SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 9

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Jacob R. Candelaria

A JOINT MEMORIAL

DECLARING JANUARY 26, 2016 AS "MS DAY" AT THE LEGISLATURE AND REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO PROCLAIM MARCH 7 THROUGH MARCH 13, 2016 MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AWARENESS WEEK IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and stops people from moving; and

     WHEREAS, multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable and often disabling disease of the central nervous system, and every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed; and

     WHEREAS, the national multiple sclerosis society's New Mexico chapter reports that, in New Mexico, more than two thousand nine hundred people are living with this disease; and

     WHEREAS, multiple sclerosis generally strikes young adults between the ages of twenty and fifty, attacking them in the prime of their lives, affecting more than four hundred thousand people nationwide, and more than two million three hundred thousand people are affected worldwide; and

     WHEREAS, symptoms of multiple sclerosis range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis; and the progress, severity and specific symptoms of multiple sclerosis in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are bringing the world closer to being free of multiple sclerosis; and

     WHEREAS, the national multiple sclerosis society's New Mexico chapter has been committed throughout the years to mobilizing people statewide who advocate on behalf of people affected by this illness and is planning several major statewide fundraisers and educational programs to raise multiple sclerosis awareness; and

     WHEREAS, "walk MS" and "bike MS" events are scheduled this year throughout New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the national multiple sclerosis society's New Mexico chapter devotes programs and services to enhancing the lives of those with multiple sclerosis and invests in research toward finding a cause and a cure;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that January 26, 2016 be declared "MS Day" at the legislature and that the governor be requested to proclaim March 7 through March 13, 2016 as multiple sclerosis awareness week in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico chapter of the multiple sclerosis society and to the governor.

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