[Ct-nfb] Message from Senator Christopher Murphy

Sun Jan 19 03:44:23 UTC 2014

Hi Justin, 

Given that information, I understand the necessity of your tone. 

I'm not sure how you can get through either. Perhaps if you can get to the
person who is the main legislative aide on the phone. I would guess the
people ansering the phone may not be the ones who would be able to listen
and transmit the information accurately to the senator. 

I assume you're attending the Washington seminar. I don't remember when it
is but if you are meeting with legislators, hopefully that will be before
the vote is taken. That would be the best way to make your case to the
senators. 

I have called our senators but will try again. 

Best of luck and please keep us posted. 

Janet 

From: Ct-nfb [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Justin
Salisbury
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 10:06 PM
To: NFB of Connecticut Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] Message from Senator Christopher Murphy

Dear Janet,

I appreciate your comments and suggestions. Please do not be afraid to
offend me by offering them.

On the note of positivity, I had been writing more positive letters, and
they were simply not getting responses that demonstrated any understanding
of what I was discussing. My hypothesis about what was happening was that
the legislative assistants were reading the first sentence or first part of
the first sentence and jumping to a conclusion about the entire letter
without reading it.

My language has grown stronger and stronger each time I write again. Do you,
given this information, have any further suggestions on this note?

I like your suggestion about stating the problem article and section (and
language) at the beginning of my letter, as well. I often do that but, for
some reason, failed to do it this time, and I agree with you that I should
do it every time.

I hope everyone understands the seriousness of this problem, and I sincerely
hope that others here are also contacting our senators.

Yours,

Justin Salisbury

Sent from the iPhone of:

Justin M. Salisbury

Graduate Student

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

University of Wisconsin - Madison

On Jan 18, 2014, at 4:59 PM, "Janet Wallans" <janetcw at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Hi Justin, 

Your letter to Senator Murphy has a lot of good information in it but I
would suggest a more positive approach. 

Instead of stating at the beginning that you absolutely oppose the bill the
way it is written, I would suggest that perhaps you could say that it is a
very good bill but that you have strong  concerns regarding two sections of
it. I did hear on the news what is in the bill, and it does have important
features. 

I also would suggest that you state what the sections are and how to change
them  near the beginning of the letter and then go into the background. I
would guess that his staffers read these letters first and hopefully they
get to him later. And there is a lot of other correspondence for them to get
through, so coming to the point quickly is important. 

Hope you don't mind my suggestions. 

Janet 

From: Ct-nfb [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Justin
Salisbury
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 10:24 PM
To: 'ct-nfb at nfbnet.org'; 'ctabs at nfbnet.org'
Cc: alewis at nfb.org; 'rsloan at nfb.org'; Shaquantaey Mack (smack at nfbga.org)
Subject: [Ct-nfb] Message from Senator Christopher Murphy

Fellow Federationists:

If you look below this message, you can find an email I received from
Senator Chris Murphy.  Clearly, Senator Murphy does not yet understand the
devastating problems in the Workforce Investment Act.  This bill, as
currently written, threatens every one of us.  We need to make absolutely
sure that he understands the problems of the Workforce Investment Act.  My
hypothesis is that he hasn't received enough contact from our members to
take the time to really pay attention to what we are saying.  

If you called or emailed on Wednesday, please do it again.

If you did not, please do it for the first time now.

This will affect my future, your future and the future of all disabled
Americans.

I have attached a letter that I just sent him tonight.  I encourage you to
put your address and phone number at the top and name at the bottom before
you send it as your own.

Senator Chris Murphy's phone number: (202) 224-4041

My brothers and sisters, please join me in saving our future.  It is ours!

Justin Salisbury

Legislative Coordinator

From: Senator Christopher Murphy [mailto:senator at murphy.senate.gov] 
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 2:52 PM
To: justin.salisbury at earthlink.net
Subject: A message from the office of Senator Christopher Murphy

Thank you for contacting me about the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). I
appreciate your correspondence and hope that you find this response helpful.

Our country has always had the best workforce in the world, but we risk
losing that edge in the future. People in the workforce today too often
don't have the on-the-job training they need to succeed, and young adults
about to enter the workforce are less educated than the previous generation.
On top of that, most of the 50 million new jobs that will be created by 2018
require post-secondary credentials and higher education levels. As a
country, we're further behind than we should be, and it is Congress's
responsibility to support organizations throughout the country that are
dedicated to improving our workforce readiness. 

The original WIA legislation was first passed by Congress in 1998, and the
law has been overdue for re-authorization since 2003. I was therefore proud
to vote for S.1356, the Workforce Investment Act of 2013, which was passed
by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on
July 31, 2013. This bill contains changes to the legislation that reflect
the ever-changing global economy, as well as input from Connecticut
businesses, education, and labor groups. By allowing local workforce
development organizations to tailor their programs to their regions'
specific needs, the legislation will help provide local solutions to
specific regional issues. The bill also focuses on improving the Job Corps
program, which has recently faced serious funding challenges, making the
program more stable and allowing young people to rely on these centers to
give them the tools they need to succeed.

Rest assured that I will be encouraging my colleagues to support this bill
as it moves to the full Senate. Without it, we're putting our country's
economic future at a significant disadvantage.

Thank you again for contacting me about this matter.  I appreciate hearing
from you and assure you that I will always do my best to represent the views
of my constituents in the Senate.  In the future, please do not hesitate to
call me in my Connecticut office at (860) 549-8463 or my Washington office
at (202) 224-4041. 

            Every Best Wish,

            Christopher S. Murphy
            United States Senator

<~WRD000.jpg>

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