Rep. Miller offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 321.

            A resolution to memorialize the United States Congress to include funding for the Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program in the Fiscal Year 2009 defense appropriations bill.

            Whereas, Each year when Congress develops the federal budget, part of the process includes appropriations specifically designated for Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). These appropriations are not requested by the President or by the Department of Defense, but rather are added at the behest of consumer advocates. The United States Army's Medical Research and Materiel Command was chosen in 1992 to manage these congressionally mandated research funds, continuing a long history of Defense Department development of successful vaccine protocols and therapeutic strategies. From 1992 to 1995, CDMRP has managed $3.76 billion in research funding; and

            Whereas, One of the programs is the Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program (DOD-NFRP). Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that includes two distinct forms. These disorders usually result in tumors involving nerves anywhere on the body and can cause disfigurement, deafness, blindness, bone deformation, learning disabilities, and sometimes death. A parent with NF has a 50 percent chance of passing the disorder to his or her child. Spontaneous genetic changes are responsible for up to half the cases. There is currently no cure for NF, which affects more than 100,000 Americans; and

            Whereas, This program was begun in Fiscal Year 1996. Through 2007, the program has received $182.3 million in defense appropriations acts. During the early part of the decade, funding levels reached $20 million or more annually, with $25 million allocated in Fiscal Year 2005. In recent years, funding has declined, to $17 million in FY 2006, $10 million in FY 2007, and $8 million in FY 2008. If this program is to reach its goal of understanding, diagnosing, and treating Neurofibromatosis in order to enhance the quality of life for people who suffer from NF, Congress must adequately fund the DOD-NFRP in the Fiscal Year 2009 defense appropriations act; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we memorialize the United States Congress to include funding for the Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program in the Fiscal Year 2009 defense appropriations bill; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.