Letter from ANNA and other stakeholders to Members of Congress urging them to support a $15 billion increase in Fiscal Year 2009 for programs funded by the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Labor
May 16, 2008
Dear Elected Official:
The undersigned education, training, disability, public health, human services, medical research, child welfare organizations and labor unions representing the full range of stakeholders in the programs of the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Labor urge you to ensure that the final FY 2009 302b allocations for the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Subcommittees reflects at least a $15 billion increase above the FY 2008 level for these critically important programs. This amount would: (1) restore cuts of core program funding over the last four years, (2) more appropriately account for four years of inflation and population growth to maintain service levels and purchasing power; and (3) return these programs to the FY 2005 level, a high water mark for many.
The programs and services administered by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor serve a broad range of constituencies and needs. However, they all share a common, fundamental goal of strengthening this nation by investing in and improving the quality of life of its people, especially the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, the resources they need have been cut, eroded by inflation or stretched thin by swelling numbers of those in need. While Congress has worked to restore some of the cuts, many programs still remain far below their FY 2005 level, and others lost all funding. The Presidents FY 2009 budget request continues or deepens cuts for most of the programs in the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations bill. America cannot sustain its global scientific and economic leadership, national security and citizens health and well-being without increasing these investments.
While our organizations represent a wide array of domestic priorities, we are united in our effort to increase discretionary funding for health, education, labor enforcement, job training and social services programs by at least $15 billion as the budget process moves forward. This is essential to sustain the prosperity and standards of living of our nation.
To respond to this letter, please contact Dr. Marcia Mabee, Executive Director, Coalition for Health Funding: 703-709-3001, or Dr. Edward Kealy, Executive Director, Committee for Education Funding: 202-383-0083.
Respectfully,
Academic Pediatric Association
Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses
Academy of Radiology Research
Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research
Afterschool Alliance
AIDS Action
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families
AIDS Project Los Angeles
AIDS Resources of Rural Texas
AIDS Services of Austin
Aids Survival Project
Alliance for Aging Research
Alliance for Biosecurity
Alliance for Excellent Education
Alliance for Microbicide Development
Alpha-1 Association
Alpha-1 Foundation
Alzheimer's Association
American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing
American Academy of Anesthesiologists Assistants
American Academy of Emergency Medicine
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Neurology Professional Association
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
American Academy of Nursing
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Physician Assistants
American Anthropological Association
American Association for Cancer Research
American Association for Dental Research
American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
American Association for Health Education
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
American Association for Respiratory Care
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
American Association for the Surgery of Trauma
American Association of Anatomists
American Association of Classified School Employees
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine
American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
American Association of Neurological Surgeons
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
American Association of People with Disabilities
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American Association of Public Health Dentistry
American Association of School Administrators
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
American Association on Health and Disability
American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American College Health Association
American College of Cardiology
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
American College of Medical Genetics
American College of Nurse Practitioners
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Preventive Medicine
American College of Surgeons
American Council on Education (ACE)
American Dental Association
American Dental Education Association
American Diabetes Association
American Educational Research Association
American Federation for Medical Research
American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
American Foundation for the Blind
American Gastroenterological Association
American Geriatrics Society
American Heart Association
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
American Library Association
American Lung Association
American Music Therapy Association
American Nephrology Nurses' Association
American Nurses Association
American Occupational Therapy Association
American Optometric Association
American Organization of Nurse Executives
American Osteopathic Association
American Pain Foundation
American Pediatric Society
American Podiatric Medical Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
American Public Health Association Student Assembly
American School Health Association
American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
American Society for Therapeutic Radiology & Oncology
American Society of Addiction Medicine
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Society of Hematology
American Society of Human Genetics
American Society of Nephrology
American Society of Pediatric Nephrology
American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses
American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Sociological Association
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
American Statistical Association
American Telemedicine Association
American Thoracic Society
American Trauma Society
America's Blood Centers
Amputee Coalition of America
AO North America
Area Health Education Center of Southwest Oregon
Area Health Education Center Program at Florida State University
Area Health Education Centers
Arkansas Area Health Education Center Network
Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence
Arkansas Health Care Access Foundation, Inc.
Arkansas Respiratory Health Association
Arthritis Foundation
Ashland Community Health Center
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Association for Career and Technical Education
Association for Clinical Research Training
Association for Patient-Oriented Research
Association for Prevention Teaching and Research
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
Association for Psychological Science
Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
Association of Academic Health Centers
Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries
Association of American Cancer Institutes
Association of American Medical Colleges
Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Neurobiology Chairpersons
Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP)
Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology
Association of Departments of Family Medicine
Association of Educational Service Agencies
Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors
Association of Independent Research Institutes
Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs
Association of Minority Health Professions Schools, Inc.
