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Dear Friends: =20 With all due respect to Bob Chapman, his knowledge of the current state o= f affairs between the national organizations is not up to date. =20 There are a number of significant events that have occurred since 4/1/97 = of which Mike Claeys is aware of but are not ready for publication. Some o= f the changes require approval by the Directors of the respective organizations. These changes were precipitated by a significant contribut= ion to the NPF to expedite and further the process of the grass roots lobbyin= g efforts to pass the Udall Bills. Mike is aware of to the behind the scenes activity and is in a position = to make his statement that the organizations are cooperating more now than = in the past. I personally witnessed some of these efforts while in Washington in April with the grass roots lobbyists. I had occasion to sit opposite Mike Claeys and Larry Hoefheimer , attorn= ey for the NPF. This was the first time these two had met- let alone sit dow= n next to each other. I personally observed them suggesting ways to help e= ach other to pass the Bill . They futher agreed to share specific information= to accomplish that goal. There have been additional meetings to coordinate the unity of the Nation= al Organizations and several of the large regional organizations. I spent 10 business days lobbying in Washington and Mike was assigned as = my guide since I was a first time lobbyist. We called on 60-90 members of Congress during that time. I can assure you that Mike is not part of the problem. Having worked on the Hill for several years he has gained experience which was very valuable to me and to our organizations. His knowledge of the way things work and the people he knows is vital to PAN = as they direct our lobbying effort. Rather than being critical without full knowledge of what is transpiring = I would suggest all members of the list search their minds and consider tak= ing positive steps to help our cause, give support to our leaders and workers. All of us should ask ourselves what steps have we taken to advance Parkin= son Research? Find and implement some positive course of action to help get= the bill pass. Be A POSITIVE FORCE . Do something ! Now is the time to put forth your best effort. Why is it that those people who are quick to criticize are the least info= rmed and contribute little or no effort to the cause. Just once I would like a critic to put his credentials on the line so all can see what that individual has accomplished. We do not hear the person who raised $ 390,0= 00 in a signal year for PD research complaining, we do not hear the person organizing A Unity Walk in NY City raising over $ 60,000 last year complaining, we do not hear the organizer of a state lobbying committee t= o coordinate the grass roots lobbying effort in their state complaining, we= do not hear the Director of a major PD research facility who contributes of = his personal time to support the grass roots movement and presents PAN with a signficiant donation to further PAN=92s efforts complain, we do not hear= the lobbyists who has traveled to Washington at an expense of about $ 125.00 = per day to lobby complaining, we do not hear complaints from the organizers o= f individual states such as New Jersey or Mass or all the other states I a= m not aware of complaining and finally with all the criticism about what th= e Nationals are doing they at least are doing. Where were you critics when= PAN called for lobbyists to go to Washington. They were sitting on their hand= s because, we could not muster a force in Washington as large as the numb= er of states in this country. We had less than 35 people responding to the c= all. I recognize full well that many are contributing in their state but with = the small number of doers in relationship to the total PD population no one ,not a doer, in my opinion, has standing to criticize those that are exhausting them selves to get this bill pass. Do not suffer the fools. Dale Severance [log in to unmask]