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RTK.NET Mail 175484 Jul 23 15:22:06 1996 Greetings to all. This is mostly a copy of an update I've sent to a friend, so I apologize if some is repetitive. This week Carol Walton, Terrie Whitling , Michael Claeys, Joan Samuelson, Jim and Deborah Cordy, Margaret Monty, Perry Cohen, Linda Herman, and myself (perhaps with a few others as well) are doing more lobbying visits. Mary Yost scheduled the appointments for many of us, and thanks to her great efforts, this smaller than usual band will still be visiting a large number of offices. Carol and Terrie in particular are burning through the halls. When my partner for the day, Mike Claeys, and I met them for lunch on Monday, they had already visited 15 offices. Your calls and post cards are making an impact. This would be a good week to send out another set, especially to your own representatives, Daschle and Lott , and Bliley and Bilirakis. Thanks for all that everyone is doing. **************************************************************************** The Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee voted unanimously last week to add an ammendment very similar to the Udall bill to the NIH Revitalization Act that they introduced last week. We expect this act to go before the full Senate in September, but we are urging Lott and Daschle to schedule it sooner. The ammendment is more streamlined and does not specify some of the other programs from the original, and the total amount is $80 million rather than $100. We definitely consider this a major victory. We now have 54 cosponsoring Senators, with Connie Mack and Pete Domenici being some powerful new additions. So now we are focused on the House. A small group of us are lobbying heavily this week. The problem is that the House is not expecting to deal with REauthorizating legislation for NIH this year, so we need to find another vehicle or get the Commerce Committee to introduce the bill. We have a majority of cosponsors on Commerce too, but both Bliley and Bilirakis are still opposed to the bill and won't make time for it or help push it through. We're trying to up the pressure by getting a majority cosponsorship (we're at 207 and need 218), calling on key leaders, and strengthening our presence. Oh, the other _really_ big event was that Mohammed Ali lit the Olympic torch at the opening ceremonies. His Parkinson's symptoms were evident, in fact, there was a pause as he waited for his hand to stop shaking enough for him to actually light the flame and his posture was very stooped. The TV commentator announced that this was due to Parkinson's, and it's made a very big impact. He'll be doing some Hill visits re: the need for Parkinson's research, but we don't know exactly what he'll be talking about and whether he'll be pushing for the Udall bill. Hope this brings you up to date. We still have obstacles but are once again exceeding everyone's expectations. There's a lot to be excited and hopeful about. Sherri [log in to unmask]