NCIL is the oldest cross-disability, national grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities. NCIL's membership includes people with disabilities, Centers for Independent Living, Statewide Independent living Councils, and other disability rights organizations. As a membership organization, NCIL advances Independent Living and the rights of people with disabilities through consumer-driven advocacy.
1) What’s Happening in the Nation’s Capital?
The CLASS Act Survives Attempted Death-Blow, Remains in Senate Reform Bill
On Friday, December 4th, after two sessions of debate in as many days, the U.S. Senate took two votes on amendments regarding the CLASS Act as part of healthcare reform.
The first vote was offered by Senator Whitehouse (D-RI). It was a “Sense of the Senate” that premiums paid into the CLASS program would be used solely for their intended purpose, not as part of the general federal budget. This amendment passed 98-0. While NCIL supported this amendment, a Sense of the Senate holds no enforcement procedure, but merely expresses the thoughts of the Senate.
The second amendment, offered by Senator Thune (R-SD), was to strip the CLASS Act entirely from the Senate bill. NCIL has been warning our members about the imminent need to kill this amendment. Debate on the amendment was ceased, a vote held, and the measure failed. Amendments on this bill require 60 votes to pass, and the amendment to kill the CLASS Act failed by 13 votes. Seven Democratic senators, who generally support reform, did not support the CLASS program. They were:
-Mark Udall of Colorado
-Even Bayh of Indiana
-Kent Conrad of North Dakota
-Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
-Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
-Claire McCaskill of Missouri
-Mark Warner and Jim Webb of Virginia, and
-Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
View the Roll Call vote to see how your senator voted - click here! Please call your senators to thank them if they supported the CLASS program by voting NO to the Thune amendment. You can find the phone number you need by clicking here.
If your Senator(s) voted to strip the CLASS program from the healthcare reform bill, let them know your dissatisfaction. There could be another amendment or deal brokered that could strip the CLASS Act from the bill. Related Story - click here.
2) National News
A Proclamation by the President on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2009
Source: The White House- This year, in an effort to renew our global commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms for persons with disabilities, the United States became a proud signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This treaty represents a paradigm shift, urging equal protection and benefits for all citizens, and reaffirming the inherent dignity and independence of the 650 million people living with disabilities worldwide.
Today, as we commemorate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we celebrate the skills, achievements, and contributions of persons with disabilities in America and around the world. We recognize the progress we have made toward equality for all, and we rededicate ourselves to ensuring individuals with disabilities can reach their greatest potential.
Despite our increased efforts, persons with disabilities continue to face barriers to their full participation in society. In the United States, Americans with disabilities still experience discrimination in the workplace and in their communities. In developing nations, 90 percent of children with disabilities do not attend school, and women and girls with disabilities are all too often subjected to deep discrimination.
If we are to move forward as a people, both at home and abroad, all individuals must be fully integrated into our human family. The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a time to renew our commitment to the principles of empowerment, dignity, and equality. The United States has co-sponsored and joined consensus on the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee's resolution titled, "Realizing the Millennium Development Goals for Persons with Disabilities." We must continue to embrace diversity and reject discrimination in all its forms, and insist on equality of opportunity and accessibility for all. Let our efforts remind us that when we work together, we can build a world free of unnecessary barriers and include every member of our international community.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 3, 2009, as International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I call on all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
(All information provided via the Weekly Advocacy Monitor, ncil.org )
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