[acbny-l] Re: Fw: News notes from the national office
- From: "Mann, Jean" <Jean.Mann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'acbny-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <acbny-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 13:47:17 -0400
I wish my mother had e-mail. I'd send it to her. She's obsessed with how
much people eat and how fat they are.
-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Casey [mailto:frcasey@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 1:25 PM
To: acbny acbny
Subject: [acbny-l] Fw: News notes from the national office
Greetings,
Below, please find the latest edition of News Notes from the National ACB
Office in Washington, DC.
Enjoy,
Frank Casey
frcasey@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> NEWS NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE
>
> For the week ending June 13, 2003.
>
> * Great news! Video Description in Senate bill!
>
> ACB and the TV Access Coalition are thrilled to announce
> that Senator John McCain of Arizona who is the Chair of the
> senate committee responsible for the Federal Communications
> Commission has included express and clear language in his
> proposed reauthrization of the FCC bill to provide both the
> authority and requirement to reinstate the Video Description
> rule. this is a major development and we ask that all ACB, TV
> Coalition members and indeed any friend of video description
> communicate immediately with your United States Senators to ask
> them to support Senate 1264 which is due for Committee action
> this very Thursday. You can call (202)-225-3121 and ask for your
> Senator's office. Once you reach them, then ask for the
> legislative aid who deals with telecommunications policy and
> communicate your support for video description and Senate 1264 to
> that person. Ask them to have their boss, (your Senator) get in
> touch with Senator McCain who chairs the Senate Committee on
> Commerce, Science and Transportation and let him know they
> support the bill.
>
> It's also important that you contact your Congressional
> Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives to ask him or
> her to contact Chairman William Tauzin of the House Committee on
> Energy and Commerce to include the same language as the Senate
> bill with respect to video description in the House version of
> FCC reauthorization..
>
> This is our opportunity to restore access to television
> programming and all who care about this issue need to get busy on
> your phones with Congress and with your friends and even folks
> you don't like so much, but who will get in touch with their
> Senators and Reps. Smile.
>
> There are those in the industry who will argue that they are
> doing video description on a voluntary basis and that no mandate
> is necessary. The reality is that we know this voluntary effort
> is spotty and people are losing out on getting described programs
> and it's getting worse. Only restoration of the video
> description rule will guarantee us access to what all others take
> for granted.
>
> * Has Congress got the right IDEA?
>
> ACB and our partners are still analyzing the Senate version
> of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to see
> how well served kids with disabilities would be under the two
> versions in congress. One thing we can applaud so far is the
> appearance of a required national file format for educational
> books which states would need to make provisions to use when
> receiving books from publishers. This should result in much more
> quick a turn around from print to Braille for students requiring
> access.
>
> In a related story, ACB continues to work on the Randolph-
> Sheppard issue of insuring the ability of blind vending facility
> operators to be awarded facilities on military bases.
>
> * convention, convention, convention!
>
> With our Pittsburgh convention just around the corner, our
> staff are still busy at work shoring up parts that need attention
> and getting ready for a great time. See you in Pittsburgh!
>
>
> ***
>
> News notes is a compilation of the highlights of the events
> of the preceding week and is not intended to provide a
> comprehensive listing of all activities, or treatment of the
> topics mentioned. For information and more detailed treatment of
> especially legislative concerns, call the Washington Connection
> at 800-424-8666 nights and weekends eastern time. Be sure to
> read the Braille Forum each month and check in with the ACB web
> site and radio at WWW.ACB.ORG and WWW.ACBRADIO.ORG respectively.
>
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