Association of Operating Room Nurses
Association of Organ Procurement Organizations
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Association of Rehabilitation Nurses
Association of School Business Officials International
Association of Schools of Public Health
Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
Batten Disease Support and Research Association
Baylor College of Medicine
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Benign Essential Blepharospasm Research Foundation
Berkshire Area Health Education Center
Biophysical Society
Blood Research Institute
Boys Town National Research Hospital
Brain Injury Association of America
Brazos Area Health Education Center
Break the Cycle
Brown University
Burnett School of Biomedical Science
C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition
California Conference of Local Health Officers
California Hepatitis C Task Force
Camden Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
Campaign for Medical Research
Campaign for Public Health
Centennial Area Health Education Center
Center for Community Health Development
Center for Inquiry
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Central Florida Area Health Education Center
Champlain Valley (VT) Area Health Education Center
Charles Drew University
Chicago Public Schools
Child Welfare League of America
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Dental Health Project
Children's Memorial Hospital
Children's Memorial Research Center
CHLA / USC
Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation
Clinical Research Forum
Clinical Social Work Association
Coalition for American Trauma Care
Coalition for Health Funding
Coalition for Health Services Research
Coalition for Imaging and Bioengineering Research
Coalition for the Life Sciences
Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations (COHEAO)
Coastal Area Health Education Center
Colorado Area Health Education Center
Columbia University
Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service (COA)
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
Community Health Partnership
Community Health Partnership, Santa Clara, CA
Community-Campus Partnerships for Health
Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Research Education and Support (CARES) Foundation
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
Consortium for School Networking
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Conway Interfaith Clinic
Cooley's Anemia Foundation
COPD Foundation
Council for Exceptional Children
Council for Opportunity in Education
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
Council of the Great City Schools
Critical Illness and Trauma Foundation, Inc.
Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Desert AIDS Project
Digestive Disease National Coalition
DLD, the Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children
Dystonia Advocacy Coalition
Dystonia Medical Research Foundation
Easter Seals
Eastern Ohio Area Health Education Center
Emergency Medicine Network
Emergency Nurses Association
Epilepsy Foundation
Erie Niagara Area Health Education Center
Eta Sigma Gamma
everyminute.org
FAIR Foundation
Families USA Global Health Initiative
FED ED
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
First Focus
Florida Keys Area Health Education Center
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Friends of AHRQ
Friends of Cancer Research
Friends of NCHS
Friends of the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research
Genetics Society of America
Genetics Society of America
GLSEN/Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network
Grace Clinic
GS Area Health Education Center
Gulfcoast South Area Health Education Center, Inc.
Hawaii Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center
Health Care Council of Orange County California
Health Care Excel
Heart Rhythm Society
Hepatitis B Foundation
Hepatitis Foundation International
Higher Education Consortium for Special Education
HopeLab
Hydrocephalus Association
Illinois Area Health Education Centers Program
Indiana Rural Health Association
Indiana University
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Institute for Healthcare Quality Research and Education
Intercultural Cancer Council Caucus
Intermountain Injury Control Research Center
International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
International Myeloma Foundation
International Society for Technology in Education
Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation
Jeffrey Modell Foundation
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Kids That Care Pediatric & Cancer Fund
Knowledge Alliance
LA Gay & Lesbian Center
Lance Armstrong Foundation
LDA, The Learning Disabilities Association of America
Legacy Community Health Services -Houston
LGBT Cancer Project, Inc.
Lifelong AIDS Alliance
Lowcountry Area Health Education Center
Lupus Research Institute
Magnet Schools of America, Inc.
Malecare Prostate Cancer Support
March of Dimes Foundation
Marshfield Clinic
Massachusetts Area Health Education Center/University of Massachusetts Medical School
Medical Library Association
Meharry Medical College
Men's Health Network
Mental Health America
Metropolitan Indianapolis Central Indiana Area Health Education Center
MI Society for Medical Research
Midwestern University
Milwaukee Area Health Education Center
Mississippi Area Health Education Center
Missouri Area Health Education Centers
Morehouse School of Medicine
Mountain area Health Education Center
National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Alliance to End Homelessness
National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
National Alopecia Areata Foundation
National Area Health Education Centers Organization
National Association for Biomedical Research
National Association for Children of Alcoholics
National Association for Children's Behavioral Health
National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)
National Association of Children's Hospitals
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
National Association of Community Health Centers
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
National Association of County & City Health Officials
National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors
National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS)
National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
National Association of Local Boards of Health
National Association of Private Special Education Centers
National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems
National Association of School Psychologists
National Association of Social Workers
National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD)
National Association of State Directors of Special Education
National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)
National Association of State Head Injury Administrators
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
National Black Nurses Association
National Caucus of Basic Biomedical Science Chairs
National Cervical Cancer Coalition
National Coalition for Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases
National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations
National Coalition on Deaf-Blindness
National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP)
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
National Council for Diversity in the Health Professions
National Council of State Boards of Nursing
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD)
National Down Syndrome Congress
National Down Syndrome Society
National Eczema Association
National Health Council
National Hemophilia Foundation
National HEP/CAMP Association
National History Day (NHD)
National Kidney Foundation
National League for Nursing
National Marfan Foundation
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Network to End Domestic Violence
National Organization for Rare Disorders
National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
National Primate Research Centers
National Psoriasis Foundation
National Respite Coalition
National Rural Education Advocacy Coalition
National Rural Education Association
National Rural Health Association
National School Boards Association
National Sleep Foundation
National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association
National Spasmodic Torticollis Association
National Student Nurses' Association, Inc.
