Contact Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to Bring the ABLE Act for a Vote!

Down Syndrome Advocates:

We need your help TODAY!

Please call and email Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy asking him to bring the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act (H.R. 647/S. 313) to a vote under suspension next week!

Contact Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for his support! Call-in script and email template provided below.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy:
Leadership Office: (202) 255-4000
Email: https://kevinmccarthy.house.gov/contact/email-me

Email Template

TALKING points

-I'm calling to ask Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to bring the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act (H.R. 647/S. 313) under suspension next week.

-As Majority Leader, we need his leadership to bring the MOST BIPARTISAN BILL up for a vote - the ABLE Act has 85% of the ENTIRE CONGRESS COSPONSORING IT - with 74 Senators and 381 Representatives cosponsoring.

-The House Ways and Means Committee already unanimously voted the ABLE Act out of committee.

-The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the bill and, in September, issued a press release outlining their intention to being the ABLE Act to a vote once Congress returns from recess and after the election.

Voting Resources for People with Disabilities

Voting with a Disability, resources from Nonprofit Vote .org:

Below you will find links to voting with disabilities from national organizations.

Disability Vote Project: American Association of People with Disabilities
The AAPD Disability Vote Project (DVP) addresses the fundamental inequalities faced by voters with disabilities, and works in a nonpartisan approach to ensure full accessibility to all polling places and voting equipment.
DVP’s work:

• Eliminating barriers to voting
• Promoting voter turnout in the disability community
• Ensuring that voting the voting machines in production are accurate, accessible, and secure
• Growing disability vote coalitions across the country
• Educating the disability community on the importance of voting
• Increasing the registration rate among voters with disabilities

Disability and Voter Turnout
Fact sheets and testimony:

•  “Fact sheet:  Disability and Voter Turnout in the 2010 Elections,” by Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse, June 2011.
•  “Fact sheet:  Disability and Voter Turnout in the 2008 Elections,” by Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse, July 2009.
• “Testimony before Election Assistance Commission,” October 8, 2009.  By Lisa Schur.  Webcast at http://www.yorkmedia.com/eac/webcasts2009.htm.
• Studies:
• “Sidelined or Mainstreamed?  Political Participation and Attitudes of People with Disabilities in the United States,” Presented at the American Political Science Association  conference, August 2008, and updated October 2009.  By Lisa Schur and Meera Adya.
• “Voting,” in Gary Albrecht, ed., Encyclopedia of Disability (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005).  By Lisa Schur, Todd Shields, and Kay Schriner.
• “Enabling Democracy: Disability and Voter Turnout,” Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 1, March 2002, pp. 167-190.  By Lisa Schur, Todd Shields, Douglas Kruse, and Kay Schriner.
• “What Determines Voter Turnout?  Lessons from Citizens with Disabilities,” Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 2, June 2000, pp. 571-587.   ByLisa Schur and Douglas Kruse.

The Arc: We've Got the Power Vote in 2012
Election Day 2012—it’s closer than you think! In this time of rapid change and challenges at all levels of government, the importance for action by people with intellectual & developmental disabilities (I/DD), their families, and everyone who cares about our issues, and to become engaged in the political process has never been more important.
The Arc is pleased to provide resources for advocates and community partners for the upcoming 2012 elections. As people who care about the dignity, civil rights and access for people with I/DD at all levels of society, it is our role to promote civic responsibility and participation in our democracy. The Arc is launching its “We’ve Got The Power!” campaign to amplify the voice of people with disabilities as active participants in the political process, and in their communities. Together with Nonprofit Vote, a nonpartisan organization focused on providing voter engagement tools and resources, The Arc is providing links to toolkits, checklists, and other important resources for those wishing to show our communities that “We’ve Got the Power!” It’s time to Make Our Mark in 2012!

