Tips for Congressional Visits

March 18, 2008

When the North American Brain Tumor Coalition makes visits to Congressional offices on May 6, some advocates will have significant experience in making Hill visits, while others will be newcomers. The attached tips document may be useful to pros and novices alike. Preparation for Hill visits will occur during the Brain Tumor Action Week education day on May 5, from 9 am to 5 pm, at the Washington Circle Hotel, but you may want to review the “tips” document in advance of the training session. For more information please see Tips for Congressional Visits.

Posted in Brain Tumor Action Week

Senate Approves Budget Adjustment for NIH; First Step in Long Battle to Boost NIH Funding

March 18, 2008

On March 13, the United States Senate, by an overwhelming vote of 95 to 4, approved an amendment to the budget resolution offered by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA). The Specter-Harkin amendment added $2.1 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the Senate version of the budget resolution. This amount is in addition to the $900 million already recommended for NIH by the Senate Budget Committee. As a result of this positive Senate action, the NIH budget could be boosted by as much as $3 billion, or more than 10 percent, over FY 2008 levels.

This action is only the first step in a long budget and appropriations (more...)

Posted in Advocacy Positions, General News, Spending Bills

Advocacy Agenda for Brain Tumor Action Week

March 18, 2008

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition will focus on two core goals during Brain Tumor Action Week advocacy activities. First, the NABTC will seek to support a stronger brain tumor research effort at the National Institutes of Health. Although research budgets are tight and increases in research funding are difficult to achieve, the Coalition will be pressing Congress to give greater emphasis to brain tumor research and to protect existing programs for clinical and translational brain tumor research.

The Coalition will also continue its ongoing efforts to ensure brain tumor patients access to quality health care. A first step is eliminating the Medicare waiting period, which forces some brain tumor patients to delay or alter their (more...)

Posted in Advocacy Positions, Brain Tumor Action Week

Proclamations for Brain Tumor Action Week

March 9, 2008

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition encourages brain tumor advocates to participate in Brain Tumor Action Week advocacy activities in Washington, D.C. on May 5 and 6. For those advocates who are unable to travel to the nation’s capital, there are many opportunities to advance the brain tumor research and care agenda in your local communities. In past years, advocates have been successful in persuading their local and state elected officials to issue proclamations for Brain Tumor Action Week. These proclamations have increased awareness of brain tumors among policymakers and the public and have highlighted the research and health care needs of those with brain tumors. The North American Brain Tumor Coalition encourages (more...)

Posted in Action Items, Brain Tumor Action Week

ACT Now in Support of Specter-Harkin Budget Amendment

March 9, 2008

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATORS THE WEEK OF MARCH 10 TO REQUEST A “YES” VOTE ON THE SPECTER-HARKIN AMENDMENT. During Senate consideration of the FY 2009 Budget Resolution, Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) will offer an amendment to provide an additional $2.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This amount would be added to the $950 million increase recommended by the Senate Budget Committee and, if approved, would result in $3 billion in additional resources for NIH in FY 2009. This increase of 10.24 percent is significantly larger than the proposal of the biomedical research community, which was an increase of 6.5 percent for NIH. The budget allocation for NIH is the (more...)

Posted in Action Items