Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation Blog

April 1, 2026

Advocacy Action Alert: Include "Sleep Disorders and Restriction" in the Department of Defense Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program

Advocacy is an important part of the RLS Foundation's work to increase awareness and promote RLS research. We ask RLS community members to participate in Advocacy Action Alerts to expand our reach within Congress. If you have any questions, please email adrianna@rls.org.

Background: Each year, the United States Senate crafts an annual Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill, which includes a list of conditions that are deemed “eligible for study” through the Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP). For a condition to be included, Senators need to support the condition and officially ask for its inclusion. Senators have many competing appropriations priorities and for them to support a condition-specific request, they need to be educated and asked to do so by their constituents.

Why It’s Important: As a result of grassroots outreach, the Senate has recognized sleep disorders and restriction as a condition eligible for study annually. This support allows researchers to compete for $370 million in federal research funding each year.

Recently, Congress finalized the DOD appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and “sleep disorders and restrictions” was once again included on the list for the PRMRP. However, Senators are now working on FY 2027 DOD appropriations bill and will be deciding which conditions will be included on the next PRMRP eligible conditions list. We need your advocacy to help ensure that we are included on this list for the upcoming FY27 bill as well.

Request: Please reach out to the offices of your Senators and ask that they “support the continued inclusion of sleep disorders and restriction in the DOD PRMRP’s eligible conditions list in FY 2027.”

Steps to Take Action:

*Complete Step 1 as soon as possible, as you will need the contact information for the Health Legislative Assistant before completing the rest.

1. Contact our Washington representative, Briana Walker at walker@hmcw.org. Briana will provide the contact information of the Health Legislative Assistant in your Representative’s DC office. Provide your home address and zip code so Briana can identify your House Representative’s Health LA.

Email Subject Line: RLSF: DOD PRMRP

*Please cc: Adrianna Colucci, RLS Foundation Communications Coordinator (adrianna@rls.org)

2. Once you have the contact information, reach out to your Senators and ask that they support the inclusion of “sleep disorders and restriction” in the Department of Defense’s Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program. We ask that you reach out to your Senators no later than April 30th.

3. Please consult the list below and see if one of the Senators from your state serves on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Please note that you can still reach out even if your Senator is not on the Subcommittee.

4. Complete the sample message below with your RLS story and send your completed letter to your Senator’s health staffer provided by Briana.

**Sample Message**

The Honorable _______

________ Senate Office Building

Dear Senator_______,

My name is [Your Name] and I am a constituent and an advocate for the Restless Legs Syndrome community. I write you today on behalf of individuals affected by Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) to thank you for ensuring that “sleep disorders and restriction” was included in the eligible conditions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and ask that you work with your colleagues to ensure that “sleep disorders and restriction” is once again listed as a condition eligible for study through the Department of Defense Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) within the Committee Report accompanying the Senate’s FY 2027 Defense Appropriations Bill. .

[Briefly share your personal RLS story in 2-3 sentences.]

I hope you will work with your colleagues in support of once again listing “sleep disorders and restriction” in FY 2027 as a condition eligible for study through the annual list on the Committee Report accompanying the Senate’s FY 2027 bill.

On behalf of RLS affected constituents, thank you for your time and your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

[Name]

[Address]

****

It is important to reach out as soon as possible, to ensure that your congressional offices have time to review and approve the letter. Thank you for your support as an advocate! If you have questions, please email adrianna@rls.org.

• Chair: Mitch McConnell (Kentucky)
• Ranking Member: Christopher Coons (Delaware)

• Susan Collins (Maine)
• Richard Durbin (Illinois)
• Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
• Patty Murray (Washington)
• Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)
• Jack Reed (Rhode Island)
• Jerry Moran (Kansas)
• Brian Schatz (Hawaii)
• John Hoeven (North Dakota)
• Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin)
• John Boozman (Arkansas)
• Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire)
• Shelly Moore Capito (West Virginia)
• Chris Murphy (Connecticut)
• John Kennedy (Louisiana)