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Urge your members of congress to sign on in support of increased funding for the Division of Viral Hepatitis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in FY2014. Members of Congress need to know that viral hepatitis is a concern in their district, that their constituents are being affected and that this is an issue they need to care about. We need you to tell your story and ask your elected representatives to sign on by April 17, 2012.
Representatives Michael Honda (D-CA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Judy
Chu (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) have sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to every Member of the House asking them to sign on the Letter asking the House Appropriations Committee to support increased funding for the Division of Viral Hepatitis at the CDC
Instructions: Please call your Representative’s Washington, DC office and ask to speak with the staff person who handles health issues. You can call your Representative at 202.225.3121. You will get the Capitol switchboard. Ask to be connected to your Representative’s office. If you don’t know who your Representative is, you can go online to www.house.gov to determine your Member of Congress.
Whether you speak to this person directly or leave a message, tell them:
My name is ____________ and I live in City/State/Zip. I am writing to urge Representative ________________ to sign on to a Dear Colleague funding letter supporting increased funding for viral hepatitis prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The funding letter is being circulated by Reps. Mike Honda, Hank Johnson, Barbara Lee and Judy Chu. [Include brief details on the impact of viral hepatitis on yourself or describe your organization].
There are over 5.3 million Americans impacted by viral hepatitis but the only dedicated federal funding stream provides a mere $21.3 million through CDC. This is insufficient to provide the most basic public health services such as education, counseling, testing, or medical management for people living with or at risk of viral hepatitis.
I urge Representative ___________ to sign on to the viral hepatitis appropriations letter by emailing aj@mail.house.gov.
If you need assistance or want to talk through the process please contact Oscar Mairena.
