The New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS) is proud to announce the introduction of federal legislation for Tourette Syndrome by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and U.S. Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ13). The Collaborative Academic Research Efforts (CARE) for Tourette Syndrome Act of 2011, with bill number S. 2321 in the Senate and H.R. 3760 in the House of Representatives, would amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the expansion, intensification and coordination of the programs and activities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with respect to Tourette Syndrome -- a neurological disorder that affects 1 in 100 people. The bill seeks to expand and intensify data collection on TS to improve information on the prevalence of the disease, while also establishing Centers of Excellence to undertake extensive research into the causes, treatments, diagnosis and preventions of TS. NJCTS, the nation’s first center of excellence for TS, was established in 2004. It is the only agency in the New Jersey – and one that leads the nation – that supports the needs of children and families dealing with TS, an often misunderstood and misdiagnosed inherited neurological disorder characterized by repeated involuntary movements and uncontrollable vocal sounds called tics. The next step for Senator Menendez in his quest to bring S. 2321 into law is to seek co-sponsors for the bill in the Senate. In the House of Representatives, bill H.R. 3760 already has 37 co-sponsors. To register support for these bills, just sign your name to this peititon. Then, please visit POPVOX – which bridges the gap between the input the public wants to provide and the information Members of Congress want and need to receive – at https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/s2321 and https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr3760. Thank you!