June 2007

Dear Advocacy Volunteers,

With almost three years walking the halls of Congress to advocate for psoriasis behind me, this month's visit signaled a tipping point. Psoriasis has made it on the Capitol Hill map! Hill staffers crowded a room to hear about our cause. We held meetings with members of Congress-senators and representatives—with cameras flashing. Staff, interns and tourists chased us down in hallways to take pictures. Strangers stopped us to ask if we were on the Hill to talk about psoriasis.

What brought us to this point? Two factors: a celebrity spokesperson and the first-ever comprehensive psoriasis legislation for the celebrity to talk about! On June 11 and 12, I walked the halls of Congress with CariDee English, America's Next Top Model®. Now the Psoriasis Foundation's spokesperson, CariDee is what you would expect: tall, vivacious and beautiful. She is also focused, determined and courageous, and although she is steeped in a business obsessed with image and appearance, she came to Washington to speak out for a disease not associated with beauty—psoriasis.

For weeks leading up to the D.C. visit, the National Psoriasis Foundation and our government relations consultants in Washington worked to organize a congressional briefing on psoriasis featuring CariDee, followed by a day of visits to members of Congress. CariDee was a fantastic attraction to the under-30 age set-i.e., many of the staffers on Capitol Hill! The briefing was standing-room-only, with about 115 attendees. You could hear a pin drop in the room as CariDee talked about her experiences with psoriasis, which only a short two years ago covered 70 percent of her body.

The program was strengthened by another guest speaker: CariDee's mom, Pam Flesness. Pam is a dedicated parent and retired science teacher who herself has psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Having both mother and daughter address this audience was in itself a strong statement about the genetics of psoriasis. Several members of the National Psoriasis Foundation Board of Trustees also attended, underscoring the event's importance.

The success of the briefing was buoyed by the last-minute addition of Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., as a speaker. Straight off a red-eye flight from Portland, Ore., Rep. Wu addressed the briefing audience, touting the importance of our bill, the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Research, Cure and Care Act (PPARCCA), which he introduced in the House last February. He also revealed to the group that his 9-year-old son has psoriasis.

Following this "off-the-chart" event, we carried on the next day with eleven Capitol Hill meetings-five with the members of Congress themselves and the remainder with their staff. Two of these members—Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.—agreed on the spot to co-sponsor PPARCCA! (CariDee and her mom are from North Dakota.) Since the visit to Capitol Hill, we have picked up even more co-sponsors—we now have 43 in the House and four in the Senate. The Senate bill was just introduced a few weeks ago, so we expect more senators to sign on in the coming weeks, especially with your help!

We have much work ahead of us to reinforce the message that CariDee brought to Washington, but it's clear that her participation is moving legislators to recognize psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and get behind PPARCCA (H.R. 1188 in the House and S. 1459 in the Senate).

As always, we depend on you, our active volunteers and advocates, to ask your elected representatives to act on the issues that are important to you. Policymakers listen and respond to people who live and vote in their districts and states! I have seen it over and over on Capitol Hill. Through our actions as a community we will move toward a cure and improve access to care for people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

With CariDee's visit fresh in the minds of members of Congress, now is the time to contact your representative and senators and ask them to co-sponsor the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Research, Cure and Care Act. The bill will not move forward without their support! To send your elected representatives a message asking them to co-sponsor PPARCCA, please visit http://capwiz.com/psoriasis/go/alert_s1459 (Senate) and http://capwiz.com/psoriasis/go/alert_hr1188 (House).

Sheila Rittenberg
Director of Advocacy