Advocacy_Of_The_Disabled: Congressional Attempt to Water Down ADA(Americans ...

Advocacy_Of_The_Disabled: Congressional Attempt to Water Down ADA(Americans ...:

We need to stop the ADA Education and Reform Bill from becoming law.  Its real purpose is to water down and eventually gut Title III of ADA which governs laws pertaining to business.  The issue isn't just another delay in implementation of ADA it is an issue of making it almost impossible for most people to file a complaint or litigate a business who discriminates against the disabled when it comes to architectural barriers.



Read the full blog for all of the details.  We also have every single vote from the US House that was cast and allowed the bill to pass and move to the Senate.



Time to organize and protest and stop this regressive bill from becoming law.



If you have questions or want to talk to us just send an EMAIL



Help us organize resistance to the attacks on the disabled which are increasing.

Go HERE for the full article

Visit us at Twitter HERE

Congressional Attempt to Water Down ADA(Americans with Disabilities Act)

Congressional Attempt to Water Down and Gut ADA

Americans With Disabilities Act

ADA was easily passed by Congress in 1990.  The bill was sponsored by Tom Harkin (Iowa) and the vote in the house was 377 Aye and 28 Nay.  The vote in the Senate was 91 Aye and 6 Nay.  The ADA mandated accessibility for the disabled and other civil rights enjoyed by other Americans.  There are several parts to ADA but the one Congress is currently going after is Title III.  Title III of the ADA mandates accessibility in various for public accommodations (generally referred to as businesses).  It should be noted that ADA has never been consistently implemented and it has been extremely difficult to enforce. Based on my observations and those of other advocates, ADA has never been significantly implemented or enforced.  In most areas, it is impossible or nearly impossible to motivate the government to enforce the ADA laws they are charged to enforce. The US Dept of Justice has long since abandoned any serious attempt to enforce Title III issues among others. Because of this fact, the only alternative for most people is to litigate.  Contrary to the claims of some government officials, it is often impossible to find an attorney to represent a person with disabilities whose rights have been violated.  In addition, the most knowledgeable lawyers are Disability Attorneys and few exist in many parts of the country.  In north central Indiana for example there are none of which we are aware.

ADA Education and Reform Act:

In 2016 a bill was introduced by Ted Poe of Texas to the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives.  This bill never made it to the US House floor for a vote.

In January, 2017 the ADA Education and Reform Act was again brought to the Judiciary Committee by Ted Poe(Texas).  The bill once again languished in the House Judiciary Committee, this time until February 15, 2018 when it was brought to the floor of the House for a vote.
Some of what the bill included are as follows:

• Even though the original laws were passed in 1990, this bill would require notification of a business of the specific problems.  The bill required the individual to specify legally and exactly what part of ADA was violated and make that case.  ADA is a complex law and most people are simply unable to do this.  This provision along would eliminate almost all complaints against businesses regarding ADA law. Forcing individuals to become experts in ADA law is a way to prevent complaints and law suits from being filed.  
• This bill would allow the business 60 days just to acknowledge the complaint.  Keep in mind the ADA laws were passed more than 1 and 1/2 decades before this bill was introduced. 
• The business entity according to this bill would then have another 120 days to remedy the problem before litigation could be launched.  This feature is the same in the current bill so Congress wants to grant businesses another 140 days to comply with a law that was passed 18 years ago.
• The original bill in 2016 also included a fine which could be levied against the person making the complaint for failing to follow the correct procedures, thus criminalizing filing a disability discrimination complaint.  While this sections seems to be absent from the 2017 bill, it could easily be added by the Senate or during hearings between the Senate and House to reconcile the bill. Do not assume this will not end up back in the current bill making its way to the Senate. 

The forced delay in filing litigation is referred to as the "Notice and Cure" period.  No other civil rights bill has this clause in any law.

Some of those against the bill used the phrase "justice delayed is justice denied."  That is true but this bill does much more than delay enforcement of rights.  Because the bill mandates expertise of ADA that most lawyers don't have, it makes litigation almost totally impossible.  It is my view that the goal of the bill is to spare corporations the burden of costs to accommodate the disabled. Of course that means the disabled are deprived of their rights of due process. 

