I recently had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC with 24 other Georgians to advocate for legislation and funding that will improve the lives of people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias and lead us to a cure for this dreaded disease. We represented every Congressional district in Georgia and we were joined by 1,200 other advocates from across the country! On Tuesday, June 19th we painted Capitol Hill Purple together. I was able to participate in a meeting with staff of both Senators Isakson and Perdue. I also joined a fellow constituent in D04 to meet with staff of Congressman Hank Johnson. I had the opportunity to thank him for his co-sponsorship of The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) and to ask him to sign on as a co-sponsor of the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (BOLD). We also discussed the need for increased Alzheimer’s Research funding for NIH.
We all learned this week that our efforts were effective. PCHETA passed the House Sub-committee favorably and the Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $425M increase for Alzheimer’s Research funding. I will continue to advocate for this important issue as every 65 seconds someone in the US develops the disease and 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer’s another dementia. Join me in this fight by visiting https://www.alz.org/get-involved-now/advocate!
Sincerely,
Phyllis Kitchens Thurmond