Hello,
An important bill was just introduced to the US House of
Representatives that has the potential to greatly increase research funding for
blinding eye conditions, including inherited retinal diseases. To that end, I am asking you to write or call
your Member of the House of Representatives to ask them to support H.R. 6421, the
Faster Treatments and Cures for Eye Diseases Act. Co-sponsors of the bill are: Pete Sessions
(TX), Sanford Bishop (GA), Fred Upton (MI), and Gus Bilirakis (FL).
This legislation,
which has bipartisan support, would significantly increase funding for the translational
biomedical research that will speed development of treatments and cures for all
eye conditions, including inherited retinal diseases, from the lab bench to all
of us, our family and friends.
The Foundation Fighting Blindness has been a driving force
for this critical legislation, and your support now can make it become a
reality.
Visit Find Your
Representative to get contact information for your House Member.
H.R. 6421 creates new financial instruments called Eye-Bonds
which will create $1 billion of new funding specifically designated for
treatments and cures of all causes of blindness and severe vision loss. These funds would be backed by a limited
federal guarantee. Given current federal
deficits, this guarantee has been carefully constructed to ensure that it works
for all of us and should have no material impact on the deficit. See FFB’s press
release for more details on the bill.
With your help, we can get these projects the funding they
need to advance them towards becoming treatments and cures. Please contact your House Member today and
ask him or her to support H.R. 6421, the Faster Treatments and Cures for Eye
Diseases Act.
Again, visit Find Your
Representative to get contact information for your House Member.
Thank you,
Benjamin Yerxa, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Foundation Fighting
Blindness
PS: Here are suggestions for contacting your House Member:
- Phone
calls or e-mails are both good — you will be counted either way.
- Tell
him or her your name, contact information, and where you live in the
district.
- Ask
them to support H.R. 6421, the Faster Treatments and Cures for Eye
Diseases Act.
- If
you are comfortable doing so, let him or her know what eye disease affects
you and your family, and why cures for blindness are so important to you.
- Mention
that Eye-Bonds has bipartisan support, will not increase the budget, and can
be a research-funding model for advancing cures for other diseases like
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
- Thank
him or her for supporting this critical legislation!
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