 The Vote:

The US House voted on the ADA Education and Reform Bill on February 15, 2018 with the following results:  225 - Aye and 192 - Nay  The votes according to party lines for the bill were 192 Aye votes by the Republicans and 12 Aye votes by the Democrats. 13 US House members did not vote - Republicans - 5 and Democrats - 8. The bill itself had 108 co-sponsors including 97 Republicans and 11 Democrats. 10% of the sponsors who helped get the bill to the floor were Democrats.  

For more specifics on the vote - see below:

• US House Vote by State from Alabama to Montana
• US House Vote by State from Nebraska to Wyoming
• IndianaCongressionalVote (of interest to our local Indiana audience)

Where were the votes against the anti-ADA Bill?  

Nay votes on this bill were the votes against watering down or gutting ADA.  If you want to get a feel of which states were more business friendly or people friendly take a look at the link below.  The list goes from high percentages of nay votes to low.  The percentages represent votes against the bill.  One can tell a lot by going through the list of states and the voting percentages on the bill from their US House Representatives.  Personally, I would look at the top states on the list friendly to the disabled and bottom not so much. When looking for where to live, consider it. It is noteworthy for those of us from Indiana that Indiana was 34th on the list with barely over 20% of the Representatives voting against the regressive bill.  Jackie Walorski, US Rep in District 2 of Indiana of course voted for business and against the disabled. She has a long history of voting against the interests of the average Americans and minorities.  I hope to help unseat her in the upcoming election.  You can find the rankings by clicking on the link below:

Vote Rankings

Another fascinating aspect of the vote is the geographic trends.  They are extremely obvious.  The image below (from GovTrack) says volumes. 

The red hexagons represent the votes for the anti-ADA bill and the blue hexagons represent votes for the rights of the disabled. 

Conclusions:

My opinion and that of most disabled persons and civil rights advocates in a multitude of areas view this bill as a step in gutting the ADA law which gives the disabled recourse when our rights our violated.  Violations of ADA by businesses and others are rampant and we are going to demonstrate it for you.  We will be producing some videos of ADA violations to make our point.  There are thousands. If you have a video you want to send to us, send an email and we will get right back to you. 

Right now is the time to protest this law in the making.  It has been passed by the US House and is now in the hands of the Senate whose committees are reviewing the bill according to protocol. NOW IS THE TIME TO HIT THE STREETS AND PROTEST THIS BILL. A good place to protest is at the office of your local Senator.  You can find information about how to find your Senators by looking it up at the following link:  ContactMySenator

Advocacy of the Disabled - Twitter

Email US

Advocacy_Of_The_Disabled: Is The US Becoming Nazi Germany for the Disabled?

Advocacy_Of_The_Disabled: Is The US Becoming Nazi Germany for the Disabled?: ARE WE BECOMING NAZI GERMANY? We are on that path.  Are you going to allow it? Contained in the blog is a brief history of Nazi Germany's treatment of the disabled and the path they followed which eventually led to the extermination of 250,000 disabled persons.  This is a seldom covered issue but extremely important.  The disabled are usually the first to be killed in large numbers by extremist and especially fascist governments.  Also included in the blog is a brief history of US Eugenics that resulted in the sterilization of hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities, immigrants, people of color, the mentally ill, the poor, unmarried mothers and more. Take a look at the path the US is on and how similar it is to the path taken in Nazi Germany.



Then ask yourself, 'Have We Become Nazi Germany When it Comes to the Disabled?'



Please read and share

Go HERE for the full article

Is The US Becoming Nazi Germany for the Disabled?

ARE WE BECOMING NAZI GERMANY?

When It Comes to the Disabled

AN ABRIDGED HISTORY OF NAZI GERMANY AND THE DISABLED

NAZI GERMANY

Genocide seldom begins with murder:  In Nazi Germany in the early 1930s, the verbal attacks on the disabled began.  The disabled were labeled as lazy, "a drain on the economy," "life unworthy of life," and "useless eaters."  All of the official verbal accounts were aimed at labeling the disabled as a burden on the culture.  The picture at the top of the blog is of 4 individuals who were gassed as a part of the T4 program begun in 1939.  

