Washington Seminar '97

Washington Seminar '97

The Braille Monitor

April 1997

(next)

(contents)

The 1997 Washington Seminar

by Barbara Pierce

By now everyone in the National Federation of the Blind knows

that the first week of February means one thing in our organizational calendar:

the Washington Seminar. Activities actually began Friday evening, January 31,

with the student division party at the Capitol Holiday Inn.

But the daylong Mid-Winter Conference of the National Association

of Blind Students that took place the following day was only one of the preliminary

programs that weekend. So many groups had scheduled meetings at the National

Center for the Blind in Baltimore that virtually every one of the fifty-two

beds at the Center was occupied. The Comprehensive Braille Training Advisory

Committee, the NFB Research and Development Committee, the International Braille

Research Center Board of Trustees, and its Research Fellows were all working

in Baltimore. Meanwhile at the Capitol Holiday Inn in Washington, the student

conference was capped by a banquet for nearly 200 who enjoyed an address by

Dr. Jernigan.

Sunday morning the loaders had to turn people away from the

busses taking Federationists to tour the National Center. Well over a hundred

found seats, and some at least of the two dozen others were able to make the

trip and tour later in the week.

During the afternoon a number of seminars and meetings took

place at the hotel. These included parents, Associate recruiters, merchants,

lawyers, and those interested in the American Communications Network business

opportunity.

By 5:00 p.m. the Columbia Room on the hotel's lower level didn't

even have standing room left for those gathering for the briefing. Luckily the

public address system speakers used the day before to allow the registration

team to hear the student seminar were still available to broadcast the briefing

to the large group who could not get into the room at all. Estimates put the

size of the crowd at over 500. Forty-eight states and Puerto Rico were represented,

and all but three members of the NFB Board of Directors were on hand. President

Maurer and Dr. Jernigan updated the group on recent activities at the National

Center and on issues of importance to all of us. Then Jim Gashel, Director of

Governmental Affairs, briefed the crowd on what we would be discussing with

members of the 105th Congress during the next several days.

We had three issues this year. The first was to urge both houses

of Congress to introduce legislation that would reestablish linkage between

the stipends paid to blind Social Security Disability Insurance recipients and

those of working retirees under the age of seventy. Though we didn't know it

at the time, Barbara Kennelly would soon introduce H.R. 612 in the House of

Representatives, and Senator John McCain would introduce a similar bill as S.

375 in the Senate. At this writing (in early March) H.R. 612 had sixty- two

cosponsors, and S. 375 had eleven. We still have a good bit of work to do in

the months ahead.

The second issue was the reauthorization of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act, which has already been introduced in the House

with very strong Braille literacy provisions. Our message was that these provisions

as they now stand must be part of the final legislation passed this year.

The third concern we took to the Hill was the need for continued

efforts to strengthen the Rehabilitation Act when it comes up for reauthorization

later this year. We must do everything we can to insure that the specialized

rehabilitation services that are an integral part of getting disabled citizens

back into the workforce must not be turned over to one-stop-shopping job centers

serving everyone needing employment services.

As usual Sandy Halverson and her staff of volunteers did wonderful

work in the Mercury Room managing the schedule of meetings and taking reports

on them after they took place. The job is huge and is carried out entirely in

Braille. The importance of having the records completely accessible to Braille

readers was demonstrated this year when the computer system went down, leaving

the crew to prepare reports for Mr. Gashel by hand. The team was equal to the

challenge, but it was amazing to see just how far the Mercury operation has

evolved in recent years as the computer has become more and more central in

producing Braille reports.

By late in the week, the appointments had been kept, the reports

made, and the peanut butter pie in the hotel dining room eaten; and Federationists

headed home to do the all-important follow-up work with Congressional staff

members. We left knowing that we had made a good start on this year's legislative

agenda, but only a start. Now the real work begins. There is certainly enough

to go around.