Parkinson's Disease

I helped found the Congressional Working Group on Parkinson’s Disease in February 1999 along with Representatives Fred Upton, Lane Evans, Joe Skeen, Mark Udall, Tom Udall, and Henry Waxman. Now called the Bicameral Congressional Caucus on Parkinson's Disease, this bipartisan Caucus works to increase awareness among Members of Congress on issues related to Parkinson's Disease, including improving the state of Parkinson's related research. I am a caucus co-chair with my colleagues, Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Peter King (R-NY). The Caucus works to promote the proper implementation of the Morris K. Udall legislation. In 1997, Congress enacted the Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Research Act, which authorized up to $100 million in new funding for research focused on Parkinson’s. Since 1999, there has been a bipartisan commitment to increase funding for Parkinson’s Disease research and treatment. The Caucus has been instrumental in securing more than $225 million in funding for the only Parkinson’s-specific program in the federal government – the Department of Defense’s Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research (NETRP) Program.  The Caucus also sponsors briefings about Parkinson’s Disease and other related biomedical research issues, and disseminates information to interested parties.

Legislation

02/02/00 - H.RES.414, Expressing the sense of Congress Supporting Federal Funding for Toward Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research to Further Research into Parkinson's Disease [106th Congress]

Documents/Reports

03/19/08 – Letter to Appropriators requesting funding for the Department of Defense’s Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research (NETRP) Program

Links

Medline Plus

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

NINDS - Parkinson's Disease Information Page

NINDS - Parkinson’s Research Web

Bicameral Congressional Caucus on Parkinson's Disease

American Parkinson’s Disease Association

Parkinson’s Action Network
 

Press Releases