[Nfbofnc] FW: NAT'L REHAB ASSOC.S WASHINGTON WIRE: CALL TO ACTION CALL TO ACTION CALL TO ACTION

Tue Aug 13 23:41:54 UTC 2013

I wanted to share these points with everyone so you could use them when
meeting with your senator or their staff person.

Charles Parker

From: Patricia Tessnear [mailto:ptessnear at nc.rr.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 1:15 PM
To: Charles Parker
Subject: Fw: NAT'L REHAB ASSOC.S WASHINGTON WIRE: CALL TO ACTION CALL TO
ACTION CALL TO ACTION

----- Original Message ----- 

From: JoAnn Wood <mailto:cjswood at myglnc.com>  

To: Patricia Tessnear <mailto:ptessnear at nc.rr.com>  

Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 12:43 PM

Subject: FW: NAT'L REHAB ASSOC.S WASHINGTON WIRE: CALL TO ACTION CALL TO
ACTION CALL TO ACTION

This email from NRA is helpful in thinking about our discussion with Senator
Burr.  Just passing it on!  See you Thursday! - JoAnn

From: Patricia Leahy [mailto:Patricia at nationalrehab.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 11:24 AM
To: Ms. Carla J. Wood
Subject: NAT'L REHAB ASSOC.S WASHINGTON WIRE: CALL TO ACTION CALL TO ACTION
CALL TO ACTION

 To:                 All Members of the National Rehabilitation Association

From:             Patricia Leahy, Interim Executive Director

Re:                 A Call to Action -- Now is the Time to Contact Your
Respective U.S. Senators About Retaining RSA In the U.S. Department of
Education and Maintaining Credentials

Date:             Tuesday, August 13, 2013 

We want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have contacted your
Senators with regard to the bill, S. 1356, as amended, the Senate's version
of the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the
reauthorization of the programs authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, as amended.

This Washington Wire deals exclusively with a CALL TO ACTION for you to
contact your respective U.S. Senators and ask them to remove from S. 1356,
as amended, the legislative language that would move the Rehabilitation
Services Administration (RSA) from the U.S. Department of Education (where
it rightfully resides) to the U.S. Department of Labor.

We are also asking you to contact your Senators and the Senators who serve
on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to not dilute
credentials for qualified rehabilitation counselors which S. 1356, as
amended, would do.  Always remember, CREDENTIALS  COUNT.

The Senate is in recess until after Labor Day.  Senators are now back in
their respective States, so now is an opportune time to make that contact
and advise them of your opposition to moving the Rehabilitation Services
Administration (RSA) from the U.S. Department of Education (where it
rightfully resides) to the U.S. Department of Labor.

S. 1356, as amended, was voted out favorably by the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on a roll call vote of 18 to
3, with one abstention.

Among other misguided recommendations in this bill, the bill would move the
Rehabilitation Services Administration from the U.S. Department of Education
to the U.S. Department of Labor.

We are confining this Washington Wire to two issues, for now, and request
that you ask your respective Senators and those on the Senate HELP Committee
the following question which is related to sequestration.  Sequestration, as
you may know, is CongressSpeak for automatic budget cuts that were imposed
on almost all programs, Departments and Agencies on January 1 of this year.

HERE IS THE FIRST QUESTION, WHICH HAS SEVERAL PARTS TO IT.

IN A SEASON OF SEQUESTRATION, WHY WOULD SENATORS WANT TO GO TO THE EXPENSE
OF MOVING RSA OUT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (WHERE IT RIGHTFULLY
RESIDES) TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR HAS AN ABYSMAL TRACK RECORD OF PROVIDING SERVICES AND
SUPPORTS FOR ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.  AS AN EXAMPLE, ADVISE
YOUR RESPECTIVE SENATORS OF WHAT HAPPENS AT THE ONE STOP CENTERS.  THEY SEE
A PERSON WITH A VISIBLE DISABILITY, ARE NICE TO THEM, AND REFER THEM TO
VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION (VR).  THEN, THEY CHECK THEM OFF AS BEING SERVED
BY THE ONE-STOP.

ASK YOUR SENATORS IF A COST ANALYSIS HAS BEEN DONE AND HOW MUCH THIS MOVE IS
GOING TO COST.  IF THEY DO NOT KNOW, ASK THEM VERY RESPECTFULLY TO FIND OUT
AND GET BACK WITH YOU.

ASK YOUR SENATORS WHO IS PAYING FOR THIS MOVE?  IS THE MONEY COMING FROM
CASE SERVICE DOLLARS THAT PROVIDE TRAINING, SERVICES AND SUPPORTS FOR
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES IN TRYING TO SECURE AN EDUCATION WHICH WILL LEAD
TO QUALITY EMPLOYMENT?  IS THIS MONEY COMING FROM AMERICAN TAXPAYERS?  IT
SURE SOUNDS LIKE IT IS.

WITH SOME IN CONGRESS THREATENING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THIS FALL OVER
RAISING THE DEBT CEILING and other fiscal issues, WHY WOULD ANY SENATOR WANT
TO SPEND DOLLARS UNNECESSARILY ON THIS MISGUIDED MOVE?

The second, but very important, issue is the dilution of credentials for
qualified rehabilitation counselors in both the public and private sectors.
Ask your Senators why anyone would want to dilute credentials for qualified
rehabilitation counselors who provide the individualized services and
supports which eligible Americans with disabilities need and deserve.