Bazelon Center 2012 Voting Rights Guides

Highlighted Tools

• VOTE 2012—It’s Your Right! Addendum to the 2008 Voting Rights Guide for People with Mental Disabilities (8/30/12): Replaces the 2008 chart “State Laws Affecting the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities” in
   
  • Guide to the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities (73 pages; 5.5"x8.5" page size) (2008 with 2012 updated chart of state laws)
• Restoring the Voting Rights of People Under Guardianship (PDF) | Word Version (8/30/12): Includes model motions, affidavits and orders that people under guardianship—or their family members or advocates—can use to restore voting rights taken away because a person with a mental disability has a guardian.
• Model Letter to State Election Officials (PDF) | Word Version (8/30/12): Alerts state election officials to voting problems faced by people with mental disabilities, and describes federal laws that protect the voting rights of people with mental disabilities.
• Chart of State Laws Affecting the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities (8/29/12)
• Chart of State Laws on Voter Challenges (8/29/12)
• Summary and Links to Guardianship and Conservatorship Forms Provided by State Courts (8/29/12)
• Absentee Ballot Requirements by State (8/29/12)

Handouts and Flyers for Posting in Facilities and at Polls

• For advocates, family members, poll workers and others, on providing help to voters with disabilities--who can, and how (2-page PDF)
• For voters with mental disabilities, explaining basic voting rights (1-page PDF)

Additional Resources

• Clearinghouse Review Article on Voting Rights of Older Adults with Cognitive Impairments (9/08)

  

Below you will find links to voting with disabilities information from each state.

Dad demands apology from Ann Coulter for using 'retarded' as an insult

from Today by Dan Niblock:

“Retard! Retard!” It’s the shrill call of a vile black bird, a call I hear coming from the treetops and from behind dark clouds these days. I hear it, though others don’t, because I have an ear for it. Call it a gift. I received this gift four years ago, in a hospital delivery room, at the exact moment a nurse turned to me and told me that in all likelihood my newborn son had Down syndrome. He did. His name is Ozzie.

It’s a strange thing, this gift of mine. Because a word that used to zip right on past my ear without causing a ripple now leaves me feeling like I’ve had the wind knocked out of me. And it happens just about every day.

The English language is littered with the husks of words like "retard." We've invented awful slurs for every group of people imaginable. But for some reason, those other words are whispered behind backs, relegated to the shadows. "Retard" is not. This particular slur, and its many variations, fills the space on park benches between soccer moms. It's heard in movies and on TV shows and in the songs kids sing in front of grandma. It pops up in board meetings and in breakrooms and in coffee shop queues.

And online - especially online. The comments section of any web post, no matter what website or how benign the topic, always seems to tease a “retarded” comment out of a reader or two. And for the life of me I cannot understand why this is so. Because it hurts, and people know it hurts, because parents like me have told them so. Again and again.

I'm left to wonder why this word is so precious that we just can't seem to get by without it. I'm left to wonder why it still slips so easily from the mouths of celebrities and public figures. In the most recent example, conservative firebrand Ann Coulter, tip of the Republican spear, posted a tweet insinuating that President Obama is pandering to the "retarded vote."

Here’s Ann’s tweet:

“Been busy, but is Obama STILL talking about that video? I had no idea how crucial the retarded vote is in this election.”

Reece's Rainbow is in the running to win a $50,000 grant

 

If you are new to Reece's Rainbow, we are a 501c3 charity with advocates and fundraises for the international adoption of children with Down syndrome and other special needs exclusively.   In only 6 years, we have found adoptive families for more than 850+ children around the world, and disbursed more than $4 million in adoption grant funding to save them!

Reece's Rainbow is in the running to win a $50,000 grant from Cultivate Wines.  IF we should win, (10) waiting orphans with Down syndrome in (10) different countries will each recieve a $5000 grant towards the cost of their adoption.  (list of children will be revealed at the end!)  Money is the ONLY thing standing in the way for these children to be FOUND and to come home to loving "forever families".

The voting period is between September 19-October 31.  We need EACH OF YOU to vote ONCE A DAY!   Every vote helps, and we can't make up for votes at the last minute like some other contests.

Restrictions:  this contest is open only to voters over the age of 21, and you must have a Facebook account to vote.  (contest rules) 

PLEASE visit this link every day, vote, and share on your Facebook, blog, yahoo groups, Twitter, with your friends and family.   This is an important opportunity for the children and the ministry as a whole for greater visibility as we go into our Angel Tree! (starting November 1)  

Any questions can be directed to me personally at andrea@reecesrainbow.org 

Thank you for your support!

http://www.cultivatewines.com/cause/49260/

Andrea Roberts, Founder & Executive Director
Reece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministry
www.reecesrainbow.org

E-mail:  andrea@reecesrainbow.org

Yahoo Messenger:  luvbama93

Skype:  reecesrainbow

Facebook:  Andrea Faris Roberts

Twitter:  @momtoreece and @reecesrainbow