May 16, 2008
ACTION ALERT: ASK CONGRESS TO SUPPORT HEP C FUNDING!
for treatment and prevention
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There's a new wave of advocacy around hep C (Hamed Saber, flickr.com/photos/hamed/393774336/) |
Since its founding last August, Hepatitis C Advocates UNITED! has grown to 350 active members and greatly strengthened advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill for the more than five million Americans who have the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Monday, May 19 is World Hepatitis Day, and UNITED! is asking for your help with calling Congress to demand $50 million for viral hepatitis programs in the Fiscal Year 2009 appropriations bill. UNITED! also wants Congress to cosponsor the Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act (S.1445/H.R.2552). The Act requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt to develop and implement a plan for the prevention, control, and management of HCV in the United States.
Although hepatitis C is the most common, chronic blood-borne viral infection in the U.S., the federal government only provides a paltry $17 million a year for all viral hepatitis programs, and President Bush has proposed a decrease in funding. The Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act has been stalled for years, but thanks in part to UNITED!'s sign-on campaign, it has picked up 21 cosponsors in the House and 13 in the Senate—the most since the bill was first introduced in 2003.
"There is no plan by the federal government to fight the disease," said Ryan Clary, public policy director at Project Inform and one of the founders of UNITED!. "People need to talk to members and tell them the need for this bill and for more funding."
Here's what you can do:
On Monday, May 19, call your U.S. representatives and two U.S. senators in their Washington, DC offices. Ask to speak to the staff person who handles health care issues. You might speak to this person live or you might get voicemail. Deliver the following message:
"My name is __________ and I live in (your city/state). Today is World Hepatitis Day and I urge Representative/Senator ____________ to take a leadership role in the fight against the hepatitis C epidemic. An estimated five million Americans have been infected with the hepatitis C virus, but the federal government has not provided adequate funding or legislation to fight the epidemic. I urge the representative/senator to help change this situation by supporting $50 million for viral hepatitis programs in the Fiscal Year 2009 appropriation bill and by cosponsoring the "Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act."
You can reach your senators and representative by calling the Capitol switchboard toll-free at (800) 828-0498. If that number is busy, call (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to your Representative or Senator. If you don't know who represents you in Congress, go to www.congress.org and enter your zip code in the upper left corner.
*If you are unable to call on May 19, please call no later than Friday, May 23.
If your Representative/Senator is on the following list, he or she has already cosponsored the "Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act." Call to say thank you! And ask that they work to get other cosponsors.
House cosponsors:
Neil Abercrombie (HI)Brian Baird (WA)
Shelley Berkley (NV)
Timothy Bishop (NY)
Elijah Cummings (MD)
Keith Ellison (MN)
Bart Gordon (TN)
Raul Grijalva (AZ)
William Jefferson(LA)
John Lewis (GA)
Jim McDermott (WA)
James McGovern (MA)
Michael McNulty (NY)
Gregory Meeks (NY)
Ed Pastor (AZ)
Donald Payne (NJ)
Jim Ramstad (MN)
Edolphus Towns (NY)
Henry Waxman (CA)
Robert Wexler (FL)
Heather Wilson (NM)
Senate cosponsors:
Joe Biden (DE)Barbara Boxer (CA)
Maria Cantwell (WA)
Thad Cochran (MS)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)
Daniel Inouye (HI)
Tim Johnson (SD)
Ted Kennedy (MA)
Frank Lautenberg (NJ)
Mark Pryor (AR)
Gordon Smith (OR)
Olympia Snowe (ME)
Ron Wyden (OR)
For more information about this action or Hepatitis C Advocates UNITED!, contact Ryan Clary at rclary@projectinform.org .