I dont know when the deadline for this is but I thought it was worth mentioning and sharing. I know there are some military dependent members here as also some who used to be military.... thought it ight be of interest
http://www.naar.org/govt/render_leg.asp?intNewsItemID=276
Autism Action Alert
6 April 2005
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NAAR is asking you to contact your Members of Congress to request million for autism research in the “FY 2006 Military Quality of Life & Veterans Appropriations Bill” through the Department of Defense (DoD) Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program.
Autism is now considered the fastest growing developmental disorder in the United States. Congress must intensify its commitment to increasing and enhancing the federal government’s contribution to autism research.
Based on the most recent prevalence data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), autism occurs in as many as 1 in every 166 Americans, including as many as 12,000 children in military families (active duty, reserve and guard). Despite this strikingly high prevalence, autism research remains one of the lowest funded areas of medical research in both the public and private sector.
Last year, NAAR led a broad coalition of autism organizations that got autism added – for the first time ever - to the list of diseases and disorders eligible for funding through the DoD’s Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program, which each year invests tens of millions of dollars into various medical research programs. This was an excellent start made possible largely through the efforts of NAAR supporters other autism advocates.
Today, we need your help again for the 2006 fiscal year. We must ensure that investigators focusing on autism have the resources they need to unravel the mysteries of this devastating disorder. We have an opportunity to do this through the FY 2006 Military Quality of Life & Veterans Appropriations Bill.
Military families are substantially affected by the financial and emotional costs of raising a child with autism. In fact, given the frequent duty station changes and social turmoil of military service, military children with an autism spectrum disorder often face additional challenges that their civilian counterparts do not. Autism's impact also extends to the performance and readiness of service members (and their units) who have children with autism. A service member with a child with autism may be restricted in terms of assignments and what the military calls “deployability,” which has the potential of placing a higher burden on others who serve.
My niece, an Army medic stationed in the Pacific, is expecting her first child. Her husband, an Army sergeant who just returned from a two-year tour of duty in Iraq, has now been deployed to a location 5,000 miles from her. Far away from all of us, she will have to raise her baby alone for much of the next several years. Imagine if a child with autism is born into such a typical military family. The additional hardship is staggering.
You can help by urging your elected officials in Washington to sign a letter supporting an effort to secure million for autism research funding in the FY 2006 Military Quality of Life & Veterans Appropriations Bill.
Click here to download or print a letter that was sent to all Members of Congress to support the measure.
We are asking you to mail, fax or e-mail this letter to your elected officials in Washington with a simple cover letter from you asking for their support on this request. When you contact your Representative, invite him or her to please contact Michael Spira with Rep. McCarthy at (202) 225-5516 or Andy Napoli with Rep. Smith at (202) 225-3765 to sign the letter of support.
Click here to locate your Congressman or Congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives and send an e-mail to urge him or her to support this request for research.
Click here to locate your Senator in the U.S. Senate and send an e-mail to urge him or her to support this request for research.
Please remember to let us know which elected officials you have sent a request to on behalf of this issue by sending an e-mail to naar@naar.org. We’ll keep track of which Members of Congress sign on to this effort and send out an update shortly.
While we have made significant progress in recent years increasing autism research dollars at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as surveillance and public health funding at the CDC, much more must be done. With NIH funding remaining relatively flat, we must seek alternative sources of revenue.
Our government must rise to the challenge faced by an absolutely overwhelming number of our children.
NAAR wishes to thank Representatives Carolyn McCarthy (NY) and Christopher Smith (NJ) for their leadership in supporting this important initiative.
And of course, we thank you for your extraordinary support.
Sincerely,
Ann Gibbons
Chair, NAAR Governmental Affairs Committee
Mother of a child with autism
I thought they already had debates on the budget for 2006? They usually decide those things in the winter. It is a good idea for the 2007 budget tho.
Tammy