Help ..... !!!
Don't know about
you, but I seem to be receiving a plethora of e-mails in the past two days about
the $13.2million PCa research funding line as part of the CDC (Center for Disease Control) budget. I will spare you yesterday's barrage since it pretty much echoes today's.
In summary,
Darryl Mitteldorf at Malecare Informs us .....
"The line item for FY 2016 CDC prostate cancer funding of $13,205,000 is restored in both the House and Senate appropriations bills, as authored by their committees. Since both the House and Senate committee bills restore funding, there will be no conference discussion, nor is it likely to be debated by the full House or Senate. Only a new amendment by the full Senate committee actually directing the removal of prostate cancer funding could alter this outcome...that is unlikely. "
...... and thanks us for our lobbying effort.
On the other hand, Tom Kirk at UsTOO says ....
"Tomorrow, Thursday, June 25, the Senate Full Committee on Appropriations will mark-up (review and possibly change) the Senate version of the FY 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services Funding Bill. As mentioned in our email yesterday relating to action in the House, it is this bill that contains the CDC budget in which we are asking for restoration of the $13.205 CDC prostate cancer education and awareness funding. If convinced to do so, this mark-up hearing provides the opportunity for committee members to restore that funding."
..... and requests continued lobbying by e-mail.
Can anyone out there help me reconcile these two versions of events? According to UsTOO there will be a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting tomorrow; according to Malecare, the Senate Appropriations Committee already happened, there will be no conference discussion, and re-approval is a done deal.
Parsing the semantics, is one a Full Committee hearing and the earlier hearing just partial? Do we need to jump to action or is this a false alarm? UsTOO has asked us to write letters the past two days ....
Do we need a civics lesson to understand what the heck is going on here ..... ??
I had thought these funds were for PCa research - UsTOO claims they are for eduction and awareness .... does anyone know? And if for education and awareness, who distributes them and how?
This raises a few questions in my mind -
#1 How come I have heard nothing from Zero ...... our very well funded PCa lobbying and political advocacy group; has anyone else?? Aren't they supposed to be our guiding light when it comes to Congressional matters.
#2 Why can't we find a unified and clear PCa voice .... e-mails like this from both Malecare and UsTOO do little for the credibility of either organization. They are confusing, call for action when it is unclear that is needed, and frankly make us wonder who to believe.
The sooner our PCa organisations get their act together and work collaboratively - evidenced by action rather than just words - and in unison, the better it will be for all and the more likely we are to raise the national profile of our disease. The staff and boards of Malecare, UsTOO and Zero need to hear this when they ask for our dollars.
Onwards & upwards, rd
Post Edited (ardeee) : 6/24/2015 5:24:01 PM (GMT-6)