World Institute on Disability
July 7, 1994
Congressional Alert
By Janina Sajka
Summary
If you haven't yet contacted Sen. Hollings about putting disability
provisions into S.1822, please do so today.
The House of Representatives has passed telecommunications
legislation by landslide vote margins. The House legislation
includes provisions to make telecommunication equipment and services
accessible to people with disabilities--including provisions for
captioning and for descriptive video. But there is still no such
language in S.1822, the Senate's bill for building the "Information
Superhighway."
The good news is that there is a good chance that disability language
will be added to S. 1822. But members of the Senate Commerce
Committee need to hear from enough disabled people and their friends
asking for it in order to believe that disabled people really care.
Now, more than ever, it is vital that people call or fax Committee
Chairman Sen. Hollings at 1-202-224-6121 voice, or
1-202-224-4293 fax. Tell him you'd like captioning for deaf people,
descriptive video for blind people, and requirments for accessible
equipment and services in S. 1822, just like the House of
Representatives has done in H.R. 3626 by a vote of 423 to 5, and in
H.R. 3636 by a vote of 422 to 4.
What's Happening?
Everything you know about telephones, television, and computers is
about to change forever. Congress is busy writing a law designed to
build an "Information Superhighway." We need your help to convince
Sen. Hollings and the Senate Commerce Committee to include access for
people with disabilities in this law.
We need YOUR help even if you know nothing about technology, because
the Information Superhighway will be everywhere--in your home, at
your job, at your school, on the street corner, at the hospital, in
the library, and in the shopping mall.
The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), an informal
confederation of national disability organizations originally
organized to promote passage of the ADA, negotiated the disability
language in the House bills and has been negotiating with members of
the Senate Commerce Committee for similar language in S.1822. We
need your help to get it there, so that it will be there for
President Clinton to sign into law. The Senate Commerce Committee is
now expected to act on these issues after its current break--in mid-
July.
If you want strong disability language regarding access to the
Information Superhighway--if you want video programming to be
captioned and described--contact Senators on the Commerce Committee.
A list of Committee members with addresses and phone numbers, some
suggestions of what to say, and a sample letter, follow.
What You Can Do
Call, fax, or write today. Remember, you don't need to be an expert
on technology to use a telephone, so you don't need to be an expert
to tell Congress to include YOU in the Information Superhighway.
Call, or send or fax a letter to Chairman Ernest Hollings,
Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee, Room 508,
Dirksen Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510. Call
1-202-224-6121 voice, or 1-202-224-4293 fax. There's a sample letter
below.
Don't wait for these Senators to get E-Mail before you contact them.
They will vote on your telecommunications future long before they get
E-Mail accounts--so please just call, fax, or write.
Get two of your friends or family to contact Senator Hollings.
If your Senator is on the Senate Commerce Committee [See the list
below], be sure to call, fax, or write them.
What You Can Say
Tell them you want and deserve to be part of America's information
future. Tell them to put the House language requiring accessible
equipment and services, as well as captioning and descriptive video,
into S. 1822.
SENATE COMMERCE SCIENCE & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
All addresses below end with:, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510
South Carolina Ernest Hollings, Chairman, Dirksen Bldg., #508,
Voice: 1-202-224-6121 Fax: 1-202-224-4293
Hawaii Daniel Inouye, Hart Bldg., Room 722,
Voice: 1-202-224-3934 Fax: 1-202-224-6747
Kentucky Wendell Ford, Russell Bldg., Room 173A,
Voice: 1-202-224-4343 Fax: 1-202-224-0046
Nebraska J. James Exon, Hart Bldg., Room 520,
Voice: 1-202-224-4224 Fax: 1-202-224-5213
West Virginia Jay Rockefeller, Hart Bldg., Room 109,
Voice: 1-202-224-6472 Fax: 1-202-224-1689
Massachusetts John Kerry, Russell Bldg., Room 421,
Voice: 1-202-224-2742 Fax: 1-202-224-8525
Louisiana John Breaux, Hart Bldg., Room 516,
Voice: 1-202-224-4623 Fax: Unlisted
Nevada Richard Bryan, Russell Bldg., Room 364,
Voice: 1-202-224-6244 Fax: Unlisted
Virginia Charles Robb, Russell Bldg., Room 493,
Voice: 1-202-224-4024 Fax: 1-202-224-8689
North Dakota Byron Dorgan, Hart Bldg., Room 425,
Voice: 1-202-225-2611 Fax: 1-202-225-9436
Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison, Hart Bldg., Room 703,
Voice: 1-202-224-5922 Fax: 1-202-224-0776
Missouri John Danforth, Russell Bldg., Room 249,
Voice: 1-202-224-6154 Fax: Unlisted
Oregon Bob Packwood, Russell Bldg., room 259,
Voice: 1-202-224-5244 Fax: 1-202-228-3576
South Dakota Larry Pressler, Hart Bldg., Room 133,
Voice: 1-202-224-5842 Fax: 1-202-224-1630
Alaska Ted Stevens, Hart Bldg., Room 522,
Voice: 1-202-224-3004 Fax: 1-202-224-1044
Arizona John McCain, Russell Bldg., Room 111,
Voice: 1-202-224-2235 Fax: 1-202-228-2862
Montana Conrad Burns, Dirksen Bldg., Room 183,
Voice: 1-202-224-2644 Fax: 1-202-224-8594
Washington Slade Gorton, Hart Bldg., Room 730,
Voice: 1-202-224-3441 Fax: 1-202-224-9393
Mississippi Trent Lott, Russell Bldg., Room 487,
Voice: 1-202-224-6253 Fax: 1-202-224-2262
New Hampshire Judd Gregg, Hart Bldg., Room 513,
Voice: 1-202-224-3324 Fax: 1-202-224-4952
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SAMPLE LETTER
Date
Sen. Ernest Hollings, Chairman
Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee
Dirksen Building, Room 508
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Hollings:
RE: S. 1822, Telecommunications Infrastructure Legislation
I write to ask your support for provisions in telecommunications
infrastructure legislation. In particular I ask your support for
provisions which:
* require Bell telephone companies to address the access needs of
individuals with disabilities in manufacturing of equipment and
network services; and
* require similar disability access requirements for all other
providers of equipment and network services, not just Bell
telephone companies;
Also I ask your support for measures which ensure closed captioning
and video description as a requirement so that individuals with
hearing and vision disabilities can have access to everything that
everyone else gets.
I am particularly interested because (I am a person with a
disability) (I am a family member of/advocate for a person with a
disability).
If these types of things are not included in telecommunications
infrastructure legislation, (I/we/my child) with a disability may end
up among the "have nots" in the information age. Also, people with
disabilities are not going to go away and the extra cost of retro-
fitting "electronic curb cuts" in the future demands inclusion now.
Please write me back that you will support these kinds of
requirements.
Sincerely,
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This Congressional Alert was prepared and broadcast by
Janina Sajka, WIDnet Manager
Technology Policy Division
World Institute on Disability
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