First Nazi Law Regarding the Disabled:  July 14, 1933 - Nazi Germany created a law entitled the "Law for the Prevention of Progency With Hereditary Diseases."  This law was not unlike laws in the United States which required the sterilization of the disabled and other unwanted minorities.  The law the Nazi's passed called for the sterilization of ALL people with 'hereditary' diseases such as mental illness, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, epilepsy, deafness, blindness and more.  Tens of thousands were sterilized although the exact number is not known.  The law was part of the Nazi intent to develop a super race in part by killing off any weak links. 

The Extermination of the Disabled Began in 1939:  The attacks against the disabled escalated in 1939 when a program called "Mercy Deaths"-Code Name, T4, was secretly initiated by Adolf Hitler.  T4 referred to the location of the death camp where thousands of persons with disabilities were gassed and exterminated. The T4 program which used poison gas to kill the disabled was later updated to what was called "The Final Solution" used on millions of people. In 1941, Hitler stated the T4 program had been terminated.  At this time it was estimated that at least 70,000 Austrian and German people with disabilities had been gassed at T4.  Although Hitler stated the T4 program had been stopped, it continued in secret and eventually over 250,000 disabled people were gassed and killed. When you look at tyrannical regimes in history, it is often the disabled who are first targeted for death.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Early History of Eugenics in the United States:  The US also had sterilization programs designed to rid the nation of the disabled, immigrants, people of color, poor people, unmarried mothers and especially the mentally ill.  A PBS piece reviewed the sterilization in just one of the US 50 states; California.  California's sterilization program began in 1909 and continued in earnest until 1979.  During that time, it is reported that over 20,000 people were sterilized.  Overall in the United States the number is well into the hundreds of thousands. 

A Short-Term Awakening in the United States:  A gradual improvement in services and treatment for the disabled began weakly in the late 1960s and became stronger over the next few decades.  Many laws were passed to make life more equitable for the disabled but few were enforced.  ADA (Adults with Disabilities Act) was passed in 1990 but few portions of it have been enforced.  More funds were made available for services for the disabled.

The Return to Systemic Ableism:  During the 1990s and on the attitude toward the disabled again deteriorated.  On several occasions comments from US Congressman were made saying "the disabled are a drag on the economy." lazy and much worse.  Note these quotes are the same that occurred in Nazi Germany.  This year, 2018 a bill which has languished in the US House for over 2 years made it to the floor and was passed.  This bill, if it becomes law, will overturn most of the ADA laws and make it a criminal offense to file a complaint (fine) under certain circumstances.  The reversal of this law along with the government attitude and actions (see picture of Trump, above), I believe are designed to send a message to the extremists that it is ok to go after the disabled.  Note that over the last two years (2016 and 2017) hate crimes against the disabled have risen significantly. 

Gutting of Assistance for the Disabled and other Minorities:  Programs which are used by the disabled and are essential for the survival of many include Medicaid, SSDI, SSI, SNAP, WIC, etc.  Congress is now attacking those programs which fund not only the disabled but the poor, women, single parents, children, people of color, etc.  Also note that an attack is and has been ongoing against health care in the US.  Healthcare keeps the disabled alive.  Don't be fooled, attacks on the health care system, as bad as it is, is a form of genocide against the disabled who cannot live without the health care.  

A Couple More Comments:  Let's briefly look at some statistics from the US Census  and the Disability Compendium.  First, depending on the source the percentage in the US of persons with disabilities ranges from 20% to 50% at any given time. The overall estimated unemployment rate for the disabled living in the community between the ages of 18 and 65 is just over 65%  (and that does not include those in institutions or prison). Between 40-50% of inmates in federal and local jails are reportedly disabled.  The unemployment rate for people with intellectual disabilities and mobility disabilities are almost exactly the same at just over 75%  Not surprisingly almost 50% of people with disabilities live in poverty.  The US is just a small distance from the actions of Nazi Germany. This should bother everyone. 

Closing Remarks:  It is time to start focusing on the plight of the disabled in the US.  I have been told that I spend too much time talking about the disabled and not other minorities.  Well, its because so few people are talking about the plight of the disabled.  During the last few days, the media all but totally ignored the vote to dismantle ADA.  I support human and civil rights for all but we need to start focusing on the disabled as well.  Remember when you read that the poor health care system in the US is causing 25,000 a year, those folks are mostly the disabled. 

While the absence of a decent health care system hurts everyone, it kills the disabled. This is genocide. 

More posts under this blog title will be coming soon. 

Visit us HERE on Twitter

Contact Us via EMAIL