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apologies to all for outdated info... I did mention that I was a FORMER congressional staffer, didn't I ?!?!?! ;-) [log in to unmask] wrote: > > Date: Friday, July 10, 1998 3:27:54 PM > From: [log in to unmask] > Please direct any questions or comments to Michael Claeys, > PAN's Community Outreach Coordinator at (800) 850-4726 > > I would like to thank Leslie Lillard Walden for her sound advice on > communicating with Congressional offices. Her experience will certainly > be an asset as the Parkinson's community's campaign to fully fund the > Udall Act moves progresses. > > To avoid readers' confusion, however, I want to correct some of the out > of date or inaccurate information contained in her post. > > First and most importantly, the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Research Act > of 1997 has already passed the House and Senate and been signed into law > by President Clinton -- signed on November 13, 1997 -- as part of the > fiscal year 1998 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related > Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations Act. The Udall Act authorizing the > NIH to direct up to $100 million in research focused on Parkinson's > disease in fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may be necessary for > fiscal years 1999 and 2000 is now the law of the land. Our challenge > now is to ensure that this authorized funding get appropriated at the > highest amount possible. > > This appropriated funding will come about through specific language > included in the fiscal year 1999 Labor/HHS Appropriations Act. This > massive bill will contain language setting the funding levels for all > research conducted through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as > well as funding and directions for the entire Departments of Health and > Human Services, Labor, Education and other government agencies. > > The House and Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittees are each > currently crafting their own versions of the fiscal year 1999 Labor/HHS > bills. Each version will move from the Labor/HHS Appropriations > subcommittee to the full Appropriations committee in their respective > body (House and Senate). (This step has already occurred in the > House.) Later in the year, the full House and Senate will pass their > own respective version of the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill for fiscal > year 1999. > > The two versions of the Labor/HHS bill will likely contain slightly > different language regarding Parkinson's disease research funding - as > well as lots of other differences (some of them major) in both > descriptions and funding levels for various programs. All these > differences will be worked out by a "Conference Committee" comprised of > the members of both the House and Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations > Subcommittees - these are the 29 highest priority Members of Congress > our grassroots and professional activists have spent so much time > targeting this year. The Conference Committee will produce one final > version of the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill for fiscal year 1999, and > that version must be passed - without amendment -- by both the House and > Senate and then signed by the President. If any of these steps is not > accomplished, the bill is sent back for further consideration and > adjustment until a mutually acceptable version is agreed upon. As this > is an election year, it is highly unlikely that the Congress will > adjourn without passing some version of a Labor/HHS bill for 1999. > > At the present time neither the House or Senate versions of the > Labor/HHS Appropriations bill has been assigned a bill number. At some > point in the near future, bill numbers will be assigned and Parkinson's > activists will be notified. The bill numbers "S. 535" and "H.R. 1260" > were for the freestanding Udall bill as introduced in 1997, and have no > relevance to this year's campaign. In fact, bill numbering begins from > scratch each legislative session (each year) and the numbers S. 535 and > H.R. 1260 have likely been assigned to new bills. > > Since the Udall Act has already passed, there is no need to get > cosponsors. Furthermore, cosponsors are typically not gathered for > appropriations bills. > > One other technical correction: As the description above indicate, both > the House and Senate have jurisdiction and committees organized to both > authorize and appropriate new spending. Authorization and > appropriations bill can be initiated in either body, but must ultimately > be approved by both before proceeding to the President's desk.. > > A final note about the House and Senate calendars. The Senate is > currently in session and will remain so through July 31. They are > scheduled to recess from August 1 through August 30. The House is > currently in recess and is scheduled to return on July 14. They will > remain in session through August 9, before recessing until September 9. > Both bodies are scheduled to adjourn for the year on October 9. All of > these dates are subject to change. > > The Parkinson's Action Network will soon distribute more information > concerning advocacy activities during the upcoming congressional > recesses. > Please direct any questions or comments to Michael Claeys, > PAN's Community Outreach Coordinator at (800) 850-4726 > == Leslie Lillard Walden ([log in to unmask]) _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com