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After personal contact with both George and Barbara Vucanovich (R-NV) we received a letter from Barbara with the following excerpt; "I have been reviewing the merits and cost of H.R. 1462 for some time. While not specifically mentioned, the bill could be used to support the use of fetal tissue for research. Although some people support the use of fetal tissue for research and do not take a stand on abortion as such, personally, I cannot separate the two issues. As you know, I believe that abortion is morally wrong and have consistently supported a "pro- life" position because of my deep personal convictions the abortion is, in fact, the taking of a life. For this reason, I simply can not support measures which allow fetal tissue research or encourage the use of drugs which abort a fetus." Barbara goes on to state that $682.5 million was passed for FY96 for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and that the legislation greatly encouraged NINDS to make PD a very high research priority. She also mentions that a request is in the FY97 budget for $99 million to the National Institutes of Health to emphasize research of the biology of brain disorders. Barbara is a personal friend of "Mo" and visits him often in the Nursing Home, so she is certainly aware of the gravity of our disease. I, along with many of you, do not understand why fetal tissue research is, auto- matically, equated with abortion by choice or abortion as a means of birth control. There must be hundreds of thousands of "spontaneous" abortions which would yield tissue for research without compromising anyones priciples. However unfortunate, once this mindset has occurred, there is very little that can change a persons opinion. Her staff mailed a great deal of information regarding PD and the research on pallidotomy at Emory University and experimental drug studies at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. When have had time to digest all the fine print will post anything new to me in case it is new to the list. Sorry the news was not good on Rep. Vucanovich but we also had a letter from Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) with word that he is a cosponsor of the Senate bill. Have not yet had an answer from Sen. Richard Bryan. Sincerely, Bill & Bobbie Cotter ([log in to unmask]) Reno, NV (702) 857-3834