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From: Michael Claeys Organization: Parkinson's Action Network Subject: 1 Vote down, 1 To Go Today the Senate approved the Wellstone/McCain Amendment 95-3, thereby adding the Udall bill to the Senate's FY98 Labor/HHHS Appropriations bill. This is a great victory for the Parkinson's community, and as was repeatedly mentioned during floor consideration, is due in large part to the tremendous grassroots advocacy campaign waged by Parkinson's activists. Everyone who participated in this successful campaign -- from sending postcards and making phone calls, to directly lobbying Senators and Representatives -- shares in the satisfaction of a job well done. Unfortunately, our job in the Senate is not yet finished. Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) has introduced an amendment prohibiting the use of any of the funds allocated by the Udall language from being used for any research or therapy involving the use of human fetal tissue. Due to the contentious nature of Senator Coats' amendment, the balance of the debate and the final vote on the measure has been postponed until the morning of Thursday, September 4. In order to preserve the victory acheived with today's overwhelming passage of the Wellstone/McCain amendment IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE COATS AMENDMENT BE DEFEATED! Please call your Senators first thing Thursday morning and urge them to vote against the Coats Amendment. While research involving human fetal tissue is a small percentage of the entire Parkinson's research agenda, it is a very important piece of the overall picture. In addition to transplantation -- currently the only therapy CONCLUSIVELY SHOWN TO HALT THE PROGRESSION OF PARKINSON'S AND IMPROVE PATIENTS' CONDITIONS -- fetal tissue is also instumental in the development of reliable, sustainable alternate cell sources, e.g. progenitor or replicated human cells, and fetal pig cells. Furthermore, the Coats amendment is not the proper vehicle for those who have moral concerns with fetal tissue research. Logically, moral opposition should not discriminate among research benefitting particular diseases. However, the Coats amendment applies only to Parkinson's research and is silent on current federally funded research benefitting a wide variety of diseases. Finally, anyone truly interested in seeing the well deserved increase in Parkinson's research funding cannot possibly support the Coats ban, as it will surely invoke a Presidential veto. A fetal tissue ban, especially one limited to Parkinson's, is a poison pill, and will not be ratified by the President who on his second day in office signed an Executive Order lifting a similar ban, and while doing so uttered the words, "This is for you, Mo" (Udall). The Parkinson's Action Network urges every member of the Parkinson's community to work a little more to ensure that all of our community's previous efforts will not be in vain. Please contact your Senators and encourage them to speak out on the Senate floor against the Coats amendment, to vote against the Coats amendment and to persuade their colleagues to do the same. For any additional information please call PAN at (800)850-4726. Margaret Tuchman (55yrs, Dx 1980)- NJ-08540 [log in to unmask]