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 What
committees oversee governmental bio-medical research funding? The
Senate's door plate is to the left and the House of Representative's is
to the right.
On behalf of all
FAIR members and their non-AIDS illnesses,
FAIR's
Founder,
President &
CEO, Dr. Richard Darling, once again (previous trips profiled at
A and
B) traveled to Washington,
DC and met with over dozens
of
Congressional Health Assistants in the Senate and House to urge them to
recognize the great success of AIDS researchers and publicly call for
re-allocations of a
portion of HIV/AIDS funding to other illnesses.
With Congress in recess and the atmosphere informally enjoyable,
Dr. Darling educated that FAIR is a national organization with
thousands of members and supporters in all fifty states and the District
of Columbia who are desirous of fairer and more equitable research
distributions from Congress and the National Institutes of Health. All
Congressperson's marked with an asterisk were not members of the respective
Senate or
House
Appropriation Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education
that is overseeing NIH bio-medical research funding. He gave
each Congressperson's representative a
FAIR
brochure, the
ABC
TV/Amer. Diabetes Asssoc. video
he plays at the onset of every FAIR presentation,
FAIR's letter
tailored for each Congressperson's State or District and signed by FAIR's
entire Board of Directors
and FAIR's Founder.
The Senate
Will Crump, Leigh Ann Ross, Pharm D With Sekemia W. Mwonyonyi
With Theresa Vawter
(Senator Thad Cochran-MS)
(Senator Mike DeWine-Ohio)
Senator Larry Craig, Idaho
David Bernstein
With Greg M. J. Polley
With Richard P. Weiblinger, Jr.
(Senator Ed Kennedy-MA) (Senator Richard C.
Shelby-Alabama) (Senator Judd Gregg-New Hampshire)
 
Left info for Liz Connell With
Captain Lisa Raimondo, RN, MSN With Erik Fatemi
(Senator Stevens-Alaska) (Senator Daniel Inouye- Hawaii) (Senator Tom Harkin-Iowa)
left info for Chris Saunders William
McKee (Sen. Kay
With Nicole Brown
(Senator Patrick Leahy-Vermont) Bailey Hutchinson-Texas)
(Sen. Herb Kohl-WI)
Met with Katherine Oh Left info for
Anne Grady
Left info for Reid McMillan
( Senator Reid, Nevada)
(Senator Murray-Washington) (Senator Trent Lott,
MS) **
Left info for Dena Morris Left
Info for Senator Mary
Met with Jill Canino
(Sen. Richard
Durbin-IL) L. Landrieu-Louisiana
(Chairman Arlen Specter, PA)
Left info for Jim Fenton
(Senator Christopher Dodd, CT)**
House of
Representatives
Met With Averi Pakulis Left info for Rachael Bornstein
Met With Amy Tenhouse
(Rep. Rosa L. Delauro-CT)
(Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy-RI)
(Rep. Kay Granger, TX)
Met with Susan Sweat Met
with Jean Doyle
Left info for Christina Hamilton
(Rep. Roger Wicker-MS)
(Rep. Nita Lowey-NY)
(Rep. David Obey-WI)
Congratulations to Congressman Joe Barton (Texas) as Past-Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
and his staff! The Energy and Commerce Committee has been
overseeing the reauthorizing bill titled “The
National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006" that
provides more transparency to NIH funding (Where is the $$ going??!) and
they successfully steered the bill to passage in the House on 9/26/06.
All are hopeful for passage in the Senate also. FAIR
previously communicated
by letter last year with Chairman Barton and his Committee regarding
disproportionate funding for HIV/AIDS
and he was most grateful to Congressman Barton's Senior Legislative
Assistant, Aarti Shah, who kindly received our message again this year.
Presentation to his Deputy Chief
of Staff, Stuart Burns. Mr. Burns informed Dr. Darling that Dr. Weldon
has spoken out on the need to re-distribute a portion of HIV funding.
Left info for Jim Wood With Charles E. Dujon, Leg. Director Material to Viquar
Ahmad
(Rep) Steny Hoyer-MD) (Rep. Jesse Jackson-IL)
(Rep. Ralph Regula,
Past Chair)
 
Spoke to Meredith Brown
Left info for Jeff Vorberger Left info for Teresa Baker
(Rep. Northup-KY)
(Rep. John Peterson-PA) (Rep. Sherwood-PA 10th Dist.)
Met with Andrea Uckele
Spoke with & left info for Amy Fisher Presented to Katherine
Martin
(Rep. James Walsh-NY)
(Rep. Lois Capps, CA)** (Rep. Nathan Deal, GA Energy Comm
Health Subcommittee Chairman)**
Presented to Debbie Jessup
Presented to Rachel Sher Presented
to Elizabeth Wenk
(Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, CA)
(Rep. Henry Waxman, CA)** (Rep. Mike Castle,
DE)**
Presentation to Josh Heird Left
info: Jack Maniko, Leg. Counsel Info left for Rebecca Jones Hunt
(Rep. Mike Simpson, ID)
(Rep. John Dingell, MI, new Chairman (Rep. Ernest Istook,
OK)
Committee on Energy and Commerce
authorizing NIH funding
Meeting with Brian
Martin, Policy Director Info left for the
Representative
(Rep. Gene Taylor, MS)
Info left for Taryn Nader, Legislative Assistant
At office of Rep. Ed Markey, MA
Presented to Kate Reinhalter
Craig Meyers works as a government relations consultant
for the Washington, DC, firm of Edington, Peel and Associates. On
behalf of his clients, he is working to improve the disparities in
health care and to give a voice to underserved and under-represented in
this arena. Prior to Dr. Darling's trips and in DC, Craig, a FAIR
Foundation member, graciously took time to advise our Founder
on the climate within Congress and we are very grateful.
L-R Craig, his wife, Corey and
Dr. Darling
relaxing at a dinner event
Our nation's youth come to Washington to see it in action. Here you see
the National Youth
Leadership Conference as they descend on the Dirksen Senate Office
building for a tour. These
youngsters came from throughout America for this special day.
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