You Can Help Secure $15 million for MS Research

Twenty seven members of the Senate have signed on in support of an increased investment of $15 million for multiple sclerosis research. Now the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee will decide whether MS will receive this funding. One of your Senators serves on this committee, and it's important that they hear from people like you who support this effort. To find out which one, click here.

Take Action Today

• Call your Representative's Washington, D.C. office to talk about this issue. Call the Capitol switchboard at 1-800-828-0498 to be connected.
• Make an appointment to visit with your Representative or their staff while they are home in your district during the June 30-July 4 recess.
• Attend a community or town hall meeting. Call the district office for a schedule.
  

For your Representative's contact information, visit http://www.house.gov/.

You can use these talking points and background when you speak with your Senator:

• As a member of the SenateAppropriations Committee, I'd like to ask for your support for $15 million for MS research funding in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.
• 27 of your colleagues have sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee asking them to support this request.
• [Share how MS has impacted you personally]
• Preliminary evidence suggests that Gulf War veterans could have an increased risk of MS.
  More than 25,000 veterans being treated in the VHA are living with a diagnosis of MS. A recent study in the Annals of Neurology identified more than 5,000 cases of MS among U.S. veterans that were deemed "service-connected."
• A study found an unexpected, doubling of MS between 1993 and 2000 in Kuwait, which suggests a potential environmental trigger for MS because of exposure to neurotoxins such as burning oil fields and poison gases.
  

Thank you for being an MS activist. Join the movement at www.nationalMSsociety.org/advocacy.