservative Pro-Life Democrat, and he is being hammered by the anti-research lobby. Remember, those We need to let him hear from us as well. Our single most useful tool is the persuasive letter, which can change the lives of millions, one reader at a time. We need them, lots of them-but today, we only need one. I would humbly request that you write to Senator Bob Casey: I suggest contacting him with the letter, sent to all three addresses, and (please) also a phone call to him. One way is sooooooo easy. The following url will take you to his website. http://capwiz.com/nfib/webreturn/?url=http://casey.senate.gov When you get there, go to CONTACT, and use the handy-dandy email form. It makes life very easy. That's one. Then, please send the same letter, snailmail, (fax is fine) to the following addresses: Washington D.C. Office B-40 Dirksen Senate Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-6324 Fax: 202-228-0604 Harrisburg Office 555 Walnut Street, First Floor Harrisburg, PA 17101 Phone: 717-231-7540 Feel free to write (or call) even if you are out of state. The Senate is not a local matter; it is for America, not just the home state. Every letter or email you write should have a format something like this: Your name Address City, state, zip PHONE NUMBER (always include this, if you don't they often will not read it) Re: Support for Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act Dear Honorable Senator Bob Casey: Please vote "YES" on Senate bill 5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. Our family supports this bill because: (insert a brief paragraph on your personal involvement, i.e. you or your loved one has Parkinson's, spinal cord injury, etc.) THEN-YOUR KEY ARGUMENT-ONE PARAGRAPH We hope for your support. Thank you, Sincerely, Your Name Below are five possible KEY ARGUMENTS to build your letter around. (Or you could tie key sentences from each one into one paragraph-remember, a short letter will get read; a long one will be skipped over, or ignored altogether; I speak from years of experience in being enthusiastically ignored.) Supporting Senate Bill 5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, is the only true Pro-Life position. What could be more pro-life than protecting the lives of our loved ones? Senate bill 5 only allows research to be funded on stem cell lines made from blastocysts which would otherwise be thrown away. How much more appropriate to offer hope to men, women, and children at risk? Family rights demand a yes vote on S 5. No bureaucrat should be able to block research which could lead to a cure for our loved ones. Our families deserve access to the best medicines and therapies science can provide. Suffering people take precedence over a dot of living tissue smaller than the period on the end of this sentence. Imagine the daily agony a paralyzed person goes through, the pain a family feels watching their loved one slipping irrevocably into Alzheimer's, or dying of cancer-we must not lose this opportunity to ease suffering and save lives. Health care costs are climbing beyond the family's ability to pay. Why? According to the Dept. of Health and Human Services, ".people with chronic diseases account for more than 75% of the nation's $1.4 trillion medical care costs." These are the diseases which cannot be cured-except perhaps by stem cell therapies. Embryonic stem cell research is supported by the American public, and by the experts as well. Not only do roughly 70% of our citizens support the research, as well as conservatives such as Nancy Reagan, George Shultz, Orrin Hatch, and the late President Gerald Ford, but virtually every major scientific, educational, and medical group which has taken a stand on the issue. A visit to the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (www.camradvocacy.org) brings up a list of 600 organizations which support the life-enhancing research. Remember, the only letter guaranteed to have no effect-is the one you do not send. By Don Reed, Californians for Cure www.stemcellbattles.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn