Apparently the bill has had a "hold" placed on it by Sens. Coburn (OK), Enzi (WY), and perhaps
Senator DeMint (SC). This prevents it from coming to the floor for a vote. But as I understand it, the Majority Leader, Sen. Reid, can override the hold and get it to the floor. So send an email to him, too.
Several of my cancer parent friends were in D.C. last week, speaking to the congresspeople (or their aids.) We're all getting an intense lesson in how these things work. It's not as simple as Schoolhouse Rock taught us.
What we've learned: Sponsors are the ones who write the legislation. All a co-sponsor does is
pledge ahead of time that they will vote for it. There is no work or anything required to be a co-sponsor, it is just a pledge of support. So, by not co-sponsoring they are not pledging a vote so to speak. Most likely they are undecided or against (or possibly just too lazy to ask their aid to add their name to the co-sponsor list). The other reason co-sponsoring is important: the more co-sponsors the bill has the more obvious it is that it is bi-partisan and non-controversial.
In any case, as Jess says, write to everyone. Curesearch has a handy thing that will automatically draft a letter to your senator, and will note whether they are are co-sponsor or not.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Dear Lizard Eater,
First, I will keep your daughter and the family in my prayers forever.
I went to DC with CureSearch. The 3 senators that I thought were putting a hold are Coburn, Enzi and Kyl. I wrote to each one to confirm that they are indeed putting a hold. I got a response from Enzi's office stating as follow. My notes are in brackets:
---
There are no hold on this bill [what a lie], as the bill has not been (and is not being) hotlined [whatever that means. maybe their way of playing with words so that the above is not a lie].
Senator Enzi does not support the bill although it has been reported out of Committee.
---
I am very active in the fight to get this bill to pass and have become more and more involved.
I created a website to raise awareness of childhood cancer and ask the readers to write to their senators and representatives.
www.conquerchildhoodcancer.com.
Also, a dad whose son passed away from Burkitt's Lymphoma started a petition to ask the media to speak about childhood cancer.
www.thepetitionsite.com/1/CureChildhoodCancer
I have no problem alerting the media that those senators are holding the bill, but would like be certain if it is Kyl or DeMint or both. Also I need them to admit it first to protect myself before alerting the media in their state.
Please feel free to contact me anytime.
Dan Cohen
e-mail : danco1968@hotmail.com
www.conquerchildhoodcancer.com
www.thepetitionsite.com/1/CureChildhoodCancer
sorry... apparently the blogger website address got inserted in front of the email address and websites listed in my salutation below. Please copy and paste instead of clicking on it.
Thanks
sorry.. wrong direction.... I meant the email address and websites above.
Hello,
I have some good news that I wold like to share.
CureSearch will send out an official release stating that today, July 16 2008, the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2007 has been passed in the Senate.
You may visit their site tomorrow:
www.curesearch.org
Regards,
Dan Cohen
e-mail : danco1968@hotmail.com
www.conquerchildhoodcancer.com
www.thepetitionsite.com/1/CureChildhoodCancer
Yes, I got the email from Kate Shafer. Celebrating in our home tonight!
Dear Lizard Easter:
Curt McCormick from CureSearch here. YES! The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act has passed in the Senate by unanimous consent! THANK YOU so much to each of you who helped. This was a long battle and we needed every inch of help we got.
Thank you Dan for your input, you were spot-on with everything you wrote. It was touch and go the whole way...
Please go to www.curesearch.org to see the press release.
On the White House! Hooray for research!
Post a Comment