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The following is an excerpt from the Parkinson's Action Network October Action Reporter - an Advocacy Report for the Parkinson's Community Senators Hear Urgent Voices for Medical Research On Thursday, September 26, just hours before the Senate would pass the NIH revitalization bill, Senators Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR) and William Cohen (R-ME) co-chaired a hearing to hight light the growing need and tremendous potential for biomedical research. Testifying were Gulf War hero General Norman Schwarzkopf, US Army (Ret.), who has recently recovered from prostate cancer, Baseball Hall-of-Famer Rod Carew, whose 18 year old daughter died of Leukemia, and Network President and Parkinson's sufferer, Joan I. Samuelson. Sponsored jointly by Hatfield's Appropriations Committee and Cohen's Special Committee on Aging, the hearing set out to examine the dramatic savings that can be achieved, both in human and health care costs, by greater investment in medical research. Also on the panel were Travis Roy, a 21 year old quadriplegic, who broke his neck during a collegiate hockey game, and medical student Zenia Kim, who plans a career in scientific research. Each panelist told a poignant personal story highlighting a specific area of need, but all underscored the importance of increased funding for biomedical research. In a striking departure from a typical congressional hearing, the personal and often deeply emotional remarks of the Senators in attendance proved as compelling as the testimony of the panelists. With solemn and often halting voices Senators David Pryor (D-AR), Connie Mack (R-FL), Conrad Burns (R-MT), Harry Reid (D-NV), Robert Bennett (R-UT) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) each told of a family member's struggle with serious disease and how research had helped save lives. Senators and witnesses also testified as to the tremendous cost savings derived from medical research. Chairman Hatfield noted that every $1 invested in research we recoup $13 in savings. Discovery of more effective treatments for life threatening diseases could save untold billions and reduce the burden on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security Disability programs, panelists described. Scientific research could be the vital element in continuing to reduce the budget deficit while keeping pace with the medical needs of an aging baby boom generation. "Human lives are being lost and vast resources squandered," Samuelson testified, "because a federal spending policy is choosing to spend billions helping Americans waste away rather than investing in a realistic research agenda for a cure." Samuelson pointed to the dramatic research funding disparity, in which only 28 dollars are spent per Parkinson's patient for research, while the disorder costs billions. After detailing examples of loss of jobs and function from Parkinson's disability, and describing her own deteriorating condition, she closed by saying, "This is a travesty. We can't afford not to save us. It's the very best federal policy to invest in curing us, not just caring for us." Parkinson's Action Network 800-850-4726 Headquarters: 818 College Ave., Suite C Santa Rosa, CA 95404 phone 707-544-1994 fax 707-544-2363 email: [log in to unmask] Washington, DC office 601 13th St. NW., Suite 310 Washington, DC 20005 phone 202-628-2079 fax 202-628-2077 Brad Udall, Chair Joan I. Samuelson, President John L. Dodge, Treasurer Bonnie K. Mioduchoski, Administrator Michael Claeys, Community Coordinator The Action Reporter is a free publication of the Parkinson's Action Network, a non-profit charitable foundation for a cure for Parkinson's. Use of this material in other publications is welcomed. We ask that the Network be identified as the source of the material, and notified how, when and where the material is used. Simply call 800-850-4726