[NFBMT] Urgent Legislative Alert 9-10-2018

Fri Sep 14 01:01:45 UTC 2018

I know this is late now, but I'm sending it for the benefit of those who may 
not have seen it.  Joy

-----Original Message-----
From: Pare, John
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2018 12:11 PM
Subject: Urgent Legislative Alert 9-10-2018

Dear Fellow Federationists:

We are at a critical point with two of our legislative priorities which need 
your immediate attention.

First, the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act (S. 2559) is sitting idle in the 
House Judiciary Committee. We need Chairman Goodlatte to discharge this bill 
and put it on the House suspension calendar for a vote. The Department of State 
will not ratify the treaty until the House of Representative passes this bill 
and the president signs it into law. This legislation is noncontroversial, 
supported by all relevant stakeholders, and was passed unanimously by the 
Senate on June 28.

Please call Chairman Goodlatte at 202-225-5431 and urge him to "support blind 
Americans by putting the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act, S. 2559, on the 
House suspension calendar." Note that Chairman Goodlatte's email web-form 
blocks any emails from outside his district, so please contact his office via 
phone.

Our second topic is the Access Technology Affordability Act (H.R. 1734). We are 
up to 84 cosponsors in the House and 12 in the Senate. Special thanks to the 
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois. Fourteen House members from 
Illinois and Senator Tammy Duckworth have cosponsored this legislation.

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 representative, please copy me at JPare at nfb.org<mailto:JPare at nfb.org>.

When you call or email, you might say something like the following:

"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent of [your representative]. 
I live in [city, state]. I am calling to urge [your representative] to 
cosponsor H.R. 1734, the Access Technology Affordability Act. This bill would 
increase the availability of Access Technology thereby increasing educational 
and employment opportunities for all blind Americans. The bill does this by 
creating a tax credit for the purchase of access technology. The National 
Federation of the Blind has analyzed the cost impact and the bill is either 
cost neutral or will save the government money. I urge [representative] to 
cosponsor the bill. Thanks."

The 84 House cosponsors are listed below in alphabetical order by state. You do 
not need to contact your representative regarding ATAA if he or she is already 
on this list.

In summary we are asking you to make two calls. One to Chairman Goodlatte 
regarding the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act, and a second call to your 
representative regarding the Access Technology Affordability Act. If you have 
any questions I can be reached at 410-659-9314, extension 2218.

Thanks,
John

Access Technology Affordability Act (H.R. 1734) Cosponsors Rep. Sewell, Terri 
A. [D-AL-7] Rep. Young, Don [R-AK-At Large] Rep. Grijalva, Raul M. [D-AZ-3] 
Rep. O'Halleran, Tom [D-AZ-1] Rep. Sinema, Kyrsten [D-AZ-9] Rep. Correa, J. 
Luis [D-CA-46] Rep. Denham, Jeff [R-CA-10] Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17] Rep. 
Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-19] Rep. Napolitano, Grace F. [D-CA-32] Rep. Roybal-Allard, 
Lucille [D-CA-40] Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28] Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-41] 
Rep. Torres, Norma J. [D-CA-35] Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1] Rep. Norton, 
Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12] Rep. Curbelo, 
Carlos [R-FL-26] Rep. Demings, Val Butler [D-FL-10] Rep. Gaetz, Matt [R-FL-1] 
Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. [D-FL-20] Rep. Lawson, Al, Jr. [D-FL-5] Rep. Mast, 
Brian J. [R-FL-18] Rep. Posey, Bill [R-FL-8] Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana 
[R-FL-27] Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] Rep. Gabbard, Tulsi [D-HI-2] Rep. 
Hanabusa, Colleen [D-HI-1] Rep. Bost, Mike [R-IL-12] Rep. Bustos, Cheri 
[D-IL-17] Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7] Rep. Davis, Rodney [R-IL-13] Rep. 
Foster, Bill [D-IL-11] Rep. Gutierrez, Luis V. [D-IL-4] Rep. Kelly, Robin L. 
[D-IL-2] Rep. LaHood, Darin [R-IL-18] Rep. Lipinski, Daniel [D-IL-3] Rep. 
Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5] Rep. Roskam, Peter J. [R-IL-6] Rep. Rush, Bobby L. 
[D-IL-1] Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] Rep. Schneider, Bradley Scott 
[D-IL-10] Rep. Brooks, Susan W. [R-IN-5] Rep. Messer, Luke [R-IN-6] Rep. 
Visclosky, Peter J. [D-IN-1] Rep. Blum, Rod [R-IA-1] Rep. Loebsack, David 
[D-IA-2] Rep. Young, David [R-IA-3] Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6] Rep. Yarmuth, John 
A. [D-KY-3] Rep. Poliquin, Bruce [R-ME-2] Rep. Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8] Rep. 
Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch [D-MD-2] Rep. Capuano, Michael E. [D-MA-7] Rep. 
McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6] Rep. Tsongas, Niki 
[D-MA-3] Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5] Rep. Upton, Fred [R-MI-6] Rep. 
Ellison, Keith [D-MN-5] Rep. Nolan, Richard M. [D-MN-8] Rep. Peterson, Collin 
C. [D-MN-7] Rep. Cleaver, Emanuel [D-MO-5] Rep. Kihuen, Ruben J. [D-NV-4] Rep. 
Rosen, Jacky [D-NV-3] Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] Rep. Lujan, Ben Ray [D-NM-3] 
Rep. Espaillat, Adriano [D-NY-13] Rep. Faso, John J. [R-NY-19] Rep. King, Peter 
T. [R-NY-2] Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6] Rep. Price, David E. [D-NC-4] Rep. Joyce, 
David P. [R-OH-14] Rep. Ryan, Tim [D-OH-13] Rep. Stivers, Steve [R-OH-15] Rep. 
Evans, Dwight [D-PA-2] Rep. Meehan, Patrick [R-PA-7] Rep. Smucker, Lloyd 
[R-PA-16] Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-5] Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] Rep. 
Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30] Rep. O'Rourke, Beto [D-TX-16] Rep. Sessions, 
Pete [R-TX-32] Rep. Garrett, Thomas A., Jr. [R-VA-5] Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2]

John G. Paré Jr.
Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314, extension 2218 | jpare at nfb.org<mailto:jpare at nfb.org>

[National Federation of the Blind]<https://nfb.org/>

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