Dear Colleague:

We invite you to join us in signing a letter to the House/Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee requesting that they provide at least the House level of funding, $26.5 million, in Conference on the Fiscal 2007 Defense Appropriations bill for the Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research Program (NETRP). This program is funded in the U.S. Army Military Operational Medicine Research Program under the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

This letter also confirms Congressional intent and the purpose of the NETRP program, which since Fiscal 1997 has been to study neurodegenerative mechanisms and treatments with a special emphasis on Parkinson's disease. NETRP was originally added to the Fiscal 1997 Defense Appropriations bill at the request of Congressman Joseph McDade (R-PA), who at the time had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The Congressional Caucus and Working Group on Parkinson's Disease continues this effort by working every year to include funding for this innovative Parkinson's research program to the DoD Appropriations bills.

In fact the NETRP is strongly supported by the entire Parkinson's patient community, including the Parkinson's Action Network, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, Parkinson's Disease Foundation, National Parkinson Foundation, Parkinson Alliance, and American Parkinson Disease Association.

NETRP research improves military readiness. American troops are routinely exposed to a wide range of chemicals and neurotoxins that may increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions, particularly Parkinson's disease. Understanding how exposures occur, the incidence of disease afterwards, and how these conditions may be effectively treated, cured, or prevented allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to better protect military personnel, minimize the risk of future exposures, and improve the readiness of American military forces.
I In addition to helping military personnel, NETRP research breakthroughs also benefit the more than one million Americans with Parkinson's disease, including 42,000 veterans and 60,000 newly diagnosed Americans each year.
For these reasons, we ask you to please join us in supporting our armed service members and the more than one million Americans with Parkinson's disease by signing onto the attached letter. If you would like more information, or to sign on, please have your staff contact Orly Isaacson with Rep. Maloney at x5-7944 or Eben Carle with Rep. Boehlert at x5-3665.

Sincerely,


LANE EVANS FRED UPTON CAROLYN B. MALONEY
Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress

MARK UDALL SHERWOOD BOEHLERT
Member of Congress Member of Congress

Current signers:
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney
Rep. Lane Evans
Rep. Fred Upton
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert
Rep. Mark Udall
Rep. Sherrod Brown
Rep. Ellen Tauscher
Rep. Michael R. McNulty
Rep. Donald Payne
Rep. Robert Wexler
Rep. Tom Davis
Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Rep. Jerrold Nadler
Rep. Neil Abercrombie
Rep. Henry Waxman
Rep. Maurice Hinchey
Rep. Jim McDermott


September XX, 2006




The Honorable C.W. Bill Young The Honorable John P. Murtha
Chairman Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Defense Subcommittee on Defense
House Committee on Appropriations House Committee on Appropriations
The Capitol, Room H-149 The Capitol, Room H-149
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Young and Ranking Member Murtha:

We respectfully write to request your continued support for providing at least the House level of funding, $26.5 million, in Conference on the Fiscal 2007 Defense Appropriations bill for the Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research Program (NETRP). This program is funded in the U.S. Army Military Operational Medicine Research Program under the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Furthermore, we request your support in preserving the original intent of the NETRP program, which since Fiscal 1997 has been to study neurodegenerative mechanisms and treatments with a special emphasis on Parkinson's disease. Congress has consistently emphasized the Parkinson's focus of the NETRP program beginning with the program's inception and continuing with the leadership of the Congressional Caucus and Working Group on Parkinson's Disease. Congressional intent has been carried out by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, which is responsible for implementing the program. The program's focus has historically been on "DOD sponsored Parkinson's-related research" and we have always supported the program because of that focus. We urge you not to redirect the program in any way.
As you are aware, American troops are routinely exposed to a wide range of chemicals, low-level radiation, and other external stressors and toxins such as radar, sonar, lasers, pesticides, herbicides, and head injury. Scientists believe these exposures increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions, particularly Parkinson's disease. These conditions negatively impact the readiness of American military forces since they all result in the permanent loss of brain and nerve cells.
Thus, the NETRP was established to investigate the causes, diagnosis, and treatments of Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases to improve military readiness. At a time when additional pressure is placed on the warfighter, NETRP funded research is working to prevent and discover better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Understanding how exposures occur, the incidence of disease afterwards, and how these conditions may be effectively treated, cured, or prevented will allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to better protect military personnel and minimize the risk of future exposures. The scientific findings from biomedical research conducted through the NETRP may provide DoD with innovations in materiel design, avoidance protocols for unnecessary exposures, and neuroprotective drugs to prevent damage in the first place. Furthermore, the early detection of nerve cell loss caused by such toxic exposures may provide DoD with better methods of evaluating warfighter performance and faster ways of detecting potential impairments.
Although there are direct military applications for the research funded by the NETRP, the military is not the only recipient of the benefits of the NETRP. Any research breakthroughs in prevention, detection, and treatment of neurodegenerative conditions are immediately applicable to civilians -- particularly the more than one million Americans with Parkinson's disease, including 42,000 veterans and 60,000 newly diagnosed Americans each year.
For these reasons, we respectfully urge you to provide the DoD peer-reviewed NETRP with at least the House level of $26.5 million in the Fiscal 2007 Defense Appropriations bill.

Sincerely,