May 18, 2015

The Honorable Tom Udall The Honorable David Vitter United States Senate United States Senate 531 Hart Senate Office Building 516 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senators Udall and Vitter,

Thank you for your leadership on issues important to the 500,000 to 1.5 million Americans living with Parkinsons disease. I write on behalf of the Parkinsons Action Network (PAN) in acknowledgement of your efforts to update and reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (P.L. 94-469).

PAN is the unified voice of the Parkinsons community advocating for better treatments and a cure. In partnership with other Parkinsons organizations and our powerful grassroots network, we educate the public and government leaders on better policies for research and improved quality of life for Americans living with the disease. Parkinsons, the second most common neurodegenerative diseases in the United States, is a chronic, progressive disorder for which there is currently no cure or treatment that slows or stops its progression. Studies suggest that the onset of the disease, combined with certain genetic predispositions, may have a strong environmental exposure component, but continued research is needed to establish precise and conclusive links. In November 2014, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health held a joint planning conference on this issue, emerging with a commitment to advance initiatives examining toxic exposures and Parkinsons disease. Also, the Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Parkinsons Research program at the Department of Defense has been the leading research mechanism in evaluating external factors and the development of Parkinsons in our military personnel.

While PAN does not have an official position on the various provisions of the Frank L. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697), we are appreciative and supportive of its broader goals and intentions to modernize the oversight of environmental exposures and hazardous chemicals in the United States. As the Parkinsons community works to better understand the environmental factors of the disease, it is critically important to have a regulatory framework in place that is inclusive, protective, and flexible to meet growing environmental challenges that promote public safety and preserve public health.

Chief Executive Officer Ted Thompson, J.D.

Board of Directors Ronald H. Galowich, J.D., Chair

Edward L. Weidenfeld, J.D., Vice Chair

Greg Wasson, J.D., Secretary

Douglas L. DuMond, Treasurer

Robin Anthony Elliott Parkinsons Disease Foundation

Col. Karl E. Friedl, Ph.D., Ret.

David R. Higgins, Ph.D.

Robin Katsaros

Clarence T. Kipps, Jr., J.D.

Morton Kondracke

Zachary T. Levine, M.D.

Daniel M. Lewis, J.D.

Monnie Lindsay, J.D.

Joyce A. Oberdorf National Parkinson Foundation

Cheryl Lynn Prescott

Karl A. Robb

Israel Robledo

Todd Sherer, Ph.D. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research

Anne J. Udall, Ph.D.

Carol Walton The Parkinson Alliance & Unity Walk

Honorary Council The Honorable Frank C. Carlucci, Chair

The Honorable Bob Dole

J. William Langston, M.D. The Parkinsons Institute

Davis Phinney The Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinsons

The Honorable Janet Reno

Cokie Roberts

1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1120 Washington, DC 20005

ParkinsonsAction.org info@ParkinsonsAction.org

202-638-4101 | 800-850-4726

The Parkinsons community is grateful for your bipartisan efforts. Thank you, and please feel free to contact Jamie Tucker, senior government relations manager, at jtucker@parkinsonsaction.org with any questions. Sincerely,

Ted Thompson, J.D. Chief Executive Officer Parkinsons Action Network