Action Alert: February 9, 2009

Do you have 2 minutes to spare?

If so, your voice can help take the Christopher & Dana Reeve Paralysis Act across the finish line. Last month, the CDRPA was inserted into a large bill containing many environmental bills, called the Omnibus Public Land Management Act (S.22). The vast majority of these bills have little to no opposition, strong local supporters and broad, bi-partisan support in Congress, just like the CDRPA. They were packaged together because most of them were blocked by Senatorial holds.

S. 22 successfully passed the Senate, and was sent to the House for a vote before going to the President for his signature. Passage in the House of the same bill represents the final hurdle for the CDRPA to finally become law, and this last jump is upon us, right now.

This week, (tentatively scheduled for Wednesday) the House will vote on the Public Land Management Act. One more time, we are asking you to please voice your support of the CDRPA and call your Representative (Find your Representative's number here).

1. Ask to speak with the Health Legislative Assistant or the Environmental Legislative Assistant, and tell them that the CDRPA, a paralysis research, rehabilitation, and quality of life bill, is included in S.22.

2. Tell them why the CDRPA is important to you, and that last year the same version passed the House unanimously.

3. Ask that your Representative vote YES for passage of S.22, the Public Land Management Act, exactly the way it is. It is essential that S.22 passes with the same language it had in the Senate, so it goes directly to the President.

4. Let them know that you do not want any amendments to the bill, and that you hope they will vote NO on any motion to recommit.

Please call or email your friends and family and ask them to do the same! Your calls will make a difference - Members of Congress keep track of how many constituents support legislation and use the information to decide how to vote.

With all of the major issues before Congress, phone lines have been very busy, so don't be discouraged if you can't get through on the first try. Make sure your voice is heard!

We are almost there - we are just one vote away from a Presidential signature, and the benefits the CDRPA will potentially bring to millions of people living with paralysis.

For more information or to brush up on details of the CDRPA, visit our U2FP website link.

Thank you.

Your friends at Unite 2 Fight Paralysis