[NFBMI-Talk] Fwd: Please Support The Automated Vehicles Amendment To The Endless Frontier Act

Thu May 20 01:52:01 UTC 2021

Hi from your friend of just south of the border in Indiana.

Some of you might have seen that the NFB's Advocacy & Policy Office is
encouraging us to ask our senators to support a particular amendment
that was proposed for add-on to the Endless Frontier Act (S. 1260) which
was introduced earlier this year into the Commerce, Science,
Transportation Committee within the U.S. Senate.  While I don't see
clear-cut evidence of it, the NFB Home Office seems to think this bill
is about to reach the Senate Floor.  This amendment contains
provisions meant to ensure that disabled people (with a particular
focus on blind people) will not be discriminated against when it comes
to being licensed to drive in the coming world of self-driving
vehicles.  One of my Indiana-based U.S. Senators, a Republican named
Todd Young, was an early co-sponsor of S.1260 along with Chuck
Schumer, the Majority Leader Democrat from New York.  So this is truly
bipartisan legislation; but it looks as if Democrats are blocking the
addition of language that would benefit us in the blind community,
even though Democrats are branding themselves now as the party of
diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan, serves on the committee
through which this Endless Frontier Act  had to pass before it becomes
eligible for debate and a vote on the Senate floor.  Undoubtedly,
Senator Peters has some influence on his fellow party members.  I
prevail on some of you in Michigan to contact Gary Peters and tell him
you want the provisions included in Endless Frontier Act language as
specified below.  His Website is at https://www.peters.senate.gov/.
His Washington, DC number is (202224-6221 ).  His Detroit office is
(313)226-6020.

See below for background.  The first message shown immediately below
is the advisory from NFBNet that encouraged us to contact our senators
earlier this week.  The second message I reproduce, further below, is
a response I got from one of Senator Young's staffers who makes the
argument that no Democratic support in Committee was forthcoming to
the amendment we want.

I welcome comments, updates, or corrections as anyone presents them.
I am a bit confused as to what the status of S.1260 actually is at
this moment and as to what are next steps.

I value all of you on this list, wish you the best of health, and
express a cordial hope of getting together with at least a few
in-person later this summer, as appropriate.

Thank you for your attention and friendship.  Let's go build the Federation.

Kind regards,

Kane Brolin
President, Michiana Chapter
National Federation of the Blind of Indiana
(574)386-8868 (mobile)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: NFBNet-Members-List <nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org> On
Behalf Of Pare, John via NFBNet-Members-List
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2021 3:25 PM
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert - May 17, 2021

Dear Federation Family:

The National Federation of the Blind has been working with Senator
John Thune on an amendment to the Endless Frontier Act. This amendment
relates to fully automated vehicles and contains two provisions that
would benefit blind people.

The first provision would create an exemption classification for
manufacturers who “provide transportation access for individuals with
disabilities (as defined in section 3 of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102)), including non-visual
access for individuals who are blind or visually impaired,” as long as
the vehicle was equivalently safe to a non-exempt vehicle. The second
would prohibit a state from issuing a “motor vehicle operator’s
license for the operation or use of a highly automated vehicle in a
manner that discriminates on the basis of disability.”

Despite support from both automobile manufacturers and disability
advocates, Senator Thune reluctantly withdrew his amendment on May 12
due to a lack of support from other senators on the Commerce, Science,
and Transportation Committee over safety and liability concerns.
President Riccobono wrote a letter to Chair Cantwell and Ranking
Member Wicker regarding this topic expressing our support and
endorsement of the Thune amendment on May 11.

The Endless Frontier Act has been moved to the Senate floor for debate
this week and Senator Thune plans to bring his amendment forward for a
full Senate vote.

Please contact your senators and ask them to support this important
amendment. When you call or email your senators, you might say
something like:

"Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a constituent of [SENATOR
NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE]. I would like to urge [SENATOR NAME] to
support Senator Thune’s automated vehicles amendment to the Endless
Frontier Act.  The amendment contains two provisions that would
benefit blind people. The first would create an exemption
classification for manufacturers who provide transportation access for
individuals with disabilities as long as the vehicle was equivalently
safe to a non-exempt vehicle. The second would prohibit a state from
issuing an operator’s license for the use of a highly automated
vehicle in a manner that discriminates on the basis of disability.
Together, these two amendments will ensure that blind Americans are
able to reap the rewards of highly automated vehicles.

Thanks."

You can contact your senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard and
asking for the office in question. The number is 202-224-3121. If you
email your senators, please copy Jeff Kaloc at jkaloc at nfb.org. Your
calls and emails do make a difference.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Cheever, Dan (Young)" <Dan_Cheever at young.senate.gov>
Date: Tue, 18 May 2021 23:24:33 +0000
Subject: Re: Please Support The Automated Vehicles Amendment To The
Endless Frontier Act
To: Kane Brolin <kbrolin65 at gmail.com>
Cc: Jeff Kaloc <JKaloc at nfb.org>

Kane,

Thank you very much for reaching out. Senator worked to push Senator
Thune's amendment at the markup but unfortunately the amendment would
have died with a 14-14 tie and no Democratic support. We are
continuing to work to identify potential avenues for inclusion and we
will keep you updated.

Best,
Dan