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FAAN Advocacy
- FAAN advocates for state and federal laws, policies, and regulations that can
improve the lives of individuals affected by food allergy and anaphylaxis.
We work with policy makers on federal, state, and local initiatives in such areas as:
* Food labeling
* Schools and Camps
* Emergency Medical Services (911 personnel)
* Restaurants
* Airlines
- For an update on our current advocacy activites, please click on the links to the left.
- Contacting Your State or
Federal Legislators
-
- 1) Why should I contact my State/Federal
legislators?
-
- There are two primary reasons to contact your State
or Federal legislators:
- 1) to urge them to support a specific bill; OR
- 2) to educate them on the issue of food allergy.
-
- 2) How can I effectively get my point
across?
-
- a) Choose a method of correspondence with which you
feel most comfortable. Telephone calls, faxes, e-mails,
and personal visits are the quickest way to contact your
lawmakers. Writing a personal, informal letter is also an
effective means of correspondence, especially when
written on plain stationery or on one's personal
letterhead; however, due to security issues surrounding
the anthrax scare, written letters may take weeks to
arrive at their destination; if your correspondence is of
a time-sensitive nature, you may be better off NOT
sending written letters.
-
- b) Identify yourself as being a constituent of the
lawmaker. For example, you could say something like, "My
name is _____, and John Warner is my United States
Senator" or "I live in Virginia, and am represented in
the United States Senate by John Warner."
-
- c) Indicate near the outset of your correspondence
the precise action you would like your legislator to take
e.g., sponsor a specific bill, or become educated on the
issue of food allergy. If your request concerns an
existing bill, be sure to clearly identify the bill #
(i.e., S.1232); the name of the bill (i.e., The Food
Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act); and the
sponsor(s) of the specific bill (i.e., Senator Christopher Dodd).
-
- d) Always maintain a polite tone, and be sure to
thank your legislator for his or her time.
-
- e) Remember that legislators have a very demanding
schedule. As a result, they will appreciate it if your
phone call, E-mail, fax, or letter is brief and to the
point.
-
- f) Relate the experience(s) you have had living with
your own food allergy, a food allergic friend, or family
member.
-
- g) Along with your personal account, it is helpful to
provide statistics. Feel free to incorporate into your
correspondence the Food Allergy Facts and Statistics
sheet on the
FAAN Media page.
-
- h) Indicate that you plan to follow-up at a later
date in order to see if any progress has been made.
Provide the legislator with your contact
information.
-
- 3) How can I obtain contact information for my
State/Federal legislators?
-
- a) To find your State lawmakers:
- - Visit your State's website at www.state.(your
State's postal code).us
- For example, the website for Virginia would be
www.state.va.us From this site, you should be able to
locate the members of your State legislature (Senators,
Representatives Assemblypersons, etc.).
-
- b) To find your Federal lawmakers (U.S. Senators and
Representatives):
- - Call the U.S. House and Senate switchboard at (202)
224-3121, OR
- - Visit www.house.gov
(for your US Representative), and www.senate.gov
(for your US Senators).
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