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Thank you for forwarding the explanation of what will surely happen in the House from Mike Claeys of PAN. Knowledge is power and Mike has special knowledge of the situation and, also, wide experience in Washington. I, for one, plan to follow Mike on this one and hope others will consider it, too. We cannot afford a division at this point. Our message has got to be full funding for direct Parkinson's Research of $100 million dollars, as prescribed in the Morris K. Udall Research Act passed in November of 1997. (Mike's message is below, thanks to BSchirloff who forwarded it to us originally). Barb Brock In a message dated 98-06-28 15:59:28 EDT, you WROTE: << Date: Friday, June 26, 1998 7:39:00 From: [log in to unmask] If you have any questions or comments, please contact Michael Claeys at the Parkinson's Action Network: (800) 850-4726." "Statement Following the House Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Action Paul Smedberg, the Washington, DC representative of the American Parkinson Disease Association, has previously posted remarks concerning the House Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations (Labor/HHS) Subcommittee's passage of their fiscal year 1999 spending bill. Paul's analysis was clear and accurate, and I'm sure it was as helpful for the many interested members of our community as it was for me. My intent here is not to repeat what Paul has done, but hopefully to enhance it a little based on questions we have received this week. In short, the action taken this week by the House's Labor/HHS Subcommittee is good news for the Parkinson's community. Their appropriations bill includes a substantial 9% (or about $1.2 billion) increase over the 1998 budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With that size increase, the House has provided the NIH the resources needed (and then some!) to fully fund the $100 million authorized by the Udall Act. Just because the money is there, however, doesn't ensure that it will be spent on research focused on Parkinson's. From what we know of the bill (the Labor/HHS Subcommittee has made public only the broad funding levels of the bill) the House has not included a clear statement calling for full funding of the Udall Act. This bill will be accompanied by a "report" - a set of specific instructions or "suggestions" from the committee on how to spend the appropriated funds. The report may include language referring to a Parkinson's research program. How report language is worded is very important in determining exactly what is done with the money. We are told the report will be made available to the members of the committee on June 8. On or around July 14, the Labor/HHS Subcommittee's bill - Chairman John Porter's bill - will go before the full House Appropriations Committee. That will be an opportunity for members not sitting on the Labor/HHS Subcommittee to comment on or amend the Subcommittee's bill. It is unlikely that any changes will be made to the Parkinson's language at that point. From there the bill goes to the floor of the House of Representatives to be debated, amended and voted on. Although technically possible, it is also unlikely that any Parkinson's-related changes will be made on the House floor. It should be pointed out that the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill is a very large, complex piece of legislation, encompassing funding for a great many divergent programs and initiatives. Each year this bill is the subject of a tremendous amount of rancorous debate as both political parties try to push their agendas and individual Representatives promote their own priority issues. Like clockwork, one can predict annual squabbles over education spending, needle-exchange programs, and federal support for home heating fuel, just to name a few. With this being an election year, you can bet the rhetoric will be as intense as ever. While it is advisable for us to be aware of the political context in which this bill is progressing, it is not wise to get caught up in the political bickering and brinkmanship that is so much apart of Washington's current environment. The Republicans in Congress will cut the President's pet projects and put the money into their own favorite programs. The President will threaten a veto. Both sides will lament that the sky is falling - but it will not fall - these tactics are part power-play and part political theater. It is an election year, and Congress will pass and the President will sign some form of a Labor/HHS Appropriations bill. Our best chance of success is for the Parkinson's community to stay focused on our objective, and repeat our message in mantra-like fashion: FULLY FUND THE UDALL ACT, $100 MILLION FOR DIRECT PARKINSON'S RESEARCH. Starting some time after the Fourth of July recess, the Senate will follow the same route that the House as already begun. The Senate's Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter (R), will pass its own version of a fiscal year 1999 spending bill. That bill will then go before the full Senate Appropriations Committee, where it will be accompanied by a report - a report very likely to include more favorable Parkinson's language than will be included in the House version. Once the full Senate Appropriations Committee passes the bill, it will go to the Senate floor where more debate and changing will take place. Finally, the Senate will pass a bill, and then that bill will join the House's Labor/HHS Appropriations bill for consideration by a joint House/Senate Conference Committee, who have the job of producing one final bill from the two bill's previously adopted by the House and Senate. The Labor/HHS Conference Committee will likely convene sometime in September, but of course we can only speculate at the approximate timetable. This may seem like a confusing process - and it is - but our message will remain the same throughout - FULLY FUND THE UDALL ACT. So what can you do now? If your Representative or Senator(s) is a member of the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee (see list below), you need to contact them in the most effective ways you can (letters, petitions, personal visits, input from influential friends, using the local media, etc.) and deliver your personal story along with our community's message. If you Representative or Senator(s) is a member of the full Appropriations Committee, you should deliver the message to them, and urge them to talk to or write letters to their friends and colleagues on the Labor/HHS Subcommittees, including Chairman Porter and Specter. Even if your Representative or Senator(s) are not on the Appropriations Committee they can contact their friends and colleagues who are and urge them to do all they can to support increased funding for Parkinson's research consistent with the provisions of the Udall Act. The House Labor/HHS Subcommittee has acted, so now the Senate Labor/HHS Subcommittee is the first priority target in the coming weeks. But all House and Senate Appropriators and Leadership officers are important as this phase of the game. The hard work has paid off thus far, and we must keep up the pressure to achieve ultimate success. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Michael Claeys at the Parkinson's Action Network: (800) 850-4726."