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Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 22:51:00 +0000
From: Elliott Haynes <[log in to unmask]>
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To: Parkinson's Information Exchange <[log in to unmask]>
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Subject: Re: Udall Victory, Part 2
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Very appropriately I was listening to "Dancin' in the Rain" at 2:26
this AM when I came to the last of some forty unread messages on my
Parkie Internet service -- Larry Hoffheimer's triumphant cry that the
Udall Bill was finally to become the law of the land in a matter of
weeks!
I say appropriately, because there is pure joy in the way clarinet
virtuouso Richard Stoltzman renders that song , which in itself
expresses unbounded happines with the gift of life. It's fortunate I
was using earphones,
because I turned up the volume and metaphorically danced a jig of
delight at this news! I thought of all the wonderful people who labored
hard and long to make this moment possible. Of Joan Samuelson, whose
determination to lick her ailment had led to the creation of a Bill
promising a cure in ten years
at most and possibly within three. Of Parkie activists such as
Charlie Richards, Janice Clements, and Jim Cordy who were galvanized by
her vision and enabled to focus their cunsiderable energies on a common
goal. Of carepart-
ners such as Ann Jrnnings who have created flourishing Parkinson's
support
groups which, as a by-product, have brought victims out of their
closets,
wakened the public to the alarming nature and extent of the disease,
and laid
the foundation for powerful grass roots support of pro-Parkinson's
action in Washington. Of dedicated members of the fine Parkie
organizations -- The
Parkinson's Institute, the Parkinson's Disease Fouindation, APDA,
Samuelson's own Parkinson's Action Network -- people such as Ken Maurer,
Paul Smedberg,
Robin Elliott, Bill Turenne, Mike Claeys and Larrry Hoffheimer, who went
the
extra mile to help each other in the battle for Udall and to aid PWP
directly
(in the case of Robin Elliott, literally running extra miles in a
Parkinson's Unity Day Marathon in New York). Of the doctors, medical
researchers and nurses who volunteered their time and knowledge in
testifying before Congress
and in other ways both large and small helping the Parkinson's
community to
help itself -- such as Cathi Thomas and Drs. Isacson and Olanow. Of
the Congressional stalwarts who saw the Bill through its darkest
hours,
staffers who for most of us remained anonymous, plus the House and
Senate
members who introduced the Bill and stuck by it to the end --
Congressmen
Upton and Waxman and Senators Wellstone and McCain, the latter having
replaced retired Senator Hatfield and whose steel-like resolve (and
able
staffer Sonya Sotak) swept all else aside to insure immediate passage.
M y exhuberant thoughts spilled over to encompass all the good
people
of Shrewsbury -- unsung heroes and heroines such as Heidi Mitchell,
Emily
Korngeibel, Liz Daley, Bernie Stewart and Larry Carrara -- who worked
to
garner 250 signatures urging Senator Jeffords to support the Bill,
and who in the end prevailed on him to abstain from using his power
as Committee
Chairman to kill the Bill.
Sadly, one's thoughts also turn to Morris Udall himself, the
long-term, much-loved Congressman who vied for and richly deserved his
Party's presidential [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> We are one step closer to passage of the Udall Bill!
>
> The House-Senate Conferees considering the Appropriations Bill for the
> Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services and Related
> Agencies today agreed to a bill that would fund these agencies of the
> Federal government. The principal provisions of the Udall Bill, which was
> part of the Senate version of the appropriations bill, were accepted by
> the House conferees to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.
>
> The Appropriations Bill, as it is reported out of the conference
> committee, now goes back to both Houses for final passage, which is
> expected. Then all that remains is signing by the President of the United
> States.When and if that occurs, the Udall bill will become law.
>
> We must continue our efforts next year to seek funding for the Udall bill
> and will be calling on all of you once again to help.
>
> The National Parkinson Foundation along with the many organizations and
> individual activists have worked hard and tirelessly to achieve the
> enactment of this important legislation that will go a long way to
> finding a cure for Parkinson's disease.
>
> We all deserve much congratulations!
>
> Larry Hoffheimer
> Washington Counsel
> National Parkinson Foundation
.
