The Diabetes Caucus was formed in 1996 and has grown to be the largest caucus in Congress with 289 members in the 107th Congress. The mission of the Caucus is to improve the lives of people with diabetes and support research to find a cure. Our achievements are significant. In the 107th Congress, we were successful in obtaining $1.5 billion for the Special Diabetes Program, a program that funds juvenile diabetes research and Native American treatment and prevention programs through the Indian Health Service.

We played a key role in helping to enact legislation to provide Medicare coverage for blood testing strips, glucose monitors and diabetes self-management education. We successfully urged the Health Care Financing Administration to provide coverage for insulin infusion pumps. The Postal Service unveiled a diabetes awareness stamp - a measure we actively supported. Funding for diabetes activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has increased under our watch. And funding for diabetes research at the National Institutes of Health has increased from $298.9 million in 1996 to $781.3 million in 2002.

While we are still striving to reach the funding recommendations put forth by the Diabetes Research Working Group, the increase in research dollars has begun to show results. Islet transplantation trials show promise for curing type 1 (juvenile) diabetes in the near future. Our efforts will continue on type 2 (adult onset) diabetes which is now beginning to strike individuals in their youth.