Children’s Congress truly is an once-in-a-lifetime experience that sets the stage for meaningful advocacy engagement for this next generation of leaders. From July 8^th – July 10^th, our five empowered delegates shared their T1D experiences with Members of Congress, and advocated for the issues that are most important to the T1D community. This incredible, week-long event features 165 children from all 50 states, along with international Delegates from Australia, Canada, Israel, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Through the variety of the week’s featured activities, the ambassadors were able to develop leadership skills, find inspiration from our T1D Role Models and special guests – like actor Victor Garber, Nascar driver Ryan Reed, NFL Super Bowl Champ Isaiah Stanback, Disney Actress Jennifer Stone, American Ninja Warrior Christina Martin – and have the chance to network with other advocates from across the country and from our 5 international affiliates.

During their meetings on Capitol Hill these Delegates made clear 4 key requests:

• Help to renew the Special Diabetes Program* for no less than 4 years, and prior to its expiration on September 30, so critical research progress can continue uninterrupted. This funding has a strong record of bi-partisan support, and has been renewed for the last 20­+ years bringing about exciting new technology allowing those living with T1D to better manage the disease, and promising research to delay the onset and even cure T1D. Without the SDP the momentum of these advancements would halt. This was recently approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, bringing it one step closer to the Congressional passage!
• Support strong annual funding of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food & Drug Administration (FDA) so they can keep doing their great work.
• Affordable Insulin for ALL. With that, they support eliminating rebates (commercial and public), which make up about 70% of the list price of insulin.
• When considering healthcare reform, high quality and affordable health insurance is critical for people with T1D – JDRF advocates for preserving protections for those with pre-existing conditions, allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ health plans until age 26, and prohibiting yearly and lifetime dollar limits for essential health benefits.

Our delegates had a life-changing week, and we are so grateful to have had such passionate, articulate and resilient ambassadors represent us. For any additional info, please feel free to contact our Outreach Manager, Teresa Acosta at tacosta@jdrf.org.  You can also visit the Children’s Congress at: http://cc.jdrf.org/, and check out our activity on social media using #JDRFCC19