<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">Dear Members and Friends,<div>If you read the email that I have Jess forwarded to you from last week, you will see that we are making great advances with our Access Technology Affordability Act. We need more cosponsors in the Senate. Please call Senator Patrick Toomey‘s office and encourage him to sign on to Bill S212. This is the number for the Access Technology Affordability Act in the Senate. Senator Robert Casey has already signed on, so we do not need to get him on board.</div><div><br></div><div>Senator Toomey‘s phone number is: 202-224-4254.</div><div><br></div><div>If you, or anyone you know is a user of assistive technology, you know how expensive it can be, and you also know how important it is for many of us to be able to use assistive technology. Please use some of the information in the email below to stress your point, and use your experiences with purchasing assistive technology.</div><div><br></div><div>I called this morning, and I left my name, ZIP Code, and email address. The legislative aide that I spoke to was friendly and was very receptive to the information that I was giving.</div><div><br></div><div>If I can assist you in any matter with what to say when making your call, please let me know.</div><div>Thank you,</div><div>Denice Brown</div><div><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from My IPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><b>From:</b> "Pare, John via NFBNet-Members-List" <nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org><br><b>Date:</b> September 15, 2021 at 3:58:48 PM EDT<br><b>To:</b> nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org<br><b>Subject:</b> <b>[Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert 9/15/2021</b><br><b>Reply-To:</b> "Pare, John" <JPare@nfb.org><br><br></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Federation Family:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Congratulations, our hard work has paid off. The provisions of the Access Technology Affordability Act have been included in the reconciliation package currently moving through the House of Representatives. We will keep you apprised of
this activity.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the meantime, we need to move quickly to build cosponsor support for the Access Technology Affordability Act in the Senate. We currently have 24 Senate cosponsors but if we can dramatically increase this number over the next week or
two, it would greatly improve our chances of this bill being included in the Senate version of the reconciliation package.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Senator Cardin is the sponsor of the bill. The other 24 Senate cosponsors are listed below. If one or both of your senators has not yet cosponsored the Access Technology Affordability Act (S. 212) then I urge you to call or email them and
urge them to please cosponsor this important legislation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When you call or email, you might say the following:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I live in [CITY, STATE]. I would like to urge [SENATOR NAME] to cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act, S. 212. This legislation removes an employment barrier commonly experienced by blind
Americans who cannot afford the high cost of access technology by creating a refundable tax credit in the amount of $2,000 to offset the cost of this technology.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You can contact your member of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard and asking for the office in question. The number is 202-224-3121. If you email your senators, please copy Jeff Kaloc at
<a href="mailto:jkaloc@nfb.org">jkaloc@nfb.org</a>. Your calls and emails do make a difference.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is best to call or email the relevant staff person in your senator’s office. For your convenience, we have attached a list of relevant staffers in the Senate offices that have not cosponsored the Access Technology Affordability Act (S.
212). If you do not see your member of Congress, please email Jeff and he will do further research.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The list of current cosponsors is pasted below.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for all that you do,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">S. 212 Cosponsors<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Young, Todd [R-IN] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Leahy, Patrick [D-VT] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] <o:p></o:p></p>
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