NEO Area Health Education Center
NephCure Foundation
New Mexico Area Health Education Center
New York State Prostate Cancer Coalition
New York-Presbyterian Hospital, NY, NY
NJ Association for Biomedical Research
North American Primary Care Research Group
North Carolina Area Health Education Centers Program
North Coast Clinics Network
North Country Health Consortium
Northeast Florida Area Health Education Center
Northeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center
Northeast Oregon Area Health Education Center
Northeastern WI Area Health Education Center
Northern Nebraska Area Health Education Center
Northwest Indiana Area Health Education Center
Northwest Wisconsin Area Health Education Center
Northwestern CT Area Health Education Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Ohio Statewide Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program
Oncology Nursing Society
Oregon Area Health Education Centers
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Pacific Area Health Education Center
OutWithCancer Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Cancer Network
Parkinson's Action Network
Penobscot Community Health Care
Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Pocahontas Co. Health Department
Population Association of America/Association of Population Centers
Prevent Blindness America
Project Inform
Public Health Foundation
Pulmonary Hypertension Association
Purnell Technology Center
Rappahannock Area Health Education Center, VA
Regional Center for Border Health, Inc.
Renal Physicians Association
Research!America
Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago
RI Area Health Education Center Network
Rural Health Association of Oklahoma
Rural Health Projects, Inc./NW Area Health Education Center
Rural Health Projects/Inc.
Saint Louis University Area Health Education Program
San Luis Valley Area Health Education Center
Sana Health Group
Sandusky Ohio Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
School Social Work Association of America
Scleroderma Foundation
Service Employees International Union
SHORE Area Health Education Center
Sister's on a Mission
Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation
Society For Adolescent Medicine
Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Society for Neuroscience
Society For Pediatric Research
Society for Public Health Education
Society for Research in Child Development
Society for Women's Health Research
Society of General Internal Medicine
Society of Gynecologic Oncologists
Society of Hospital Medicine
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
South Carolina Area Health Education Centers
South Central KY Area Health Education Center
South Central Texas Area Health Education Center
Southeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center
Southeast Louisiana Area Health Education Center
Southeastern Colorado Area Health Education Center
Southern Minnesota Area Health Education Center
Southern New Hampshire Area Health Education Center
Southern R.I. Area Health Education Center
Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center
Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center
Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Center
Southwestern Area Health Education Center Connecticut
Southwestern Pennsylvania AIDS Planning Coalition
Spina Bifida Association
ST/Dystonia, Inc
State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association
Strategic Health Policy International
Suicide Prevention Action Network USA
Summit Portage Area Health Education Center
Suwannee River Area Health Education Center
Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children
Tennessee Perinatal Association
Texas A&M University
Texas Society for Biomedical Research
The AIDS Institute
The American Physiological Society
The Arc of the United States
The CFIDS Association of America
The College Board
The Endocrine Society
The Helen Keller National Center
The Kidney Cancer Association
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The National Coalition for Literacy
The National EMS Information System Technical Assistance Center
The Protein Society
The Reading Recovery Council of North America
The University of Toledo Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program
Three Rivers Area Health Education Center
Trauma Managers Association of California
Trisomy 18 Foundation
Trust for America's Health
UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion, Los Angeles, CA
UMDNJ - School of Public Health
UNC Thurston Arthritis Research Center
United Cerebral Palsy
United Spinal Association
UnitedHealth Group
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Central Florida
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
University of Maryland School of Medicine/Maryland Area Health Education Center Program
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of South Florida Area Health Education Center Program
University of Vermont Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Center Program
US Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Well Spouse Association
West Central Indiana Area Health Education Center
West Kentucky Area Health Education Center
West Virginia Area Health Education Centers
West Virginia University
Western Arizona Area Health Education Center
Western Maryland Area Health Education Center
Western WA Area Health Education Center
Wirt County Health Services Association, Inc.
Wisconsin Association for Biomedical Research & Education
WomenHeart, The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease
Yale University School of Nursing
YMCA of the USA