With thousands of undergraduates flocking to graduate schools because they
know they need more than a B.A. to succeed in securing a good-paying job,
why would the U.S. Senate want to downgrade credentials for qualified
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors who serve Americans with disabilities?
It simply does not make sense.  While a B.A. in business may assist many in
certain professions, those with a B.A. in business cannot and will not be
able to appreciate the individualized services and supports that qualified
rehabilitation counselors  with degrees in disability disciplines can
appreciate.

Take, for example, the case where you are walking or wheeling in to your
Doctor's office.  What is the first thing you look at when you get into the
inner office?  That's right:  What degrees he or she has and from where.
Like me, you are looking for a Bachelor's degree, a Master's degree and a
Doctorate in Medicine, not a B.A. in business.

Likewise, you walk or wheel into your accountant's office and what do want
to see?  That's right:  A Bachelor's, Master's and possibly Ph.D. in
business, accounting, or a like discipline.

The National Rehabilitation Association respects all degrees, at all levels,
but for Americans with disabilities, especially those Americans with
significant disabilities, a degree in rehabilitation counseling and
like-minded disciplines is preferred.

Whether you are in a classroom, a conference room, a cockpit, or on a cruise
ship, CREDENTIALS COUNT AND THEY ALWAYS WILL.

As we always say at the National Rehabilitation Association's Government
Affairs Summit, be respectful, but resolute, with your Members of Congress.
Identify yourself as a constituent and if you happened to have voted for the
Senator, please make sure you mention that fact.   If you speak with a staff
person, please ask for the staff person who handles issues related to
disability and job training.  Please do not send letters thorough the mail,
as they may not get to the Senator or his/her staff in a timely manner.
Please call (on your own time, your own dime), fax or email letters to your
respective Senators' offices.  If you do not hear back from your Senator or
his or her staff person, please follow up to make sure they got your
call/fax/or emailed letter.

Remember, a third of the U.S. Senate is up for re-election in 2014.  Please
check to see if your Senator is one of them.

We are providing a list of the Senators who sit on the Senate HELP Committee
and we ask not only those of you who are constituents, but all NRA Members
to call these Senators and your own respective Senators and advise them that
these two changes will have the unintended consequences of hurting Americans
with disabilities.

his is certainly not the time to downgrade credentials under the
Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD), a hallmark of the VR
Program,) and there should never be a time when downgrading one's
credentials to accommodate a one-size-fits-all work model should be
permitted to happen.

For years, you have invested in quality education and quality careers for
all Americans with disabilities.  Do not allow the U.S. Senate to turn back
the clock now.

Please continue to advocate for these changes to U.S. Senate bill S. 1356.

If you have not done so already, please contact your State Rehabilitation
Councils (SRCs), consumers of the VR Program, who have the most to lose if
these changes are not made and made now, and your Parent Training Centers
(PTIs) and let them know what is happening in Washington.

We know you are proud of the Public VR Program which under the U.S.
Department of Education, has assisted millions and millions of eligible
individuals with disabilities obtain, retain and/or regain a quality
education and quality employment.

And, don't forget to mention to your Senators -- and those on the Senate
HELP Committee, that for every $1 the VR Program invests in an eligible
individual with a disability, $7 is returned to the Social Security Trust
Fund.  Now, that's a return on investment of which we can all be proud.

LEAD ON, VR, LEAD ON.

Patricia Leahy
Interim Executive Director
Director of Government Affairs
P.O. Box 150235
Alexandria, Virginia 22315
703-836-0850 ext. 305 <tel:703-836-0850%20ext.%20305> 

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US Senate Committee on Health Education Labor & Pensions

(Click on the senator name to be directed to their website)

Democrats by Rank

 <http://harkin.senate.gov/> Tom Harkin (IA)
 <http://mikulski.senate.gov/> Barbara A. Mikulski (MD)
 <http://murray.senate.gov/> Patty Murray (WA)
 <http://sanders.senate.gov/> Bernard Sanders (I) (VT)
 <http://www.casey.senate.gov/> Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA)
 <http://www.hagan.senate.gov/> Kay R. Hagan (NC)
 <http://www.franken.senate.gov/> Al Franken (MN)
 <http://bennet.senate.gov/> Michael F. Bennet (CO)
 <http://whitehouse.senate.gov/> Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
 <http://baldwin.senate.gov/> Tammy Baldwin (WI)
 <http://murphy.senate.gov/> Christopher S. Murphy (CT)
 <http://warren.senate.gov/> Elizabeth Warren (MA)

Republicans by Rank

 <http://www.alexander.senate.gov/> Lamar Alexander (TN)
 <http://www.enzi.senate.gov/> Michael B. Enzi (WY)
 <http://www.burr.senate.gov/> Richard Burr (NC)
 <http://www.isakson.senate.gov/> Johnny Isakson (GA)
 <http://www.paul.senate.gov/> Rand Paul (KY)
 <javascript:openSenateWin('http://www.hatch.senate.gov/');> Orrin G. Hatch
(UT)
 <http://www.roberts.senate.gov/> Pat Roberts (KS)
 <http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/> Lisa Murkowski (AK)
 <http://www.kirk.senate.gov/> Mark Kirk (IL)
 <http://scott.senate.gov/> Tim Scott (SC)

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