CURE Epilepsy urges everyone to contact their respective representative and senators to recommend passage of The RISE Act (H.R.869, S.289).
The Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act’s Purpose: “To authorize appropriations to offset costs resulting from reductions in research productivity in connection with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and for other purposes.” It would authorize $25 billion in funding to restart research, jumpstart crucial clinical trials, repair breaks in the career pipeline that jeopardize our nation’s scientific and technological capacity, and prevent a loss of our strategic research capacity. The funding includes $10 billion that would be specifically deployed to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to address massive setbacks in life-saving research. This RISE Act would restore continuity in science and technology priorities, enabling forward momentum at a time in our history when the value of past, present, and future scientific and technological discovery has never been more apparent.
The bill has bipartisan support and is being sponsored by House Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI), and Senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).
What You Can Do
Please contact your representative and senators and ask them to support the RISE Act. You can reach them by letter, email, or phone. Please be sure to include your full name, street address, city, state, and zip code with any email or letter. If you’re not sure what to say, a suggested script is provided below. Please personalize as you find appropriate.
This crucial funding will help prevent life-saving medical, public health, and scientific progress from becoming another of COVID-19’s victims. Please join CURE Epilepsy in supporting this legislation and act now!
Dear [Representative/Senator]:
As a resident of [district/state], I am writing to urge your support of The Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act (H.R.869/S.289). Among the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is that critically needed medical research has been delayed, derailed, or terminated. The result is that the scientific progress necessary to find treatments and cures for life- threatening conditions for all medical conditions has been set back.
As a family living with epilepsy, one of the medical conditions impacted, we know how important it is to find a cure for this and the other diseases. The dollars that fund research are the lifeblood that gives people like me hope for now and the future. We need to jumpstart medical research and regain momentum.
I urge you to support research for epilepsy and other diseases by voting for the RISE Act. If you have already signed on, thank you! Your vote will help my family, and all the families like mine believe that the future will hold a treatment, a therapy, or a cure that will make the difference in our lives.
Sincerely,
[Your Name or Signature]