Capitol Hill Day 2005
Second annual Capitol Hill Day inspires, educates
Posted April 12, 2005
The voice of the psoriasis community resonated in the halls of Congress on April 11 as nearly 60 Psoriasis Foundation staff and volunteers took part in the National Psoriasis Foundation's second annual Capitol Hill Day. The event brought together people from a total of 17 states to meet with more than 80 congressional offices.
The Psoriasis Foundation's agenda was to ask for three specific items: - Federal funding for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis research
- Congressional recognition of August as Psoriasis Awareness Month
- Support of the Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act of 2005 (S. 424/H.R. 583), which would provide enhanced programs at the local level to improve quality of life for people with various forms of the disease, including psoriatic arthritis
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Psoriasis Foundation volunteers Rhonda Dupras, Samantha Sutherland and Rachel Green meet with Tiffany Kebodeaux, Senator Cornyn's (R-Texas) legislative correspondent for health issues during Capitol Hill Day 2005 on April 11. (photo credit: Rachel Green)
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Some volunteers walked away with confirmed support of the requests; all of the volunteers were buoyed by the opportunity to meet with their representatives to discuss issues important to the psoriasis community.
For some volunteers, the meetings were an opportunity to present to legislators basic information about the physical and emotional burden of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. For those volunteers who took part in Capitol Hill Day 2004, the meetings were an opportunity to reinforce to their members of Congress the importance of increased research funding and overall awareness for these diseases. For everyone, Capitol Hill Day provided direct participation in the political process and an opportunity for individual voices to be heard.
Advocacy efforts such as Capitol Hill Day and corresponding action alert e-mails to Foundation Members are new territory for the National Psoriasis Foundation and are an important step forward.
"We want to see specific actions taken on specific asks—such as increased federal funding of psoriasis research," said Gail Zimmerman, president and CEO of the Psoriasis Foundation. "We recognize that a critical step to get to these actions is meeting with Congress to get psoriasis on their radar."
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It's not too late to add your voice to Capitol Hill. The National Psoriasis Foundation, for the first time ever, is conducting a nationwide letter-writing campaign. Contact your representatives to let them know that federal funding of psoriasis research is important.
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To this end, in addition to Capitol Hill Day meetings, Zimmerman took part in a 12-city satellite media tour. On April 11, she and Foundation Member Gregg Blumberg, of East Hampton, N.Y., arrived at Washington, D.C. television studios at 5:30 a.m. to record more than three hours of radio and television interviews. The interviews were fed by satellite to various states, educating millions across the country about psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and the importance of the Capitol Hill Day agenda.
The Psoriasis Foundation is excited to continue these efforts through various advocacy opportunities, and to host an even larger Capitol Hill Day next year. More information, including photos and quotes from volunteers, will be available in the July/August Psoriasis Advance magazine.
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