CDRPA
March 30, 2009: President Barack Obama signs the CDRPA into law!
Update: The CDRPA passed on Wednesday, March 25, as part of the Public Lands Bill. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen. Stay tuned for news of a press conference and celebration in the coming weeks! For more details, read the complete bill text here.
March 2009: The Public Lands Bill (which includes the CDRPA) has stalled in the House of Representatives, and a vote has not been scheduled. In light of this development, Rep. Tammy Baldwin re-introduced the CDRPA as a stand-alone bill in late January as HR 307. The bill has now passed out of committee.
Constituents should continue to ask their Representatives to support the Public Lands Bill, as it still represents our best chance for passage of the CDRPA. If we have to rely on the stand-alone House bill, it would have to go back to the Senate after passing the House, and to date we have been unable to get it past Sen. Coburn's hold.
February 2009: Time for Action: Call-in to your House representatives. The vote has been postponed until late February; information on how to contact your representatives is here.
January 2009: The CDRPA finally passed in the United States Senate as part of S22, the Public Lands Bill. It now moves on to the House of Representatives, where there is some opposition to this omnibus bill. Watch our email alerts for potential action in contacting your representatives.
September 2008: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) recognizes the advocate community in his Senate testimony on 9/30/08:
"Even though this legislation has Christopher & Dana Reeve's names behind it, it was really written for the thousands of ordinary Americans living with paralysis and spinal cord injuries and their families and friends who pushed the cause of improved research and treatment."
Sen. Harkin goes on to mention the work of Unite 2 Fight Paralysis and advocates Betheny Winkler, Donna Sullivan, Leo Hallan and Marilyn Smith. Watch the video of his testimony, or read the complete transcript.
To date Senator Coburn has refused to remove his hold on the legislation. At this time we don't yet know whether Senator Harkin will try one more time for passage during the lame duck session of this Congress. Sign up for our email alerts to stay informed.
Senator Harkin will continue to pursue enactment of this bill, if not in the 2008 lame duck session of Congress then in the new year. We will provide updates on the bill's status after the election.
You can review the bill's provisions and listen to the testimony given at our April 2008 Congressional Briefing by following the links below.
Thomas.gov with links to bill’s text, current status, list of cosponsors
CDRPA FAQ’s
Why CDRPA
15 April 2008 Congressional Briefing Testimony:
Dr. Wise Young
Dr. Stephen Davies
Dr. Mark Hurtt
Dr. Damien Pearse