Please take a moment to copy and paste the sample email below. Send it to:
If you live in Massachusetts please fill out the contact form for Elizabeth Warren. You can find it here:
http://www.warren.senate.gov/?p=email_senator
Send her this note:
Subject: Please restore CDC funding for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
I understand that the Senate Appropriations Committee has recommended that funding for the CDC’s programs for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome be terminated as of 2016.
I am a patient with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME/CFS. The Institute of Medicine has just issued a major report on this “serious, chronic, complex, multisystem disease” citing the devastation on the lives of the 836,000 to 2.5 million Americans who suffer from this debilitating disease, the $20 billion annual cost to society, and the enormous need for more research which can lead to better treatments and a cure. We need MORE money for research, medical education, and information for patients and their families, NOT a termination of support.
I urge you to reinstate the $5.4 million funding for the CDC/CFS programs immediately.
Reprinted from the Solve ME/CFS Initiative Website
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Please act now! The $5.4 million in CDC funding for ME/CFS has been stricken from the Senate’s version of the 2016 federal budget. As you can see from the graphic below, ME/CFS was the only disease to be reduced to $0.
You have an opportunity to directly impact federal funding for ME/CFS by sending an email to the four key staff members who serve the Senators on this budget committee:
Laura_friedel@appro.senate.gov;Chol_pak@appro.senate.gov; Alex_Keenan@appro.senate.gov; Lisa_bernhardt@appro.senate.gov
Please take a moment to send them an email asking that the funds be reinstated immediately. We have posted a draft letter here for you to use. Feel free to revise as it suits you but note that time is of the essence. We need to have the emails sent within the next week to have any chance at reversing this decision and preserving our much-needed funding.
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Reinstate Federal Research Funding for ME/CFS
Please act now! The $5.4 million in CDC funding for ME/CFS has been stricken from the Senate’s version of the 2016 federal budget. As you can see from the graphic below, ME/CFS was the only disease to be reduced to $0.
You have an opportunity to directly impact federal funding for ME/CFS by sending an email to the four key staff members who serve the Senators on this budget committee:
Laura_friedel@appro.senate.gov;Chol_pak@appro.senate.gov; Alex_Keenan@appro.senate.gov; Lisa_bernhardt@appro.senate.gov
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Dear Senator:
I am writing to urge
you to reinstate the $5.4 million for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
funding. This is included in the CDC budget
under Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases,
on Page 59 of the Senate Budget.
I understand that the $5.4 million in
funding submitted by the Centers for Disease Control for Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome has been stricken from the 2016 appropriations bill
by the Senate Appropriations Committee. This is an appalling act of
inhumanity, and I urge you to reinstate the $5.4 million amount into
the 2016 budget without delay.
As you may be aware, the prestigious
Institute of Medicine of the National Academies published a landmark
report on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on Feb.
10 of this year. The IOM committee unequivocally and scientifically
established that Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
is a physiological, not psychological, illness. The IOM stated firmly
that Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is “a
serious, chronic, complex, multisystem disease... In its most severe
form, this disease can consume the lives of those whom it afflicts.”
The IOM committee further established
that between 836,000 and 2.5 million Americans suffer from this
devastating disease, which carries with it an economic burden of $17
to $24 billion to our country annually.
I am one of those Americans who has
had their life and livelihood stolen by this illness, which renders
25 percent of us house- or bed-bound at some point. While the
vast majority of us are not well enough to march on Capitol Hill to
demand equitable funding from our government, rest assured we are
still able to vote.
As a member of the Senate Subcommittee,
I urge you to reinstate this $5.4 million CDC funding immediately.
You have an opportunity to be on the right side of history.
Sincerely,
Name
Email address
USPS address