Thanks to another strong turnout from the ME/CFS advocacy community, 14 Senators and 28 Congressional Representatives joined together to sign this bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in support of people with ME/CFS. The bicameral letter was sponsored by Senator Ed Markey (MA) in the Senate and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (CA-18) in the House of Representatives. The letter was drafted as an urgent response to the sudden termination of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC). The letter does the following:
(1) States that more must be done by HHS to address ME/CFS needs,
(2) Describes the challenges we face,
(3) Requests that HHS explain how it will fill the gap left by the September 2018 dissolution of CFSAC,
(4) Poses detailed questions regarding the ME/CFS activities and plans of the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control, and
(5) Requests a formal response from HHS by January 12, 2019.
The letter was signed by:
| STATE | NAME | ||
| CA | Dianne Feinstein | @SenFeinstein | www.facebook.com/SenatorFeinstein/ |
| CA | Kamala D. Harris | @SenKamalaHarris | www.facebook.com/SenatorKamalaHarris/ |
| CT | Richard Blumenthal | @SenBlumenthal | www.facebook.com/SenBlumenthal |
| DE | Christopher A. Coons | @ChrisCoons | www.facebook.com/senatorchriscoons |
| MA | Edward J. Markey | @SenMarkey | www.facebook.com/EdJMarkey |
| MA | Elizabeth Warren | @SenWarren | www.facebook.com/senatorelizabethwarren |
| MD | Chris Van Hollen | @ChrisVanHollen | www.facebook.com/chrisvanhollen/ |
| ME | Angus S. King, Jr. | @SenAngusKing | www.facebook.com/SenatorAngusSKingJr |
| MI | Debbie Stabenow | @SenStabenow | www.facebook.com/SenatorStabenow/ |
| NJ | Cory A. Booker | @SenBooker | |
| NV | Catherine Cortez Masto | @SenCortezMasto | www.facebook.com/SenatorCortezMasto/ |
| OH | Sherrod Brown | @SenSherrodBrown | www.facebook.com/SenatorSherrodBrown/ |
| PA | Robert P. Casey, Jr. | @SenBobCasey | www.facebook.com/SenatorBobCasey |
| WA | Maria Cantwell | @SenatorCantwell | www.facebook.com/senatorcantwell/ |
This month’s joint action on Capitol Hill was executed as a partnership among #MEAction, the Solve ME/CFS Initiative, and the Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association.
