Sign Our Congressional Funding Letter Today!
by Julie Kruse
Just under two weeks ago, I posted in this space, and asked all of you to sign on to a letter to Congress and to call your representative to press for funding for lead poisoning prevention, lead hazard control, and healthy homes programs at HUD and CDC. Thanks to those of you who did – we got a record number of sign-ons in the House of Representatives!
We held a terrific Capitol Hill Day on Tuesday, March 17, with attendees from key states meeting with leaders of the health and housing appropriations subcommittees. Over one quarter of our meetings were with the senators and representatives themselves, and many of them made a pledge to fight for these critically important programs. (More on this soon!) We hope you can join us on the hill in future years!
But the battle is not yet won until the funding is actually approved. That’s why I’m asking you to ACT AGAIN to call your senators and request their support for similar letters circulating there. Signatures are due TODAY, so we need you to call ASAP!
Please follow these two steps now to ensure healthy homes and lead hazard control/poisoning prevention programs continue!
STEP 1: If you haven’t yet, sign your organization to the letter to Congress for HUD and CDC funding. And please forward this email to your networks!
STEP 2: Call your senators!
- Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202.224.3121 and ask to be connected to one of your senators. If you don’t know your senators’ names, they can tell you who they are.
- Ask to speak with the staff person who handles the health or housing issues for the office.
- When you reach the staffer, or leave a message, or speak to the receptionist if the staffer is not available, tell him or her:
- My name is __________________. I’m from __________________ [your city and state].
- I’m calling to urge the senator to sign on to letters from Senator Jack Reed in support of lead poisoning prevention and healthy homes. The sign-on letter deadline is March 25.
- These funds will ensure the protection of over 500,000 lead-poisoned children who need CDC- and HUD-funded services.
- Thank you!
4. Now, call your other senator. Follow the first three steps again, simply asking for your other senator.
I can’t stress enough the importance of your help on this. It’s only with your help that we can win this budget battle.
Julie Kruse, worked as NCHH’s director of policy from November 2014 to January 2017, passionately advocating for safe, healthy, and affordable housing of high quality. In her long and distinguished career, she has served such organizations as the Immigration Equality Action Fund, the Center for Economic Progress, Chicago Women in Trades, and the Midwest Women’s Center. Since 2017, she has worked with the Family Equality Council’s public policy team to gain legal equality for LGBTQ families, LGBTQ youth needing families, and LGBTQ adults waiting to foster or adopt in the U.S. Ms. Kruse holds a B.S. in biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana and a Master of Science in education from Northwestern University.