Washington, D.C., April 22, 2013 – Approximately 150 children and teenagers throughout the United States, and several from around the world, have been selected to travel to Washington, D.C. this summer to represent their state and country and remind Congress 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 (T1D).
These children—ages 4 to 17, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia—will come together in the nation’s capital, to talk with lawmakers about the challenges of living with T1D and the need for continued research to eliminate those challenges. The JDRF 2013 Children’s Congress runs from July 8 to 10. Joining these children will be six international delegates traveling from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The delegates and their international counterparts will convey a clear message to the U.S. government that diabetes is a global problem that requires a global effort.
Serving as chair for the 2013 Children’s Congress is Angie Platt, who was in Washington, D.C. two years ago with her son Jonathan, now nine, a delegate for the 2011 Children’s Congress. As chair of the event, Angie will help engage, support, and energize the delegates and their families during the advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill.
About Children’s Congress
The JDRF Children’s Congress program was inspired by then eight-year-old Tommy Solo from Massachusetts in 1999. He overheard adult JDRF volunteers talking about going to Washington, D.C. to talk to Congress, and thought it would be great if children could go, too, because their voice also needed to be heard. Children’s Congress inspires lawmakers to remember the children who live with T1D when making decisions about medical research and voting on other important federal issues relating to diabetes. The young delegates’ stories, told in their own words, are often more powerful than almost any other type of legislator education.
The idea quickly became a well-developed event, first held in 1999. Since then, seven successful Children’s Congresses have occurred, growing in sophistication, one every other year (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011).
Today, Children’s Congress brings 150 children with T1D, and one parent or guardian each, to Washington, D.C. Children’s Congress participants represent all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and several countries around the world. They come together as advocates to meet on Capitol Hill with Members of Congress and other key federal policymakers, to help educate them about the critical need for federal funding of T1D research.