Advocacy at a Glance
Advocacy at a Glance offers you the bullet point summary of current advocacy issues associated with the goals of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA.
- CR through December 9 Passes; Congress in Recess. Congress finally sent a Continuing Resolution to President Obama and the government will stay open for at least another 10 weeks, through December 9. With that accomplished, Congress recessed so that Members can go home and campaign. The CR has implications for the FDA -- including a surprising across-the-board (ATB) cut -- which is discussed in this week’s Analysis and Commentary.
- Media: Cures Legislation a Priority for Lame Duck. On Thursday, media reported that both the House and the Senate Republican leadership view 21st Century Cures as a priority in lame duck in November.
- Upcoming Alliance Events in October:
- Alliance District Lobby Days Planned for Mid-October. The Alliance is planning in-district lobbying days for the week of October 18. We are particularly interested in whether your organization has connections to the following states/areas: Overland Park, KS; Bakersfield/Hanford, CA; Maine, Oregon, and Wisconsin. You can respond directly to Ladd Wiley.
- Alliance Meeting with Dr. Rachel Sherman Planned for October 19. We have scheduled a meeting with Rachel Sherman, Associate Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco for October 19 at 11:00 a.m. at the White Oak Facility. Her areas of focus include establishing the Oncology Center for Excellence and the combination policy council as well as oversight for the EvGen initiative, the Good Clinical Practice program, Pediatric Therapeutics, and modernization of Advisory Committee practices. Let Ladd Wiley know if you are interested in joining the meeting.
- Upcoming Events in November:
- Alliance Annual Member Meeting is Tuesday, November 15 at 1 p.m. This year, we will be repeating our very successful post-election analysis by the bipartisan political leadership team at Akin Gump. This one always fills the room to capacity, so let Lynnette Bechtel know if you will be joining.
- Alliance Meeting with Dr. Peter Marks Planned for November 16. We have scheduled a meeting with Dr. Peter Marks, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), for November 16 at 10:30 a.m. at the White Oak Facility. We expect him to discuss the resource needs of CBER and describe current initiatives. Let Steven Grossman know if you are interested in joining the meeting.