URGENT Action Required!

Dear HSA Members,

The National Herb Garden and the US National Arboretums need our help! The Federal FY09 budget has devastating cuts ($2 million) which affect the arboretum in a drastic way. For details on the impact of the proposed budget, see the fact sheet.

We are asking you to write to members of the Appropriations Committee, subcommittee on Agriculture, asking that the $2 million be restored to the USNA budget. A list of key people to write is on the FONA (Friends of the National Arboretum) website, at www.fona.org. They are supplying FAX numbers for these people. (Snail mail is not advised.) Also, please write to your own local representatives in Washington. You can find these on the FONA website as well, just click on “What Can I Do,” enter your zip code and all your representatives will come up. Compose your message and send it off! To email the Appropriations Committee, get the name from the list at FONA, go to www.usa.gov and click on “Contact Elected Officials.”

There are two sample letters attached for you to use, one for the Appropriations Committee, and one for your Senator or Representative. You may certainly compose your own letter. Just FYI, the proper way to write to one of these people is, first line, “The Honorable ____”, then “Dear Senator (or Representative) ______.”

This is URGENT! The House Appropriations bill moves earlier than the Senate bill. Individual House members have set their own deadlines for submission of funding requests to their office, to allow them time to judge which requests to forward to the Appropriations Committee. Some deadlines have already passed, others are set for this Friday.

If you need help with this, please contact Katrinka Morgan. Kathy Schlosser is rallying the NHG Committee. There will be an alert on the HSA website with a link to FONA and to a sample letter.

You may forward this message to people you think may not get the word otherwise, i.e. members at large, or who may not get it quickly enough.

Thank you for your quick action!