Advocate requests needed!

Advocacy Alert: 6/27/2008

Advocate requests needed!

Ask him/her to sign the letter to Secretary Leavitt

TAKE ACTION

Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9) and Sue Myrick (R-NC-9) have circulated a letter to their colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives asking them to help secure renewal of the charter for the Department of Health and Human Services Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC). The CFSAC is one of very few disease-specific advisory committees that exists to make recommendations to Secretary of Health Mike Leavitt. Its charter is set to expire on September 5, 2008.

Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-8), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-7), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI-1), Ron Klein (D-FL-22), Jim Moran (D-VA-8), Robert Wexler (D-FL-18), Ron Paul (R-TX-14) and Lee Terry (R-NE-2) have already agreed to sign.

Using the Association's form letter, please contact the member of the House of Representatives who represents you and ask him or her to sign on to this letter. There is a limited window of opportunity to add signatures—and strength—to this letter, so please act now!

Please note that only members of Congress can authorize their signature to be added to the letter, so your effort should be directed at getting YOUR member of the House to give such authorization. For now this effort is limited to the U.S. House of Representatives; we'll keep you informed about progress toward a companion effort for the Senate.

You can learn more about the CFSAC by visiting the CFIDS Association's website at http://www.cfids.org/advocacy/CFSAC.asp or the DHHS website at http://www.hhs.gov/advcomcfs/index.html. You can view a copy of the draft letter to Secretary Leavitt at http://www.cfids.org/advocacy/cfsac08-renewal.pdf.