[nfbmi-talk] My Thoughts On The List and Washington Seminar

Terry D. Eagle terrydeagle at yahoo.com
Wed Feb 5 16:27:38 UTC 2014


Thank you Christine for your legislation recap, and call-to-action to
contact and nudg our legislators to lend their co-sponsorship and vote for
passage, on these important issues that shall advance the NFB mission and
dream of equality, opportunity, and security to all persons with blindness.


-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Christine Boone
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2014 4:16 PM
To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] My Thoughts On The List and Washington Seminar

Well done Elizabeth.  Thank you for adding your very cogent thoughts and
excellent advice for all to contact their representatives about HR 831, Fair
Wages;  and 3505, TEACH Act. Each and every one of us can contact our 2
Senators concerning S556, which is the Senate Bill to broaden technology
access for blind people on air carriers and in airports.  S. 556 was
introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D IA). 
  
 
On Feb 2, 2014, at 12:39 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke <lizmohnke at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Hello All,
> 
> 
> 
> I am making a brief appearance on this list to respond to some of the
messages I have read through the archives. I believe it is not worth my time
to remain a part of this email list due to the repetitive negative rhetoric
that occurs on this list. However, since I took part in Washington Seminar
this year, I thought I would share a few words regarding this important
event.
> 
> 
> 
> I am honestly not quite sure what all the fuss is about in regards to
Washington Seminar this year. This event takes place every year without any
problems. The issues are posted to the members email list which is sent to
anyone who is on any of the NFB email lists. In addition, Fred Wurtzel
forwarded a copy of an email stating that the issues were posted on the NFB
website. Finally, the issues are also featured in the January Presidential
Release which should have been played during your local chapter meeting. If
you do not have a local chapter in your area, you can find these
Presidential Releases on the NFB website.
> 
> 
> 
> As for the comment about twenty percent of the people doing eighty percent
of the work, I believe if you keep chipping away at the twenty percent who
are currently willing to do the work that some day you may be left with only
ten percent of the people doing ninety percent of the work. I know J.J.
worked very hard in scheduling our appointments for Washington Seminar. He
did his best to make sure that not too many of the appointments overlapped
each other as well as group appointments in the same building for the same
day to prevent us from scrambling from building to building for every
appointment. I also know he provided advice to someone in another state who
was scheduling the appointments for the first time. I can only wish others
in our state affiliate could express this same kind of passion and interest
in Washington Seminar.
> 
> 
> 
> As already stated, we had appointments with every member of Congress from
Michigan including all of our Representatives and two Senators. In most
cases, we met with legislative aids and not the member of Congress. However,
members of our delegation met briefly with Senator Stabenow before talking
about the issues with one of her legislative assistance. Other members we
met with included Representatives Upton, Bentivolio, Kildee, and a possible
brief appearance with Amash. However, we had to split into two different
groups when the Amash appointment took place, and I cannot recall if the
group who met with his office did indeed meet with him as I was not a part
of this group.
> 
> 
> 
> I thoroughly enjoyed our meeting with Kildee. He seemed rather laid back
and personable, and I found it rather easy to talk to him about our issues.
He seemed rather supportive of our issues, but he did not express any
commitments to sponsor or co-sponsor any of the bills related to our issues.
I was not a part of the meetings with Upton or Bentivolio, but I herd that
Upton made a commitment to co-sponsor the Fair Wages bill, and Bentivolio
made a commitment to co-sponsor the TEACH Act bill. All other appointments
were declared as undecided.
> 
> 
> 
> As for my fellow friends in Jackson, we could really use your help with
Representative Walberg! As usual, we met with his legislative assistant who
could be described as a brick wall. Representative Walberg is an important
key figure for two of our issues. He sits on the House Committee on
Education and the Workforce, and is the Chair of the Workforce Protections
Subcommittee. Thus, he is an important figure for the TEACH Act, but more
importantly, the Fair Wages bill sits idle in his Subcommittee within the
House Committee on Education and the Workforce. If you wish to contact him
in regards to our issues, his Washington D.C phone number is (202) 225-6276,
and his Jackson number is (517) 780-9075.
> 
> 
> 
> If we have not mentioned your Representative by name in our reports, this
does not mean we did not meet with his or her office during Washington
Seminar. It simply means nothing substantial came about from our meeting.
Please feel free to follow up with your Representative. The more they hear
from people who live in their district, the more they will be willing to
consider supporting our issues.
> 
> 
> 
> Please forgive my long post, but I hope this provides some clarification
in regards to Washington Seminar. It is highly likely I will not be able to
attend the next quarterly board meeting, so I thought I would briefly break
my code of silence on this list to present my personal report on Washington
Seminar.
> 
> 
> 
> Warm regards,
> 
> Elizabeth Mohnke
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