Help the Gulf War Veterans who are ill from 1990-91.

Help the Gulf War Veterans who are ill from 1990-91.
 
This is an urgent immediate action item.  I am asking all to help.  
 
On the table now is Gulf War illness Research funding thru the DOD CDMRP Program.
We have had to do this yearly to get the money appropriated and authorized.
 
WE need you to contact your Senators now by calling their DC office!  Particular attention should be paid to those serving on the Senate Appropriations- Defense Subcommittee and the Committee on Armed Services members!!!        Go to www.senate.gov and go to those two committee members list, get their names, then go to www.senate.gov to get the contact details phone numbers to those Committee members and call their DC offices NOW!  
 
Then also follow up with your own Senators in your state to be sure they know your concern!
 
This is urgent and timely and needs to be done now!
 
Senator Sanders of Vermont is the one leading this charge for us.
 
We are asking for funding at the 25 million dollar mark for FY2010- Defense Appropriations Bill- that will provide approximately 13 million for pilot studies to identify effective treatments and diagnostic tests, 8 million for clinical trials of treatments identified as effective in previous pilot studies, and 4 million for a center of excellence to identify promising candidates for treatments and diagnostic tests.
 
It would represent Congress taking the first step to implement the RAC report’s recommendation that "the Administration request and Congress appropriate a minimum of 40 million annually to the DOD-CDMRP Gulf War illness Research program."  This process opens the door to all interested researchers including public and private universities and federal laboratories.
 
Unfortunately, exposures to toxins, chemical weapons, and other hazardous substances are a permanent reality for our service members.  We need to fulfill our moral and ethical obligations to provide treatment for ill gulf war veterans and for potential future exposures.
 
The DOD funded two thirds of this work prior to onset of the current wars and then it zeroed out the account.  We responded in 2005 with the initiative using the DOD CDMRP
to respond to the need to continue this work.
 
Sincerely,
Denise Nichols, dsnurse1@yahoo.com
Vice Chair National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition