Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) took a strong stand in support of lupus research in early August by executing a colloquy, or formal discussion, with Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), who chairs the Department of Defense’s (DoD) appropriations subcommittee, to reinstate lupus as a disease to receive DoD funding.
You may recall that through the efforts of the ALR (reported in Lupus Research Update, Volume 2, 2006), funds for lupus research had been included in the House’s fiscal year 2007 Military Quality of Life Appropriations bill under the DoD’s medical research program. Representative James Walsh (R-NY), who chairs the House Military Quality of Life Appropriations Subcommittee, championed adding lupus to the research list. Thanks also to the efforts of ALR advocacy volunteers, lupus has been on the list of diseases eligible for DoD funding for the past two years.
However, lupus was not listed under the DoD Medical Research Program in the Senate appropriations bill reported out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 20, 2006. Senator Schumer noticed the deletion and immediately took action. He asked Senator Stevens to engage in a colloquy, officially registering his support of lupus research.
Through the colloquy, Senator Stevens assured Senator Schumer that he would make every effort to reinstate lupus to the list when the bill goes into a dual House-Senate conference this fall.
Senator Schumer previously exhibited his support of lupus research by leading the effort to establish a $5 million dedicated lupus research program in the fiscal year 2007 DoD appropriations bill. If adopted, this initial funding would allow the DoD to build the infrastructure necessary to support research aimed at the prevention, treatment and cure of lupus.
We are grateful for Senator Schumer’s efforts, and will continue to follow this story when Congress returns to session.
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