Over 350 members of Congress have signed the letter of support for the Special Diabetes Program (SDP) including Kevin Brady, Sylvia Garcia, Pete Olson, Lizzie Fletcher, Dan Crenshaw, Al Green, Brian Babin, and Randy Weber.  Thank you so much to all these members who have signed.  With over 80% of Congress signing, this shows the leaders of both parties how strong the bipartisan support is for our program.  Not many (maybe no other) program gets this level of support. 

The SDP funds $150 million per year in Type 1 diabetes research.  This program has been funded for over two decades and has played a leading role in the development of insulin pumps, CGMs and the artificial pancreas.  It is up for renewal this year.

Now we are working on a similar letter for the Senate.  Please feel free to contact your Senators and ask them to sign the letter of support for the Special Diabetes Program.  

I will keep you up to date on who has signed this letter and how the SDP funding is working its way through Congress.

Even better than emails and letters, JDRF is sending our Type 1 children to Congress this summer to show them what the SDP has meant to our community.  Our area is sending four representatives to Children’s Congress this July.  These very effective ambassadors meet with our Senators and Congressmen and show them first-hand what a difference CGMs, insulin pumps and the artificial pancreas system make in their lives.  

To stay up-to-date on Advocacy matters, please sign up as a JDRF advocate by visiting www.jdrf.org.

Peggy Kruckemeyer
JDRF Volunteer