NSF - CDC Funding Sample Letter

The sample letter below shows the customary format for addressing mail to a member of Congress. You should fill in the blank with the name and address of your own representatives. To identify your Senators or Congressperson and their mailing or email address, visit Contacting the Congress or Congress.org.

A recent study of Congressional email, however, points out that Congress is not up-to-speed on handling email, so mailing your letters via postal mail is probably the best bet. Remember to include your name and address so that your representative can reply to your letter.

We suggest that you copy the text from this sample, paste it into your favorite word processor or email client, personalize the message and then address it to your own representatives.

Feel free to email a copy of your letter to advocacy@talkaboutsleep.com.

Sample begins below: (View a completed version of this letter sent by Dave Hargett)

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The Honorable (fill in name of individual Senator or Congressperson)
U.S. (Senate / House of Representatives)
Washington, DC (20510 [senate] / 20515 [house])
Dear (Senator _______ / Representative ______)

I am writing to urge you to support an additional $1.5 million in funding in the Fiscal Year 2002 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill for The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) to fully develop and implement a five-year action plan to address issues related to sleep deprivation, untreated sleep disorders, and fatigue. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are currently developing this action plan.

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is a non-profit voluntary health organization based in Washington, DC. NSF works with thousands of patients, volunteers, drowsy driving victims, and sleep centers throughout the country to prevent health and safety problems related to fatigue and untreated sleep disorders. I support the mission and goals of this organization.

Insert your Personalized comments here, sharing some of your own experience with sleep disorders to emphasize why you are supporting this bill.

There are steps we can take to make sure that people with sleep disorders get proper treatment and others get proper education to prevent sleep-related accidents in the workplace and on the highway. I hope you will support the development of this five-year action plan.

This plan would detail ways to develop evaluative research, including data collection, through the NCIPC as well as validate or improve existing surveys and survey methodologies regarding how sleep deprivation or problems are related to on-the-job injuries, highway crashes, and other medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. The data from this research will allow the CDC to develop accurate educational material and model prevention and health promotion programs to provide to states as they address these important issues in numerous settings.

Thank you for consideration of this request. I hope you will contact the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee to express your support for this initiative. If you have any additional questions or need more information, feel free to contact Darrel Drobnich, NSF Director of Government Affairs (202) 347-3471, ext. 202 or call me directly.

Sincerely,

Name
Address
City, State Zip
Telephone Number