Contact your House Representative and ask them to “sign on” to the community’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 funding letter.

On an annual basis, the Sleep Research Society and community stakeholders advocate for additional federal funding for key programs (NIH, DOD, etc) and for congressional committee recommendations encouraging additional sleep, circadian, and sleep disorders research. Congress is currently working on the annual spending bills for FY 2022 and deciding which resources to commit to which projects. To assist the sleep advocacy community with putting an official marker down for its specific FY 2022 priorities, Congressman Adam Schiff is leading a congressional sign on letter (attached). This letter asks the House Appropriations Committee to:

  1. Provide $5 million for the CDC Chronic Disease Education and Awareness Program, which is currently being leveraged to reinvigorate a new iteration of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project.
  2. Recommend that NIH host a State-of-the-Science Conference on sleep disorders to collaborate with the professional and patient community, and ultimately construct a research plan that further expands and advances the research portfolio.

The sign on letter will close on April 8th, and nearly any House Representative can join the letter (including yours). The more House Representatives that join the letter, the stronger the support for the sleep community’s priorities. However, your member will only endorse the letter if they are asked to by you, their constituent. 

Please reach out as soon as possible so that your congressional offices has time to review and approve the letter. Last year’s sleep advocacy community sign on letter attracted roughly 40 bipartisan supporters, and we are hoping to attract even more support this year to demonstrate our growing influence on Capitol Hill and impact on medical research and public health.

Take Action!

  • Please reach out to Jackson Rau (rau@hmcw.org) at the Health & Medicine Counsel with your zip code and address and indicate your interest in taking action. Jackson will use this information to identify your Representative and the e-mail address for their correct staffer.
  • Please e-mail the staffer, attach the sign on letter, and ask for their support. You can use the sample message below to assist with your outreach.

Sample Message:

Dear [Staffer Name],

My name is [Your Name] and I am a constituent as well as an advocate for the sleep professional’s community. I write today to ask that your office please join the community’s FY 2022 appropriations sign on letter to advance medical research in sleep, circadian, and sleep disorders, and improve public health. I have attached a copy of the letter and its corresponding Dear Colleague to this message and you can join by contacting Heather Connelly at Heather.Connelly@mail.house.gov (additional endorsement instructions are included in the attachments). Please note, this letter will close on April, 8th.

[Optional, please briefly share your professional work or overall interest in this area]

Thank you for your time and for your consideration of this request. I look forward to hearing from you in this regard.

Sincerely,[Name] [Address]