^^^^^^WARM GREETINGS FROM^^^^^^^^^^
Ivan Suzman 48/11 [log in to unmask]
Portland, Maine land of lighthouses 61 deg. F windy
***********************************************************
9 Range Street
Portland, Maine 04103
June 5, 1998
U.S. Representative Tom Allen
c/o John McLaughlin
Portland Office
Oxford Street
Portland, Maine 04101
Dear John,
Please consider this brief letter to be a formal request to
Representative Tom Allen.
Will you please assist me, Congressman Allen, through the kind support
and assistance of your excellent staff member, John McLaughlin, to obtain
an appointment, if possible, on either Sunday afternoon, June 14, Monday,
June 15, Tuesday, June 16, or Wednesday, June 17th in the early morning,
with President William Clinton or First Lady Hilary Clinton?
The purpose of this meeting would be for either or both of them to meet
me, see the terrible effects that Young Onset Parkinson's Disease in its
11th year is casting upon me, and to motivate them to become vocal
leaders of the battle to find the cure for Parkinson's Disease. I will be
asking them to help to get the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Bill the
immediate attention it needs, so that it is recommended to be FULLY
FUNDED by the Appropriations Committee, as quickly as possible.
I am to be accompanied by a Qualified Medical Care Attendant, Mr.
Thaddeus (Jay) Forys, Jr., of Portland, Maine, staying for the summer
with his family in New Jersey, who is experienced in working with me. He
is a student at the University of Southern Maine
I am the Parkinson's Awareness Spokesperson for 1998 for the State of
Maine. In the past, I delivered a speech to incorporate the Udall BIll
into the Maine Democratic Party Platform, at the May, 1996, Portland
convention. This platform amendment, passed by unanimous voice vote
after a standing ovation, remains the first and only such Udall platform
plank in the United States. Three of my personal care attendants and I
were all Delegates to the Convention.
Two months ago, the Maine Senate and House of Representatives adopted
S.868, which I primarily authored, the first joint Senate-House
Parkinson's Awareness Resolution in the United States. It was sponsored
by my Senator, Joel Abramson, and my Representative, who has Parkinson's
DIsease, Tom Geiringer.
I also authored the 1998 Proclamation for Parkinson's Awareness Month,
issued by Governor Angus King two months ago.
I am a member also of the New England Steering Committee to Pass the
Udall Bill.
Now, at a national level, we 2,000,000 Americans suffering from one of
the varieties of Parkinson's, which is still potentially terminal, and
with still unknown causes, have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
A national Public Policy Forum, sponsored by the Parkinson's Action
Network, headquartered at the Hotel Washington, will take place from June
14 through 17, 1998. I am at this moment searching for the $2,300.00 of
financial support needed to attend, as one of perhaps 40 persons with
Parkinson's who hope to make it to Washington. Most of my expenses are
for flights, and medical care around the clock.
Would you please allow John McLaughlin the freedom to have every
opportunity within the scope of his work for you, to assist me? This
would include a very fast search for financial support for expenses, and
assistance to obtain meetings or appointments with any member of the
Congress, the Supreme Court, or the Executive Branch. The top priority
would be an appointment with the Clintons.
ANYTHING you can do, Representative Allen, to help get the Udall
Bill funded would truly help. We with Parkinson's desperately need every
penny the Udall Bill would provide, to open up research at the rate of
$100,000,000.00 per year, through the auspices of the NIH.
By way of comparison, AIDS is funded at $2400,000,000.00 per year.
Parkinson's has a long, long way to go, and the funding of the Udall BIll
is the first hurdle, one that MUST be surpassed.
Thank you, Tom, for your considerable support and efforts so far,
and here's hoping you can cause the Udall Bill to become a top priority.
Besides the President and the First Lady, if Attorney General Janet
Reno, senior NIH officials, the NIH Director, or the Leadership of
Congress can be asked if I, or others suffering from Parkinson's, can see
them while we are in Washington, the world's Parkinson's community would
be enormously and truly grateful to you.
With best wishes for success in the upcoming election season to you,
Sincerely yours,
Ivan Suzman, Portland (207) 797-8488
cc: World Parkinson's e-mail Exchange List
