The ALS Association Advocacy Update: 230 Cosponsors...A Majority!

Thank you to everyone for their outreach to Members of Congress over the past week. It’s clear that your voices were heard as 230 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have cosponsored the ALS Registry Act (HR 2295). We now have a majority of the House as supporters of the bill!

Despite this support, your advocacy is still needed! Continue to reach out to those who have not yet cosponsored the bill and thank those who already have given their support. As we indicated last week, we are targeting Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the bill, and whose support is needed to help move the bill through the standard legislative process. Several Committee Members signed on in the past week, including Members from Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee. A list of the handful of Committee Members who have not yet cosponsored is below so if you have not already reached out to them in the past week, please contact them today! Again, since Members of Congress are only responsive to their constituents, please only contact these Members if you live in their district or serve PALS and families in their district.

Arizona: Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ, 3rd: Phoenix)
California: Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA, 19th: Fresno, Turlock)
California: Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA, 36th: El Segundo, Wilmington)
Colorado: Rep. Diane DeGette (D-CO, 1st: Denver)
Illinois: Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL, 14th: Batavia, Dixon, Geneseo)
Indiana: Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN, 4th: Monticello, Plainfield, Bedford)
Indiana: Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN, 9th: Jeffersonville)
New Mexico: Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM, 1st: Albuquerque)
Pennsylvania: Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA, 16th: Lancaster, Unionville) – NOTE: cosponsored in 2006
Texas: Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX, 4th: Texarkana, Rockwall, Sherman, New Boston)
Texas: Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX. 26th: Lewisville, Ft. Worth)
Virginia: Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA, 9th: Abington, Pulaski, Big Stone Gap)

As you continue to reach out to your Representatives, please also contact your two Senators. Twenty-six Senators have cosponsored the bill (S. 1382) thus far. While this is great progress, additional support is needed.

Sample advocacy letters and thank you letters are available in the Advocacy Action Center of our website, here. A list of those Senators and Representatives who have and have not cosponsored the bills is available here.

Keep up the great work!

Department of Defense Outreach

As a result of your Advocacy Day efforts, 85 Members of the House of Representatives signed a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates requesting that the DOD increase funding for ALS research. This is the greatest number of Members we have ever had sign onto a DOD letter! The DOD has provided more than $12 million in funding for ALS research in recent years and our advocacy on this issue will help us to continue and to increase this important source of funding.

A copy of the letter that was sent to Secretary Gates is available on the Advocacy website here along with the names and signatures of those Members of Congress who signed onto the letter. In your outreach to Members about the ALS Registry Act, please also thank these Members for their support.

We want to give a special thank you to the Catfish Hunter Chapter of The ALS Association in North Carolina as well as the South Carolina Chapter for their outreach to Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Henry Brown (R-SC), who organized the letter to Secretary Gates. The relationships that the Chapters have developed with these offices were the driving force behind their decision to lead this effort in the House.

Advocacy Day Photographs Available

Photographs that were taken during the Advocacy Conference last month are now available for viewing and purchase via the Advocacy Day page of our website here. The photos capture the emotion and enthusiasm that make the conference such a memorable event for all that attend.

If you have any questions or would like additional information about these or other issues, please contact the Advocacy Department at advocacy@alsa-national.org.

Thank you!

The Advocacy Department