Please note that the following 3 committee members are from Florida, and would
be the most appropriate to contact:
Rep. Ron DeSantis (FL-06)
Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL-01)
Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-22)
From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ;
Chip and Allie Orange
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 2:50 PM
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tabi] Tell Congress Not to Weaken the ADA!
To be put in touch with any of the Congressman for your area just call
202-224-3121
From: AAPD
[mailto:communications=aapd.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of AAPD
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 10:03 AM
To: abazyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Action Alert! Tell Congress Not to Weaken the ADA!
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is a convener,
connector, and catalyst for change, increasing the political and economic power
of people with disabilities.
View this email in your browser
Action Alert!
Tell Congress Not to Weaken the ADA!
April 26, 2017
The ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 620) would seriously weaken the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by delaying requirements that businesses
be accessible to people with disabilities.
The proposed legislation requires a person with a disability to give businesses
with accessibility barriers a written notice of the barrier, after which the
business has 60 days to even acknowledge there is a problem, and then another
120 days to begin to fix it. No other civil rights group is forced to wait 180
days to enforce their civil rights!
HR 620 currently has 14 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and waits
for markup from the Judiciary Committee. Now is the time to contact those
Representatives and tell them to VOTE NO on this bill!
Message: Vote NO on HR 620, the ADA Education and Reform Act.
Contacting Congress allows you to easily search for your Member of Congress and
access multiple methods to contact them (phone, email, Facebook, Twitter,
etc.). You can also call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Despite
multiple methods of communications, congressional offices respond best to
in-person meetings and phone calls.
All Members of the House of Representatives need to hear from the disability
community, but it is especially important if your Representative serves on the
Judiciary Committee (see the list below).
The ADA Education and Reform Act would seriously weaken the
Americans with Disabilities Act and would turn people with disabilities into
second-class citizens.
The ADA is already very carefully crafted to take the needs of
business owners into account. Compliance is simply not burdensome. But this
bill would remove any reason for businesses to comply. Instead, they can take a
wait and see attitude, and do nothing until they happen to be sued or sent a
notice letter.
H.R. 620 would require a person with a disability who encounters an
access barrier to send an exactly written notice, and gives the business owner
60 days to even acknowledge that there is a problem-and then another 120 days
to begin to fix it. No other civil rights group is forced to wait 180 days to
enforce their civil rights.
Title III of the ADA was implemented in 1992 to provide regulations
on the accessibility of private businesses (also known as public
accommodations). Businesses have had over 25 years to comply with these
regulations.
H.R. 620 calls for education by the Department of Justice. But
there are already extensive federal efforts to educate business owners about
their ADA obligations, including the in-depth DOJ ADA website (http://ada.gov),
the DOJ ADA hotline, extensive DOJ technical assistance materials, etc., and by
the 10 federally-funded regional ADA Centers (www.adata.org) that provide
in-depth resources and training in every state.
Proponents of this bill have raised concerns about monetary damage
awards. But that has nothing to do with the ADA, because the ADA does not allow
money damages. Such damages are only available under a handful of state laws.
This bill will do nothing to prevent damage awards under state laws.
It is troubling that this bill blames people with disabilities for
public accommodations failure to comply with the ADA. Why should disabled
people pay the price of an inaccessible environment, where we cannot live our
lives like everyone else?
Members of the House Judiciary Committee
Republicans
Chairman Bob Goodlatte (VA-06)
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. (WI-05)
Rep. Lamar Smith (TX-21)
Rep. Steve Chabot (OH-01)
Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-49)
Rep. Steve King (IA-04)
Rep. Trent Franks (AZ-08)
Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01)
Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-04)
Rep. Ted Poe (TX-02)
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (UT-03)
Rep. Tom Marino (PA-10)
Rep. Trey Gowdy (SC-04)
Rep. Ral Labrador (ID-01)
Rep. Blake Farenthold (TX-27)
Rep. Doug Collins (GA-09)
Rep. Ron DeSantis (FL-06)
Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04)
Rep. John Ratcliffe (TX-04)
Rep. Martha Roby (AL-02)
Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL-01)
Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04)
Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05)
Democrats
Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13)
Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-10)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Rep. Hank Johnson, Jr. (GA-04)
Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-22)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL-04)
Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37)
Rep. Cedric Richmond (LA-02)
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08)
Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01)
Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15)
Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33)
Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)
Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10)
Additional Resources
Overview of concerns with H.R. 620 Disability Rights Education and
Defense Fund
H.R. 620 Congress.gov
Save the ADA web page National Disability Rights Network
Webinar: Risk of major ADA amendments soon by the ADA Education and Reform Act
of 2017
May 1, 2017 | 2pm ET
H.R. 620 and similar ADA notification bills are gaining more steam in Congress
than ever before. If any passes, it will have a devastating impact on the ADA
by denying people with disabilities the power to enforce some of its
requirements. Join this webinar to learn more about what is happening with this
quickly-moving bill, and how you and others can get involved.
We cannot allow Congress to chip away at the ADA and deny the civil rights of
people with disabilities tell your Representative and those on the Judiciary
Committee to vote NO on HR 620. Nothing about us, without us!
AAPD is a convener, connector, and catalyst for change,
increasing the political and economic power of people with disabilities. Please
consider making a tax-deductible donation to support AAPD's mission.
You can also support AAPD by designating us as your preferred charity when you
shop on Amazon.com through their Amazon Smile program.
Thank you!
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