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Politics & Government

Children's Congress 2011: Finding a Cure for Diabetes

A father and son from Tucker head to Washington D.C. to help raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes.

Children's Congress is an event that takes place every two years in Washington D.C. and is used to raise awareness on Capitol Hill about Type 1 diabetes. The 150 delegates are selected from an application field of over 1200 entrants and each state is represented.

This year, Georgia had four representatives, including my son Phipps Marvil, from Tucker.

Children's Congress is a three day event that kicks off on Monday with a welcome reception and dinner for the delegates and their guardian. This is an incredible opportunity to meet other Type 1 delegates from everywhere in the country and to share stories and trade pins that represent your state. This bonding time is just the beginning of friendships that will last a lifetime.

Day two is when the delegates get down to work. They are required to go through intense learning sessions which will help them when they “blitz” the hill on Wednesday. These learning sessions teach the delegates about techniques for talking to their representatives, talking points that need to be highlighted during their meetings and they address any special concerns, like where the best congressional dining rooms are!

Day two also included a “town hall” meeting with several high profile Type 1 personalities. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke passionately to the assembled delegates and gave her story about growing up with Type 1 diabetes in Brooklyn. Her truly remarkable life
has led her through Princeton, Yale and on to the the Supreme Court. All the delegates and their parents were impressed with her accomplishments, given her challenges of dealing with Type 1 diabetes.

In addition to Justice Sotomayor, the town hall included ten time Olympic Medalist Gary Hall, Amazing Race Winner, Dr. Natalie Strand, LPGA golfer Carly Coffing, former NFL Superbowl winner Kendall Simmons and Dr. Aaron Kowalski, JDRF lead researcher.

The entire event was hosted by ESPN sportscaster Brian Kenny whose daughter is a Type 1 diabetic. The dialogue between the celebrities and the kids was remarkable and the takeaway message was, “do not let Type 1 stand in the way of your dreams.”

After a wonderful lunch at the hotel, all the delegates loaded up on several buses and made their way to a lawn just outside the Capitol. American Idol runner up Crystal Bowersox met us there and performed a song with the kids written especially for the occasion. All the kids were able to meet Crystal and listen to her story as she also has Type 1 diabetes.

Tuesday night was a free night and Phipps decided to hit the town! The International Spy museum was nearby and he spent several hours exploring all the fascinating ways that spies operate throughout the world, including in DC! He ate dinner at a nearby pub and walking back
to the hotel he came upon the United States Naval Band playing in an open area set up for the concert. This band has traveled around the world and back and has some award winning players. It was a great concert!

Wednesday was the big day and we started out early with a get together breakfast and some last minute strategy's on how to approach the representatives. Meetings with our congressmen and senators had been scheduled weeks in advance and we only had one chance to make a good impression.

Phipps’ first meeting was with the Legislative Aide to Congressman Hank Johnson. Jocelyn Griffin has been with representative Johnson for several years and she has a direct tie to Type 1 diabetes through close family members. Phipps met with her to discuss the funding for the National Institutes of Health as well as FDA guidance for the artificial pancreas project. Both these items are important to the continued success of ongoing research that is getting us closer to a cure for Type 1 diabetes.

His second meeting was a meeting with Senator Saxby Chambliss along with the other Childrens Congress delegates from Georgia. Senator Chambliss was involved in the appointment of the new secretary of defense so he was able to chat in the hall for a few moments with the delegates and then he took a photo with the kids. After that we sat down with Senator Chambliss’ legislative Assistant to review the same talking points as before. In many ways this is how things are done in congress, you speak to the staff person who filters the information and he or she passes along the condensed message to the congressman.

Phipps’ final meeting was with Senator Johnny Isakson. Senator Isakson was able to sit down with the delegates and listen to their story and their talking points. He has long been a supporter of diabetes research and he again restated his commitment to helping to find a cure.

So mission accomplished!

Well not quite... after lunch the delegates and their parents were directed to a senate conference chamber where a panel of senators, headed by Senator Joseph Lieberman were able to ask questions of a distinguished panel of experts. The panel included researchers from the NIH as well as the FDA and also actor Kevin Kline, who has been instrumental in raising awareness of Type 1 diabetes through the years.

All the Children's Congress delegates were seated in the well of the chambers and they were able to experience the actual inner workings of a congressional hearing up close. About one hour into the proceedings the panel of experts was dismissed and a new panel was seated. This new panel was made up of four delegates from around the country who gave their story and also finished with a request that the senators continue to support diabetes research funding whenever possible. The session finished with a wrap up by Senator Collins and once the delegates were dismissed it was time to pack up and head home!

What a great experience for Phipps and what a great event to help continue funding diabetes research in the hopes of finding a cure!

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