ALS Registry Act Cleared for the House Floor!!!



This morning, the full House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed the ALS Registry Act (H.R. 2295)! The bill now heads to the House floor for a vote, the final stage of the legislative process in the House of Representatives!

The Committee’s action comes just over three months after the bill was reintroduced in the 110th Congress – an extraordinarily short amount of time for a bill to progress, especially considering most bills are never even considered by a Congressional Committee. It is clear that the Committee not only responded to our advocacy, but also to the urgent message we delivered: people with ALS can’t afford to wait!

During today’s session, the bill’s sponsor, Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) praised the work of The ALS Association and thanked The Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for working closely with him to help advance the bill. In addition, Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE), the lead Republican sponsor of the bill, and other Committee Members repeatedly expressed support for the bill as an important component in the fight for a treatment and cure for ALS. (A webcast of today's Committee session will be available on the Energy and Commerce Committee website.)

The Advocacy Department would like to thank the entire ALS community for their relentless outreach in support of the ALS Registry Act. PALS, families, caregivers and advocates from every state have contacted their Members of Congress continually since the bill was introduced this year. In addition, ALS Association Chapters reached out to their grassroots networks, held meetings in Congressional Districts and helped to deliver our message loud and clear to the people who represent us in Washington. There is no mistake that our message has been heard; that our advocacy continues to make a difference!

The Advocacy Department would especially like to thank the Greater New York Chapter and the Keith Worthington Chapter for their outreach to Representatives Engel and Terry who have led the fight for the bill in the House.

We will continue to keep you updated as the ALS Registry Act moves to the House floor. In the meantime, we encourage you to continue to reach out to your U.S. Senators using our online Advocacy Action Center and look for additional action alerts in the coming days to learn what else you can do to help pass the ALS Registry Act this year.

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