Advocacy Action Alert

AARDA NEEDS EVERY AUTOIMMUNE PATIENT, FAMILY MEMBER, AND FRIEND TO CONTACT THEIR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 2084

The Issue

On April 23, 2009, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) re-introduced the PARAiD Act of 2009. The act has the potential to infuse more than $43 million into new funding for autoimmune disease research, awareness, and education. H.R. 2084, also called the "Prevention, Awareness, and Research of Autoimmune Diseases Act of 2009" (PARAiD), will bring new funding to the following areas:

- Research on Environmental Triggers of Autoimmune Diseases
- Grants to Increase Awareness of Autoimmune Diseases
- Grants for Education on Relationship between Autoimmune Diseases and Mental Illness
- Loan Repayment Program Regarding Physician Research on Autoimmune Diseases
- Research and Database on Biomarkers of Autoimmune Diseases

Click here to read the complete text of the PARAiD Act of 2009:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2084ih.txt.pdf

Action Needed

In order to ensure passage of this landmark legislation, we need to do the following:
- Write an Email letter to your congressman asking for support of H.R. 2084 and requesting that he/she become a co-sponsor. Be sure to include details of your story with autoimmune disease, letting your Rep. know why this is important to you as a constituent.
- Call your congressional representative to ask for support for H.R. 2084 and request that he/she become a co-sponsor.
- Forward this message to friends and colleagues requesting that they do the same.

How to Get Started!

- Find your congressional representative: http://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
- Write your email using our sample template (see below). Personalize where indicated.
- Send your email of support to your congressional representative https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml and send AARDA a copy of your email so that we can track your support - Simply cut/copy and paste and Email it to us at aarda@aarda.org.
- Call your representative to ask support for H.R. 2084 and request that he/she become a co-sponsor because of the impact that autoimmune diseases has had on your life and because you are a constituent who wants his/her support. Get the phone number for your congressional representatives - http://www.house.gov/

Sample Support Letter

Dear Representative _________,

As a constituent of your congressional district I would like to request your support for H.R. 2084, cited as the Prevention, Awareness, and Research of Autoimmune Diseases (PARAiD) Act of 2009. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), autoimmune diseases affect more than 23.5 million Americans and they have been shown to be on the rise. There is no cure for any of the 80-100 diseases classified as autoimmune, such as, lupus, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, vasculitis, vitiligo, psoriasis, and celiac disease.

The $43 million that H.R. 2084 could authorize for autoimmune disease research, awareness, and education has the potential to lay the foundation for new discoveries and understanding of autoimmune diseases.

personalize one or both of these statements:

The discoveries and increased understanding that could be obtained through passage of H.R. 2084 would affect my life through...

H.R. 2084 is important to me because...

Rep. ____________, in addition to my request for your support of H.R. 2084, I would also like to ask that you become a co-sponsor of this landmark legislation. The funding authorized in H.R. 2084 will not only positively affect my family and me, but the millions of Americans suffering from autoimmune diseases around the country.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

First and Last Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Email:
Daytime phone: