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INSIDE (THE BELTWAY) SCOOP- Jon
Retzlaff, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR
Despite the House’s successful efforts to
complete action on the FY2008 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations Bill, it is beginning to look
like we will be facing another continuing
resolution once October 1, 2007, arrives. With
the Senate not showing any interest in taking up
the FY2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
Bill before the August recess, it would leave
only the month of September to debate the bill
on the Senate floor, conference it with the
House and send the bill to the President. And,
with the President already stating that he
intends to veto the bill, the process could be
significantly delayed if there are 146
Republicans willing to sustain the President’s
veto.
House Appropriations Chairman David Obey has
tried to work in a bipartisan manner to craft a
measure that will provide enough support to
overcome an expected veto. Throughout the three
days of debate on the House floor, Mr. Obey
passionately asked members of the House to
consider whether they should be concerned that
the number of research grants to fight cancer,
heart disease, diabetes, and other disorders is
declining, or whether it would make more sense
for Congress to make a “collective societal
investment” to attack these dreaded diseases.
On final passage of the FY2008 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations Bill, 140 Republicans voted
against the measure. While this clearly was a
victory for Chairman Obey and his staff because
they passed the bill with a veto proof margin,
it remains to be seen how the political dynamics
may change when the Republican members who voted
for the bill are asked to side with the
President to sustain his expected veto.
FASEB SUPPORTS
RESEARCH!AMERICA’S YOUR CONGRESS-YOUR HEALTH
INITIATIVE & ENCOURAGES YOU TO TAKE ACTION!
FASEB works with numerous organizations to
ensure that our interest and support for
science is well represented in the Halls of
Congress. One organization that FASEB has
enjoyed a long-standing working relationship
with is RESEARCH AMERICA. RESEARCH AMERICA is
currently undertaking an initiative to ask
members of Congress to complete a questionnaire
on where they stand on health issues. FASEB is
proud to assist in their efforts to encourage
Congressional Members to respond to the
questionnaire. The answers from Congress will
assist us in our efforts to advocate on behalf
of FASEB’s society members. Please see below
for specific information regarding the Your
Congress-Your Health initiative:
Do You Know Where Congress Stands on Health
and Research?
Just 11% of Americans say they are
well-informed about their elected officials'
positions on research. To improve this number,
Research!America, the
Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation and their
partners established the
Your Congress–Your Health
initiative.
The purpose of Your Congress–Your Health
is to establish a dialogue on research and
health between Congress and the American people.
To get the conversation started,
PARADE magazine invited its 74 million
readers to share what health issues matter most
to them. Based on this public response, 15
questions were developed and all members of
Congress were invited to address them.
Congressional responses are now available online
at
www.yourcongressyourhealth.org and are
searchable by zip code, state, last name,
chamber and party. Although nearly one-fourth of
Congress is participating in Your
Congress–Your Health, Americans in every
state and district want to see responses from
their elected officials.
If your members of Congress have not yet
submitted their responses to the Your
Congress–Your Health questionnaire,
please send them a message asking them to
participate. And don’t forget to thank your
elected officials who have responded.
Visit
www.yourcongressyourhealth.org today!
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CLINICAL RESEARCH ADVOCACY TOOL
FASEB Releases Clinical Research Advocacy
Tool
On July 12, 2007, FASEB launched a new
advocacy resource, “Clinical Research: Bridging
the Gap between Basic Science and Improved Human
Health.” This PowerPoint presentation was
created to assist clinical research advocates in
conveying to the scientific and policy
communities the excitement and significance of
this area of investigation. The slides provide
information on what clinical research is, why it
is important, and how it is funded. They also
describe the relationship between clinical and
basic research and highlight some of the
challenges facing the clinical research
enterprise. FASEB hopes this resource will be of
value to the clinical research community and to
anyone with an interest in promoting biomedical
science. To view this new resource, please
visit:
Clinical Research Advocacy Tool
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CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE
The House and Senate are in session.
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