(March 13, 2008) Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) listens to the moving testimony of 13-year-old Cynthia Cervantes, a Huntington Park constituent, before the Appropriations Health Subcommittee. A student at Henry T. Gage Middle School in Huntington Park, Cynthia shared her experiences coping with scleroderma, a rare disease affecting only about 300,000 Americans that causes Cynthia’s skin and internal organs to stiffen. Cynthia explained to committee members that, in addition to taking nine pills a day and using an inhaler three times a day, that she must wear gloves and a sweater as part of her treatment even during hot weather. Cynthia asked the panel, on which the congresswoman sits, to support research efforts that might lead to treatments and ultimately a cure for her illness. Pictured in the first photo taken outside the hearing room on Capitol Hill following Cynthia’s testimony (left to right): Congresswoman Roybal-Allard; Josephine Battyany – Southern California Chapter Patient Support Coordinator (also patient) of the Scleroderma Foundation; Leticia Cervantes – Cynthia’s mother; Cynthia Cervantes who testified; Frannie Waldron – CEO national Scleroderma Foundation. Pictured in the third photo taken outside the hearing room on Capitol Hill following Cynthia’s testimony (left to right): Brian Ross Adams – Executive Director, Southern California Chapter, Scleroderma Foundation; Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard; Cynthia Cervantes who testified; Frannie Waldron – CEO national Scleroderma Foundation; and Leticia Cervantes – Cynthia’s mother.