Florida Senate - 2012                            (NP)    SR 1210
       
       
       
       By Senator Detert
       
       
       
       
       23-01157-12                                           20121210__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing February 24, 2012, as “Dave
    3         Bitner Day” in Florida and May 2012 as “Amyotrophic
    4         Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month” in Florida.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, David I. “Dave” Bitner, of Monticello, a former
    7  member of the Florida House of Representatives, died September
    8  8, 2011, after a courageous, months-long battle with Amyotrophic
    9  Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), better known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,”
   10  and
   11         WHEREAS, ALS is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease
   12  that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, with
   13  early symptoms that include weakness of the skeletal muscles,
   14  especially involving the arms and legs, and difficulty
   15  swallowing, talking, and breathing, and
   16         WHEREAS, ALS eventually causes muscles to atrophy,
   17  rendering the patient a functional quadriplegic, and
   18         WHEREAS, because ALS does not affect mental acuity,
   19  individuals with ALS remain alert and aware of their loss of
   20  motor functions and the inevitability of continued deterioration
   21  and death, and
   22         WHEREAS, the average survival rate for an individual with
   23  ALS is 2 to 5 years after diagnosis, and
   24         WHEREAS, research indicates that military veterans are at
   25  least twice as likely to develop ALS than those who have not
   26  served in the military, and
   27         WHEREAS, ALS has no known cause, means of prevention, or
   28  cure, and
   29         WHEREAS, the inaugural Tallahassee Walk to Defeat ALS,
   30  sponsored by the Florida Chapter of the ALS Association, will be
   31  held on February 24, 2012, and
   32         WHEREAS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month was
   33  conceived as a means of raising public awareness of the
   34  circumstances of ALS patients and the terrible impact of the
   35  disease on the patient, the patient’s family, and the community
   36  in which they live, and increasing support for biomedical
   37  research on ALS to find the cause or causes of ALS, to develop
   38  an understanding of the mechanisms involved in the progression
   39  of the disease, and to develop an effective treatment, NOW,
   40  THEREFORE,
   41  
   42  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   43  
   44         That February 24, 2012, is recognized as “Dave Bitner Day”
   45  in Florida, to be commemorated by the inaugural Tallahassee Walk
   46  to Defeat ALS, and May 2012 is recognized as “Amyotrophic
   47  Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month” in Florida.