Earlier this appropriations season, we put out a call to action asking you to contact your Senators in support of ME/CFS research funding, and so many of you responded. We’ve had 918 community members reach out to their members of Congress, with 2,516 individual outreaches to Senators and Representatives. I know that it can feel like a small thing sometimes: Send an email, make a call, fill out a form. But it’s how we make sure that our community gets heard in the Hall of Congress.
When we have champions like Sen. Markey fighting for us inside Congress, when we line things up through the official processes those offices use, and when we ask you to contact your Senators about something that is genuinely easy for them to say yes to? That combination is powerful. Your calls and emails are the signal that tells other Senators this issue matters to their constituents. And it works. We get results. You can take a look at the two appropriations letters we had circulating in the Senate here (Defense Letter) and here (Labor, Health, and Human Services Letter). You can view the House side letters here and here.
Here’s where we ended up this year on the Senate side:
Defense Appropriations Letter
Requesting continued inclusion of ME/CFS as an eligible topic area in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP). Our Congressional champions who signed on in support this year are:
- Sen. Markey (MA)
- Sen. Van Hollen (MD)
- Sen. King (ME)
- Sen. Smith (MN)
- Sen. Merkley (OR)
- Sen. Hirono (HI)
- Sen. Klobuchar (MN)
- Sen. Padilla (CA)
- Sen. Kelly (AZ)
Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Letter
Requesting $50 million in NIH Roadmap Funding and $15.4 million in ME/CFS program funding at the Centers for Disease Control. Our congressional champions who signed on in support this year are:
- Sen. Markey (MA)
- Sen. Van Hollen (MD)
- Sen. Smith (MN)
- Sen. King (ME)
- Sen. Blumenthal (CT)
- Sen. Padilla (CA)
- Sen. Merkley (OR)
- Sen. Alsobrooks (MD)
- Sen. Klobuchar (MN)
- Sen. Wyden (OR)
On the House side:
Signatures on our Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Letter:
- Rep. Lofgren
- Rep. Pingree
- Rep. Beyer
- Rep. Bynum
- Rep. Schakowsky
Signatures on Defense Appropriations Letter:
- Rep. Lofgren
- Rep. Pingree
The House signees are significant because last year, with the retirement of Rep. Eshoo, we actually didn’t have anyone to champion us as a community on that side at all!
We are so grateful to both Sen. Markey’s office and Rep. Lofgren’s office for carrying our efforts this year. Every single Senator and Representative who signs on dramatically increases the likelihood that our requests make it into the final versions of the Senate funding bills. This list matters a lot.
This is what it looks like when a community shows up together. I’m so grateful for every email you sent, every call you made, and every spoon you shared with this community to make it happen. It is not lost on us what it costs to take action.