District of Columbia APSE: The Network on Employment Legislative Action Alerts
Grassroots Action Alerts
On July 31, the Senate introduced the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (S. 3406). This is a critical step for the ADA legislation and builds on the strong bipartisan momentum of the House vote of 402 to 17 on its version of the legislation (H.R. 3195). We need your help to make sure the bill becomes law!
At our joint meeting today (Aug 12, 2008) with the ADAAA press taskforce, the following Senators were identified as key people to bring on board.
Senator Kyl (R-AZ)
Senator Grassley (R-IA)
Senator Bunning (R-KY)
Senator McConnell (R-KY)
Senator Hagel (R-NE)
Senator Domenici (R-NM)
Senator Ensign (R-NV)
Senator Coburn (R-OK)
Senator Graham (R-SC)
Senator Hutchinson (R-TX)
Senator Cornyn (R-TX)
We are asking that you call your Senators today as they will be in their home states for the August recess. You can call their local office and find out if any public meetings, forums, or town hall meetings are scheduled in your area. Senator Grassley (IA) will be having several Town Hall meetings (see below). These opportunities to meet directly with your Senator are incredibly helpful to our advocacy efforts! If you could set up an in-district meeting, please let me know and we will try to get representatives from other advocacy organizations to join you!
Talking Points for Phone Calls:
"I am calling to express my strong support for the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, S. 3406. This bill would protect people with disabilities and provide a clear definition of disability under the ADA for employers. The ADA Amendments Act is supported by over 220 national organizations and many key business associations including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Society for Human Resource Management, and the HR Policy Association. These supporters recognize that this legislation that will ensure all Americans have a fair opportunity to secure employment. I urge you to support (or thank you for supporting) the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 and hope that the Senate will vote on this critical legislation in early September."
Contact your Senators today! Thank them for cosponsoring or encourage them to cosponsor the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (S. 3406) and ask them to support a floor vote in the Senate on S. 3406 when they return from the August recess.
Thank you for taking action, with your help, we can make a difference!
Support the ADA Amendments Act in the Senate!
Senate ADA Amendments Act Introduced with 57 Co-Sponsors
Senators Harkin and Hatch have introduced the ADA Amendments Act - S. 3406 - with 57 original cosponsors!
While we will have to work hard to gain even more support in the Senate, ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR) thanks the state and local organizers and thousands of grassroots supporters who took part in our Road To Freedom bus stop events to support restoration of the ADA; signed our petition; attracted widespread media attention to the need for restoration; and utilized our ADA Restoration Action Center to send thousands of messages calling on Congress to respond to the narrowing of the ADA in the courts.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 will restore the civil rights of people with disabilities by:
• Specifically rejecting restrictive interpretations by the Supreme Court that have reduced theprotections for people with disabilities under the ADA
• Directing that the definition of "disability" must be construed broadly, to cover anyone who is discriminated against on the basis of disability.
• Clarifying the definition of disability, to more clearly prohibit discrimination against people with physical or mental impairments.
• Prohibiting consideration of an individual's ability to mitigate the effect of a disability (e.g., by taking medications) in determining whether she is eligible for protection from discrimination.
• Covering individuals who experience discrimination based on a perception that they have an impairment regardless of whether they have a disability.
Here is the list of origional co-sponsors of the Senate ADA Amendments Act:
Harkin, Hatch, Kennedy, Enzi, Specter, Obama, McCain, Dodd, Dole, Gregg, Clinton, Alexander, Johnson, Roberts, Kerry, Coleman, Feingold, Snowe, Leahy, Burr, Brown, Smith, Durbin, Murkowski, Lautenberg, Warner, Sanders, Brownback, Reed, Martinez, Mikulski, Isakson, Casey, Craig, Murray, Bennett, Landrieu, Collins, Biden, Allard, Nelson, Sununu, Cardin, Thune, Levin, Barrasso, McCaskill, Crapo, Schumer, Stevens, Salazar, Voinovich, Tester, Cochran, Reid, Luger, Chambliss.
Harkin, Hatch, Kennedy, Enzi, Specter, Obama, McCain, Dodd, Dole, Gregg, Clinton, Alexander, Johnson, Roberts, Kerry, Coleman, Feingold, Snowe, Leahy, Burr, Brown, Smith, Durbin, Murkowski, Lautenberg, Warner, Sanders, Brownback, Reed, Martinez, Mikulski, Isakson, Casey, Craig, Murray, Bennett, Landrieu, Collins, Biden, Allard, Nelson, Sununu, Cardin, Thune, Levin, Barrasso, McCaskill, Crapo, Schumer, Stevens, Salazar, Voinovich, Tester, Cochran, Reid, Luger, Chambliss.
If your both your senators are not on this list, contact them and ask them to support the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. If one or both of your senators are co-sponsors, call them and thank them for supporting the civil rights of people with disabilities.
According to a report by the National Council on Disability (2001), "for 35 million voting-aged citizens with disabilities:
- 14 million people of voting age who have a disability are unregistered voters;
- People with disabilities vote at a rate 11 percent lower than the general population;
- 81 percent of voters who are blind or have visual impairments rely on others to mark their ballots; and
- An estimated 20,000 of the nation’s 170,000 polling places are inaccessible to voters who use
wheelchairs" (para 1, line 7).
We can change those numbers. Please inform others about the importance of voting, or assist them, if necessary, with registering to vote. This is a link to voter registration in the District of Columbia.
