[Nfbf-l] Washington Seminar 2014 memories

[Dan Hicks]

This is an excellent recap, Denise. Thanks for posting such a detailed
account. 

I was on the West Coast team. Gloria led the team, and it included returning
participant Paul Martinez and fist-timer Miranda Kilby. Everyone did a great
job of reporting on the issues and answering questions of the congress
members and / or their aides. 

I also did a visit with members of the North Florida team, Deneyse Roberts
and Johnnie Slaton. They were both first-timers, but performed like they'd
been doing this for years. 

Denise Valkema, as Legislative Chairperson, was a great Washington Seminar
Leader. She did a great job of keeping everyone on track and keeping the
whole Florida team organized and primed for whatever came its way. 

Thanks Denise and thanks very much to everyone who worked so hard to make
Florida's pare of this year's Washington Seminar so enjoyable and
successful. 

Sincerely, 
Dan Hicks, President
National Federation of the Blind of Florida  

"Not all those who wander are lost."
		-J. R. R. Tolkien

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbf-l [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Denise Valkema
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 10:53 AM
To: NFBF
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Washington Seminar 2014 memories

We had four teams at Washington seminar. I was the leader for the South
Florida team. Leonardo Banes and Tekesha Saffold were a part of this team.
We worked well together and all went smoothly. Tekesha presented the TEACH
act which was best for her as a student and scholarship winner. Leonardo
presented the Air carrier access act and I spoke on the Fair a Wages act. 

We met with my congressman, Joe Garcia, and Congresswoman Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen. She gave us Cuban coffee, took time to know us personally, and
took a photo with us. We did not meet with Tekesha's congressman, Alcee
Hastings personally but three staffers. He had already signed on to fair
wages and HR 164. I will let Tekesha share more. We met with staff in
CongressmanDeutch's office who was glad to meet constituent Leonardo. He can
chime in. We met with staff in offices of Diaz-Balart, Lois Frankel, and
Murphy. We dropped off a packet to the offices of Schultz, Rooney, and
Wilson.

We had the great gathering in from 5:00pm-7:30pm where national gave us
updates, heard from guest congressman,and  given facts on issues we were
bringing to members on the hill. We met in Preaident Hicks room to cover
logistics including making sure appointments were covered. Tuesday, the
South Florida team left hotel at 8:30 and returned around 4:30, and we had
another gathering in at 6pm. We had dinner with most that came from Florida
and shared how well things went. Wednesday, south Florida team left hotel at
9:00 and returned around 12:30pm. We had to prepare to fly home.

It was cold and hotel was behind on renovations so we had challenges to
overcome but we handled it. Some had to reschedule flights due to weather on
the return home.

We have a state legislative committee and like each chapter to be
represented so information can be shared and accomplished in each chapter.
These meetings will be announced to leaders and if you are interested, let
your president know. The work has just begun.

The central team was Sherri Brun and Cindy Bishop. North Florida team was
Lenora Marten, Johnnie Slaton, and Denyece Roberts. The West team was Gloria
and Dan Hicks, Miranda Kilby, and Paul Martinez. Go Florida! You made this
2014 Washington Seminar the best! Feel free to share your experiences.


Sincerely, Denise Valkema 
NFBF Legislative Chairperson by iPhone
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