They came from small towns, big towns, places you’ve never heard of before, and places you dream to visit. Places like North Newton, Kansas, which is home to Bethel College and roughly 1,700 people. And places like New York, New York, home to 8.4 million people, Broadway and Times Square. But they all had one thing in common – arthritis!
On March 14-15, 2016, more than 390 people affected by arthritis traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in ourAdvocacy Summit.
Advocacy Summit is our annual meeting where we convene people from all over the United States, teach them about issues affecting people who have arthritis and set up meetings for them and their members of Congress. It’s an opportunity for people living with arthritis to tell legislators their arthritis story and ask for support in conquering this disease.
What are the Issues?
This year’s Summit focused on two very important issues.
在美国，有一个严重的委员会认证的儿科风湿病医生短缺。8个州没有，5个州只有1。据估计，有30万儿童患有关节炎，找到并获得适当的治疗可能是一项挑战。这就是为什么我们要求国会议员支持1859号决议，即2015年确保儿童获得特殊护理的法案。如果该法案得以实施，儿科专科医生将获得贷款减免计划的资格，以换取在服务不足的地区行医，从而解决短缺问题。
关节炎的患病率在美国军事人员和退伍军人是惊人的高于一般人口。三分之一的退伍军人患有关节炎，而普通人群中只有五分之一。然而，美国国防部(DoD)内部并没有专门的资金用于关节炎研究。这就是为什么我们要求国会帮助我们的军人，这些人冒着生命危险保护我们的自由，建立一个专门的2000万美元的国防部关节炎研究基金。
We also asked members of Congress to join our Congressional Arthritis Caucus. Composed of members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, this group works to educate their fellow lawmakers about arthritis and advocate on behalf of legislation that will help those living with the disease.
Our Advocacy Summit Results
It’s been almost one month since our 390 Summit attendees met with Congress and the results are good.
As a direct result of our Summit activities, we have secured 7 new co-sponsors of H.R. 1859, bringing the total number of sponsors up to 45. Thank you to these legislators who are now supporting the bill: Rep. Don Young (AK); Rep. Mike Capuano (MA); Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ); Rep. Walter Jones (NC); Rep. Tim Ryan (OH); Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA); and Rep. Chris Smith (NJ).
We also secured 45 total signers of a letter supporting establishment of dedicated DoD arthritis research fund. Thank you to these legislators for signing the letter: Rep. Anna Eshoo (CA); Rep. David McKinley (WV); Rep. Andy Barr (KY); Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH); Rep. Dan Benishek (MI); Rep. Donald Beyer (VA); Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR); Rep. Michael Capuano (MA); Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX); Rep. Chris Collins (NY); Rep. Barbara Comstock (VA); Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (MI); Rep. Rick Crawford (AR); Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD); Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR); Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI); Rep. Eliot Engel (NY); Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (PA); Rep. Chris Gibson (NY); Rep. Gene Green (TX); Rep. Jim Himes (CT); Rep. Ruben Hinjosa (TX); Rep. Robin Kelly (IL); Rep. Peter King (NY); Rep. Rick Larsen (WA); Rep. Ted Lieu (CA); Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA); Rep. Patrick Murphy (FL); Rep. Mark Pocan (WI); Rep. Charles Rangel (NY); Rep. Dave Reichert (WA); Del. Gregorio K. C. Sablan (MP); Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA); Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL); Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA); Rep. Niki Tsongas (MA); Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD); Rep. Tim Walz (MN); Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ); Rep. Kathleen Rice (NY); Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (WI); Rep. John Katko (NY); Rep. Janice Hahn (CA); Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA); and Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC).
We are also pleased to welcome 8 new members to the Congressional Arthritis Caucus, bringing total membership up to 138. We extend a heartfelt welcome to these new members: Rep. Gene Green (TX); Rep. Ryan Zinke (NY); Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH); Rep. John Duncan (TN); Rep. Ted Yoho (FL); Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR); Sen. Jon Tester (MT); and Rep. Rob Bishop (UT).
Plans are already underway for the 2017 Advocacy Summit. Stay tuned for more information and, until then, click here tolearn more about our Advocate program.
Related Resources:
- Nearly 400 Advocates Arrive in D.C. for 2016 Arthritis Foundation Advocacy Summit
- Finding Their Voices: Advocates Prepare for Meetings on the Hill
- Empowered Advocates of All Ages Share Their Stories at the Advocacy Summit
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