The Cause

On April 23, 2009, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) re-introduced the PARAiD Act of 2009. The act has the potential to infuse more than $43 million into new funding for autoimmune disease research, awareness, and education. H.R. 2084, also called the "Prevention, Awareness, and Research of Autoimmune Diseases Act of 2009" (PARAiD), will bring new funding to the following areas:
-Research on Environmental Triggers of Autoimmune Diseases
-Grants to Increase Awareness of Autoimmune Diseases
-Grants for Education on Relationship between Autoimmune Diseases and Mental Illness
-Loan Repayment Program Regarding Physician Research on Autoimmune Diseases
-Research and Database on Biomarkers of Autoimmune Diseases

Click here to read the full text of the PARAiD Act of 2009.

Action Needed

To reach our goal of 80 co-sponsors in 90 days, each of you must

-Write a letter to your congressional representative to ask for support of H.R. 2084 and to request that he/she become a co-sponsor. Be sure to include details of your story with autoimmune disease to let your Rep. know why this is important to you as a constituent. Send it by Email or Fax.
-Call your congressional representative to ask for support for H.R. 2084 and request that he/she become a co-sponsor. Calls can be made to your representative's office in D.C. or to his/her district office.
-Forward this message to friends and colleagues requesting that they do the same.
-Please note that ANY letters, phone calls, or visits should be reported back to AARDA so that we can follow up and ensure the co-sponsorship! Send us copies of all correspondence and dates of calls and visits to advocacy@aarda.org .

How to Get Started!

Find your congressional representative click here:   You'll need your Zip Code and maybe your Zip+4.

Email: Write your email using our sample template (see below). You can copy our sampleright into the "write your rep" form. Make sure that you personalize it where indicated. Before you hit the send button, please copy it, insert it into an email and send it to advocacy@aarda.org

Fax: Write your letter and fax it to your congressional representative. You can find your representative's fax number by looking at his/her Web site. Please fax or email a copy to AARDA so that we can track your support - Simply cut/copy/paste into email and send it to advocacy@aarda.org  or fax us a copy to 586-776-3900.

Don't have email or a fax? Write your letter, send it to us, and ask us to forward it to your representative. We'll gladly fax it for you. Here is our mailing address: AARDA, 22100 Gratiot Ave., Eastpointe, MI 48021-2227.

Phone: Call your representative to ask for his/her support for H.R. 2084 and request that he/she become a co-sponsor. Tell him or her of the impact that autoimmune diseases has had on your life and that, as a constituent, you are requesting his/her support. You can call your representative's DC office or his/her district office in your area. Look at the representative's Web site for the phone number. You can find those numbers here: http://www.house.gov/
 

Sample Support Letter:

Date

The Honorable INSERT NAME
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative XX LAST NAME XX:

As your constituent and one of the 23.5 million Americans currently suffering from one of the more than 80 chronic autoimmune diseases, I implore you to support H.R. 2084, the "Prevention, Awareness, and Research of Autoimmune Diseases Act of 2009" (PARAiD), which has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health.

XX INSERT YOUR PERSONAL STORY (One paragraph) XX

Introduced by Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) and Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL), the PARAiD Act calls for a congressional authorization to support funding for autoimmune disease research, awareness, and prevention. The PARAiD Act will fund vital sectors of research and innovative programs and aid in the discovery of preventive measures for autoimmune disease patients. The bill includes research on environmental triggers of autoimmune diseases, grants to increase awareness, grants for education on the relationship between autoimmune diseases and mental illness, a loan repayment program regarding physician research on autoimmune diseases, and research and database development on biomarkers of autoimmune disease.

Passage of H.R. 2084 has the potential of being an important catalyst in developing solutions, awareness, and preventive measures for a category of diseases which are burdening the American family at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. As your constituent, I seek your co-sponsorship of H.R. 2084.

Sincerely,

INSERT YOUR NAME, YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS and YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

Donate

Text A-A-R-D-A to 20222 to Donate $5

A one-time donation of $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Messaging and Data Rates May Apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of AARDA by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t . You can unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP to short code 20222. Reply HELP to 20222 for help.