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 Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc.
A Voice for Private Physicians Since 1943
Omnia pro aegroto

ACTION ALERT! SUNSHINE IN GOVERNMENT COULD BE BLOCKED

Physicians: Please post this notice in your office and make copies for your patients.
Both patients and physicians should telephone Committee members today or tomorrow!

The federal government considers more than 4,000 regulations every year, adding to a burden that is already estimated to be more than $600 billion.

The basis for regulations is often shrouded in secrecy. Businesses and others impacted by them cannot access the data (even though they paid for it through their taxes) so that it can be independently verified or challenged. This means that unelected bureaucrats and special-interest academic elites determine policies that impact your life (and can destroy your business) while being accountable to no one.

A provision introduced in the last Congress by Senator Shelby (R-AL) subjects federally funded research used to develop regulations to the Freedom of Information Act. Under this act, patient confidentiality and business secrets are protected-but important information is made available for further research and for independent analysis.

The Walsh Price Amendment would delay the implementation of this provision-and probably have the effect of killing it. This will be considered in the Appropriations Committee on June 17.

Representatives on the Committee who are undecided about the Amendment are:

Telephone FAX e-mail
Bud Cramer (D-AL) 225-4801 225-4392 budmail@mail.house.gov
Randy Cunningham (R-CA) 225-5452 225-2558
Allen Boyd (D-FL) 225-5235 225-5615 rep.boyd@mail.house.gov
Bill Young (R-FL) chairman 225-5961 225-9764
Tom Latham (R-IA) 225-5476 225-3301 latham@mail.house.gov
Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) 225-0773 225-0889
Peter Visclosky (D-IN) 225-2461 225-2493
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) 225-5802 226-2356
Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI) 225-2261 225-5730
Charles Taylor (R-NC) 225-6401226-6405 chtaylor@mail.house.gov
David Hobson (R-OH) 225-4324 225-1984
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) 225-4146 225-7711 rep.kaptur@mail.house.gov
Ralph Regula (R-OH) 225-3876 225-3059
John Murtha (D-PA) 225-2065 225-5709 murtha@mail.house.gov
Zach Wamp (R-TN) 225-3271 225-3494
Chet Edwards (D-TX) 225-6105 225-0350
Henry Bonilla (R-TX) 225-4511 225-2237
Jim Moran (D-VA) 225-4376 225-0017 jim.moran@house.mail.gov
Alan Mollohan (D-WV) 225-4172 225-7564

Call, FAX, and/or e-mail these Representatives immediately. Tell them to defeat the Walsh-Price amendment to the Omnibus Appropriations Law and preserve the Shelby provision. Open access to information is essential for accuracy and integrity in science. Objections to sunshine are motivated by fear that the public can challenge an agency, based on facts, once it loses its monopoly on information.