HOUSTON, TX – Robert Brown, 14, is one of 150 children throughout the U.S. selected to represent his state on Capitol Hill this summer to remindCongress and the Administration of the critical need to find better treatments and a cure for a disease they live with every day— type 1 diabetes.
Robert, who lives in Houston, has been named a delegate representing Texas in the Children’s Congress.
These children—ages 4 to 17, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia —will converge on Washington, D.C., to talk with lawmakers about the challenges of living with type 1 diabetes during the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) Children’s Congress 2011, June 20 to 22. Joining these children in Washington, D.C. will be seven international delegates traveling from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The international delegates will partner with U.S. delegates to convey a clear message to the U.S. government that diabetes is a global problem that requires a global effort.
The event, held every other summer, will be led by JDRF’s International Chairman Mary Tyler Moore, and will include Congressional visits by the child delegates and a Senate hearing during which Ms. Moore, select delegates, researchers, and community leaders will testify about the need for continued funding for type 1 diabetes research, under the theme of “Promise to Remember Me.” This theme serves asapowerful call to lawmakers to remember the struggle of living with type 1 diabetes, and the importance of supporting and funding type 1 diabetes research.
“All of the children and their families can confirm with me that type 1 diabetes tests our will and determination to live a normal life,” said Ms. Moore, who has had type 1 diabetes for about 40 years. “With JDRF’s Children’s Congress, we are able to put faces to a disease that places an enormous toll on our nation. It is also a reminder for Congress that their partnership in the fight to find better treatments and a cure for type 1 diabetes is essential and has helped to drive research progress to date.”
Robert Brown, who was selected to Children’s Congress through JDRF’s Houston Gulf Coast Chapter, was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 9 years old. The day-to-day fight to stay alive is a struggle for him and his family.
This year’s Chair of JDRF’s Children’s Congress is Stefany Shaheen, daughter of New Hampshire senator, Jeanne Shaheen. As Chair for Children’s Congress 2011, Ms. Shaheen and her daughter, Ellen, who has type 1 diabetes, will help rally the delegates and their families in their advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill.
“We are honored and excited to fill the role of Chair Family for Children’s Congress 2011. Our family understands what a huge impact this campaign plays in ensuring a strong public-private partnership to cure, treat, and prevent type 1 diabetes,” said Ms. Shaheen. “This year’s delegates are an extraordinary group. Their testimonies will help all members of Congress understand that they need to ‘Promise to Remember’ the children and families affected by this disease.”
Children were selected by a volunteer-led committee, and represent communities from across the nation. “The overwhelming number of applicants we continually get for Children’s Congress speaks to the event’s importance for so many children living with type 1 diabetes,” said Shaheen. “Choosing 150 delegates from the pool of over 1,200 applicants for this year’s Children’s Congress was a difficult and challenging process. All 1,200 who applied would have served this role well.” To learn more about JDRF’s Children’s Congress, please visit our Children’s Congress web site at http://cc.jdrf.org/.
Children’s Congress, held every other year since 1999, has become the largest media and grassroots advocacy event held in support of finding better treatments and a cure for type 1 diabetes. The newly-selected delegates will follow in the footsteps of their predecessors in raising national awareness for type 1 diabetes and participating in personal advocacy at the highest level of the United States government.
As many as 3 million Americans may have type 1 diabetes. Each year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults – approximately 80 people per day – are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the U.S.
