News Update:
Health Care Reform Questions and Answers
By Dr. Mark Lutschaunig, Director of the GRD
What is the status of the bills in the House and Senate?
On November 7, the House of Representatives passed HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act by a vote of 220-215. The close vote demonstrates the fractious nature of the debate, with disagreement between Democrats and Republicans and even within the Democratic Party. The Senate is currently debating their version of reform, HR 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Senate leadership hopes to have a vote on the final bill by Christmas. Both versions raise a... More »
Featured Articles:
AVMA Positions on Food Safety Legislation Finalized
By Dr. Ashley Shelton, Assistant Director of the GRD
At its November 19-21 meeting, the Executive Board took action on three pending food-safety bills and made official the AVMA's position on the legislation.
The Board approved a position of "Support" of S. 425, the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act. The AVMA believes that the traceability system established under Senator Sherrod Brown's (D-OH)... More »
AVMA Supports Service Dogs for Veteran's Act
By Gina Luke, Assistant Director of the GRD
The AVMA has added "support" for the Service Dogs for Veterans Act (S. 1495) to its legislative agenda. The legislation will set up a pilot program within the Department of Veterans Affairs to pair service dogs with veterans who have physical or mental wounds, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The bipartisan legislation is championed by Senators Al Franken (D-MN) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and enjoys the support of the... More »
The Great Ape Protection Act – Can it Provide for Animal Welfare?
By Dr. Elizabeth Nunamaker, Governmental Relations Division Extern
Animals play a central and essential role in research, and the humane care of animals used in research, testing and education is paramount. The use of chimpanzees as an animal model is a privilege, carrying with it unique professional, scientific and moral obligations, and ethical responsibilities. Once a chimpanzee is retired from research, their health and welfare must continue to be provided for. Unfortunately, the Great Ape Protection Act, introduced on March 5, 2009, by Congressman Towns (D-NY), to prohibit "the conducting of invasive research on great apes, and for other purposes" fails to address concerns of... More »
Regulatory Update
By Dr. Christine Hoang, Assistant Director, Scientific Activities Division
The AVMA Antimicrobial Use Task Force (AUTF), established by the Executive Board at the July 2009 meeting, is clarifying the veterinarian's role and level of involvement in all uses of antimicrobials through a science-based evaluation. Additionally, the task force is expected to determine if a veterinarian needs to be involved in the different uses of antimicrobials, characterize the level of involvement, consider the practicality of and identify barriers to implementation, and consider all AVMA policies that may be affected and, where necessary... More »
Grassroots Update:
The AVMA-CAN "Invite Five" Challenge
By Stephanie Fisher, Grassroots Coordinator
This month, we are asking every AVMA-CAN member to invite five colleagues to join our grassroots network. If the last election cycle taught us anything, it's that the power of a passionate grassroots network is the most important asset any organization can have.
The Obama campaign was effective because they had an army of supporters willing to volunteer, attend rallies and donate money at the drop of a hat. They had a strong grassroots network, not just because they had a cause and a candidate people were willing to... More »
Opportunities:
Join us on Facebook
Join the hundreds of supporters of the Congressional Advocacy Network (AVMA-CAN) – including hundreds of people not affiliated with the veterinary profession – on the popular social networking site Facebook! The AVMA-CAN Facebook page is open to all Facebook users, so we encourage you, your family and friends to join our group to help advance the profession of veterinary medicine. Find AVMA-CAN's Facebook page here.
Learn about Holiday Pet Safety
By Dr. Angela Demaree, Assistant Director of the GRD
While Congress continues to debate Health Care Reform, I thought it would be a good opportunity to remind everyone that the AVMA website contains helpful information for having a safe and happy holiday season for pet owners. You can find helpful winter pet care tips, such as information about the toxicity of common holiday plants... More »
AAAS Meeting to Discuss Synthetic Genomics
The AAAS Center for Science, Technology, and Security Policy will host a meeting on January 11, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., to solicit the views of various sectors within in the scientific community on the new U.S. Government guidance on synthetic genomics (Federal Register Notice #E9–28328). The guidance is available here. The meeting location is: AAAS Headquarters, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005. For additional information, contact Kavita Berger at 202-326-7027 or kberger@aaas.org.
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