1601
N. Tucson Blvd. Suite 9
Tucson, AZ 85716-3450
Phone: (800) 635-1196
Hotline: (800) 419-4777
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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 | [email protected]
| Randy Cunningham (R-CA) | 225-5452 | 225-2558 |
| Allen Boyd (D-FL) | 225-5235 | 225-5615 | [email protected]
| Bill Young (R-FL) chairman | 225-5961 | 225-9764 |
| Tom Latham (R-IA) | 225-5476 | 225-3301 | [email protected]
| 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) | 225-6401 | 226-6405 | [email protected]
| David Hobson (R-OH) | 225-4324 | 225-1984 |
| Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) | 225-4146 | 225-7711 | [email protected]
| Ralph Regula (R-OH) | 225-3876 | 225-3059 |
| John Murtha (D-PA) | 225-2065 | 225-5709 | [email protected]
| 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 | [email protected]
| Alan Mollohan (D-WV) | 225-4172 | 225-7564 |
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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.
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