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- Legislative
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- YOUR
HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED
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- Dear
Friends:
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- Great
news! On Monday, May 23, 2005, Representative Sue Kelly introduced
into the House of Representatives, H.R. 2526 (PDF File) (Html - Thomas Web Site) - Tick-Borne Advisory
Committee Act. This legislation establishes a Tick-Borne Advisory
Committee in order to provide the public with a voice into Lyme
and other tick-borne disorder federal activities. This legislation
is very similar to the LIFT Act that passed the Senate several
years ago and was supported by all of the Lyme groups.
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- The
single most important aspect of this legislation is that the
public has 100% of the voting rights into what the committee
decides! This public voice is very important because the government
already coordinates it's own activities with other government
agencies through the “Lyme Disease Coordinating Committee,”
that was established in 1992 by the National Institutes of Health.
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- Now,
with your help, we can pass H.R. 2526, giving the public a strong
voice into government activities!
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- Help
empower the public by calling as many House members as possible
and request they sign-on to this bill. Let's bill passed by July
1, 2005! We all now control our own destiny and must get 216
House members to sign-on to the bill so it can pass the House
of Representatives.
- Together,
we will make a better future for our families and friends!
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- Sincerely,
- Karen
Vanderhoof-Forschner, MBA, CPCU, CLU
www.lyme.org, 1-860-870-0070
Member of the Lyme Disease Community Caucus: Lyme Disease Society,
Michigan Lyme Disease Association, LDF Midwest task Force, National
Capital Lyme Disease Association, Greater Hartford Lyme Disease
Support & Action Group, Lesley Fein, MD (NJ), and Lyme Disease
Foundation.
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- YOUR
ACTION:
- 1.
Call your Congressional House member (Representative) and ask
to speak with the “Aid” in charge of “Lyme disease
& Health Care Issues.”
- 2.
A him/her to sign-on to “H.R.2526” by contacting Richard
Olson in Rep. Sue Kelly's office at 202-225-5441. You can use
the script below to help you.
- 3.
In addition, call, fax, and email these instructions your friends
& family and ask them to their Representatives.
- --------------------------------LEGISLATIVE
SCRIPT------------------------------------
- “Good
Morning/Afternoon,
- I'm
____(your name)_______ calling to request __(Representative's
name)____ to sign-on to H.R. 2526 a bill that would establish
an advisory committee for Tick-Borne disorders.
- This
legislation will help those suffering from Lyme disease &
other Tick-Borne disorders in your state and throughout the United
States by establishing a Tick-Borne Advisory Committee to provide
a public voice into government Lyme disease and Tick-Borne activities.
- Please
contact Richard Olson at 202-225-5441 in Representative Sue Kelly's
office and add your name to the list of sponsors.
- Thank-you,
”
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- Quick
Facts
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- o
H.R. 2526 is a multiple-disease bill covering all Tick-Borne
disorders including ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, bartonella, Rocky
Mountain spotted fever, relapsing fever, tick paralysis, tulerimia,
and more.
- o
One tick-bite can spread multiple diseases.
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Ticks across the country spread diseases.
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The most common Tick-Borne disease is Lyme disease, which accounts
for 90% of all vector-borne infections in the United States.
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Lyme disease patients live in every state. In 2002 the number
of cases increased by 40%.
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A consumer survey proved that people up and down the eastern
seaboard know of someone with Lyme disease.
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There is no definitive test for Lyme disease.
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A survey by the Lyme Disease Foundation and the Society of Actuaries
found that Lyme disease cost this country approximately $1- $2
billion per year in increased medical costs, lost productivity,
prolonged pain and suffering, unnecessary testing, and costly
delays in diagnosis and inappropriate treatment.
- o
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
cases of this Tick-Borne disease have increased 25-fold since
national surveillance of it began in 1982. Between 1980 and now
244,003 case have been reported and accepted by the CDC as qualified
cases. Studies have shown that the actual number of Tick-Borne
disease cases are approximately 10 times the amount reported
due to poor surveillance of the disease.
- o
Patients with Lyme disease are increasingly having difficulty
obtaining diagnosis and treatment for these diseases, and being
restored to health. Because of differences in medical and scientific
opinion, clinicians and other providers of health care services
(testing laboratories and intravenous teams) face retaliation
from insurance companies and medical licensure boards based on
their diagnosis and treatment of patients that vary from the
CDC's surveillance criteria.
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- This
bill (HR 2526) can be seen on the Congressional web site Thomas. You
can find your federal repesentatives here. Have your Senators call Senator Santorum's
office and your Congressional representatives call Rep. Kelly.
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- Contacting the Congress is a very up-to-date
database of congressional contact information for the 109th Congress.
As of May 24, 2005 there are 530 email addresses (of which 465
are Web-based email homepages), and 540 WWW homepages known for
the 540 members of the 109th Congress. More traditional ground
mail addresses are available for all Congressmembers.
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NEWS NOTE: Contacting the Congress has received many emails recently
reporting that email addressed to Congressmembers is bouncing
back. It appears now that a recent study has confirmed what has
been long suspected, Capitol Hill is ill-equipped for email (the
study refered to in the article is available online). This, combined
with recent stories on problems with the Senate Email Servers
suggests that if your message is really important you should
consider sending it via fax or phone (numbers available here).
It also suggests you should only mail your members of Congress,
since spamming everyone in Congress just contributes to this
problem. (March 20, 2001).
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- 4)
Public Law 107-116
- New Federal
Law (Public Law 107-116) that is a major benefit to the Lyme
community. The bill was passed by the Senate and House and signed
by President Bush on January 10, 2002. It gives the Will of Congress
on issues pertaining to Lyme disease. For information about the
appropriations intended by Public Law 107-116 click here for
html or pdf.
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