[il-talk] Fwd: House Amends HR 164 in to National Defense Authorization Act

[pattischang at gmail.com]

Subject: House Amends HR 164 in to National Defense Authorization Act
>> 
>> Good Afternoon To You All,
>>  
>>      I am pleased to inform you that our work on behalf of Blind Veterans has paid off.  Because of the cosponsor support on HR 164, Congressman Bilirakis submitted this legislation as an amendment to the House National Defense Authorization Act.  That Amendment was accepted by the Rules Committee on Wednesday night and  by the House yesterday afternoon.  A short time ago the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act.  The Senate has been working in committee on its version of the Defense bill, and it may get to the Senate floor next week, but I do not have confirmation of that at this time.  I do know that our Senate sponsor of S 346, Senator Tester, is planning to offer the bill as an amendment to the Senate defense bill.  I will let you know more information about the Senate as it becomes available, because we will need calls to your Senators asking them to support Senator Tester’s amendment.  If we are successful in the Senate, we will then have to wait for the conference committee to resolve the differences in the two bills.  I want to take this time to thank you all for your hard work on this issue, and urge you to prepare your affiliates for the Senate push.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  Take Care, and have a great weekend!  Jesse
>>  
>>     
>> Jesse Hartle
>> National Federation of the Blind
>> Government Programs Specialist
>> Phone: 410-659-9314, Ext. 2233
>> Email: jhartle at nfb.org