PI Action alerts & updates ... 2004

Urge Your Representative
To Sign ADAP “Dear Colleague” Letter

Representative Mary Bono (R-CA) has authored a “Dear Colleague” letter, asking her colleagues to sign a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. This letter asks the Bush Administration to include a $250 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in the Fiscal Year 2006 budget request.

The Administration is already working on a draft of this request, with a final to be released in February. A long and bipartisan list of signatures on this letter would be a signal that Congress would like more leadership on the ADAP crisis from the White House.

The current deadline for signatures is this Friday, October 8. Please take a few minutes to call your House Representative and urge him/her to sign this important letter!

How you can help:
Call your U.S. House Representative (calls to Senators not needed at this time). Ask to speak to the legislative staffperson who handles HIV/AIDS and healthcare issues. Whether you talk to this person live or leave a message, tell them:

Sample message:

“I am a constituent and I urge Representative _____________ to sign Representative Mary Bono’s letter to Secretary Thompson asking for a $250 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in the Fiscal Year 2006 budget request. ADAPs around the country are facing a financial crisis and this increase would help eliminate waiting lists and allow people to access lifesaving treatment. To sign this letter, contact Katherine Martin in Representative Bono’s office.”

Contact information:
You can reach your Representative by calling the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at 1-800-839-5276. You’ll need to know who represents you in order to be transferred. If you don’t know who represents you in Congress, go to www.vote-smart.org.

Thank you for your quick response to this Alert!