The CFIDS Association hosted two lobby days this year -- our 15th annual event in Washington, D.C. on May 15 and our 4th annual Virtual Lobby Day that began on May 11 and continues for the next several weeks. Here's a recap of both events:

80 advocates took part in a May 14 training session to prepare for meetings with Hill staffers and members of Congress. By day's end on May 15, advocates had conducted 94 meetings, building support for a letter written to NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni, asking him to use new authority granted under the NIH Reform Act of 2006 to make CFS a higher research priority. The letter, sponsored by Senator Harry Reid (Nevada) and Representatives Jan Schakowsky (Illinois-9) and Sue Myrick (North Carolina-9), is now circulating through the Senate and House of Representatives to secure signatures in addition to those of the sponsors and 20 collected on Lobby Day and in follow-up calls by advocates.

Advocates participating in Virtual Lobby Day have sent 5,402 messages to 382 members of Congress, four designated public health leaders and 1,382 news agencies. You can strengthen these requests for action by completing the alerts at http://capwiz.com/cfids/home/. 

Thank you for supporting the CFIDS Association's efforts to achieve stronger public policy on CFS.