[Nfbnet-members-list] Urgent, the Space Available bill is moving!

Tue Apr 19 20:59:29 UTC 2016

Dear Colleagues:

As President Riccobono mentioned in Monday's 
Notebook (see attached), the House and Senate are 
finalizing the National Defense Authorization Act 
(NDAA), and we have been engaged in efforts to 
make sure that Congress includes H.R. 2264 and S. 
2596, our Space Available legislation, in the 
base bill of each chamber of Congress. Today, we 
have confirmed that the language of H.R. 2264 has 
been included in the House draft version of the NDAA base bill.

We must be vigilant, however, because anything 
can happen in the legislative process between now 
and the time the vote is taken. But now the next 
critical step is to focus on the Senate and ask 
our senators also to include the Space Available 
language in the Senate version of the NDAA. 
Please call or email your two senators and ask 
them to cosponsor S. 2596 if they have not 
already done so. The Capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.

Below, and included for your convenient 
reference, please find an alphabetized-by-state 
list of those who have already cosponsored the 
Space Available bill in the Senate. If you do not 
see one or both of your senators on this list, 
please touch base and ask them to cosponsor S. 
2596. The more cosponsors we get, the better 
chance the Space Available bill gets included in 
the Senate version of the NDAA. I am also 
attaching here an updated fact sheet with 
additional information about how much space is 
available in the Space Available Program.

This is the final stretch! As always, I can't 
thank you enough for the excellent work you do each day. Let's get it done!

Parnell

Delaware
Sen. Christopher A. Coons

Hawaii
Sen. Mazie K. Hirono

Montana
Sen. Jon Tester

Nevada
Sen. Dean Heller (Sponsor)

New Hampshire
Sen. Kelly Ayotte

Parnell Diggs, Esq.
Director of Government Affairs
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
Office: (410) 659-9314, extension 2222
Mobile: (843) 267-2018
Email: <mailto:pdiggs at nfb.org>pdiggs at nfb.org
Twitter: @NFB_Voice
         @ParnellDiggs

The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
you or your future. Every day we raise the 
expectations of blind people, because low 
expectations create obstacles between blind 
people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
want; blindness is not what holds you back.

Make a gift to the National Federation of the 
Blind and help ensure all blind Americans live the lives they want
Subject: FW: NFB Presidentâ€™s Notebook - week of 04/1
  8/2016
From: President, National Federation of the Blind
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 3:59 PM
To: 'state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org'
Cc: 'john.alahouzos at marketdevelopment.org'; Braun, Beth; 'gpaul at cpprov.org'
Subject: NFB Presidentâ€™s Notebook - week of 04/18/2016

Presidentâ€™s Notebook

National Federation of the Blind

Mark A. Riccobono

<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org

(410) 659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

Last Monday I did not get the notebook out. One 
reason was that I spent part of the day talking 
with Congressman Young, from Iowa, who visited 
here after the consistent urging of our members 
in Iowa. Although every member of Congress is not 
likely to make the short trip from Washington, 
DC, to Baltimore, I am certain that more of them 
would if you urged them to do so. I think we 
should consider how we get more members of 
Congress to visit our national headquarters to 
learn, in more detail, about the work that we do. 
Thank you to our colleagues in Iowa for getting this done.

We are into the heavy planning time for the 
national convention. I hope that each of you have 
made plans for your involvement in the 
convention. I also hope that you are making plans 
for your delegation to be the biggest ever.

Critical Actions This Week:

Blind Parents Needed:
If you or other members of your affiliate would 
be interested in being a mentor to a future blind 
parent or to a current blind parent seeking 
support, please send an email to Melissa 
Riccobono at 
<mailto:parenting at nfb.org>parenting at nfb.org. 
Remember that when we say parents we also mean 
grandparents or guardians of all types. As you 
know, the National Federation of the Blind is the 
leading advocate for the rights of blind parents 
and the largest resource network for blind people 
who are considering being parents. We are 
continuing to build our resources in the area of 
blind parents, and the next step is to formalize 
a program of mentoring for blind parents. Mentors 
will follow up with individuals they are assigned 
to mentor, and will be asked for ideas about 
other resources needed to strengthen the network 
of education, support, and advocacy that is the 
National Federation of the Blind.
Space Available:  H.R. 2264 and S. 2596:
This legislation will amend Title 10 of the 
United States Code to permit veterans who have a 
service-connected, permanent disability rating as 
"total" to travel on military aircraft in the 
same manner and to the same extent as retired 
members of the Armed Forces entitled to such 
travel. Please follow up with your congressmen 
and senators and ask them to support H.R. 2264 in 
the House of Representatives and S. 2596 in the 
Senate. The Capitol switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121.

Last week we added cosponsors in the House and 
Senate, bringing our total to fifty-four 
cosponsors in the House of Representatives and 
four cosponsors in the Senate. The next few weeks 
will be crucial as the National Defense 
Authorization Act (NDAA) is formulated in the 
respective houses of Congress. A significant 
number of cosponsors will increase the likelihood 
that our space available bill will be included in 
the larger legislative vehicle (the NDAA) and 
become law this year. Please call your legislators today!

News:

The Huffington Post article:
I was recently quoted in an article in The 
Huffington Post, "A Lot More Needs to Be Done to 
Help Blind People Use the Internet." The entire 
article can be found at 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/blind-people-internet-accessibility_us_57051a56e4b0537661883b1c>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/blind-people-internet-accessibility_us_57051a56e4b0537661883b1c.

Presidential Release Available:
The April release has been posted to 
<https://nfb.org/presidential-releases>https://nfb.org/presidential-releases 
and the Spanish version can be accessed at 
<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/audio/pr/spanish/pr_449_spanish.mp3>https://nfb.org/images/nfb/audio/pr/spanish/pr_449_spanish.mp3.

Higher Education Toolkit in Spanish:
The NFBâ€™s 
<https://nfb.org/self-advocacy-higher-education>Self-Advocacy 
in Higher Education Toolkit is now available in 
<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/higher-ed-toolkit/autodefensa_en_la_educaci%C3%B3n_superior.pdf>Spanish. 
Please remember that we welcome feedback as we 
prepare to expand the toolkitâ€™s contents. You 
can provide feedback via our 
<https://nfb.org/self-advocacy-higher-education-feedback>feedback 
webform or by contacting Valerie Yingling at 
<mailto:vyingling at nfb.org>vyingling at nfb.org or (410) 659-9314, extension 2440.

New Online Voter Registration Law in Rhode Island:
Many states have laws allowing online 
registration. However, Rhode Island is the first 
state to say, in writing, that voters with 
disabilities must have full and equal access to 
online voter registration. More information can 
be found in the blog post at 
<https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/voting-precedent-every-state-should-follow>https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/voting-precedent-every-state-should-follow.

Seedlings Braille Books for Children:
Seedlings Braille Books for Children will be 
supporting our 2016 NFB BELL Academy by providing 
two hundred dollars ($200) worth of free books 
for each of our 2016 NFB BELL Academy sites. We 
have over thirty affiliates participating and 
forty-five program sites across the country. Each 
site will be able to choose books from the great 
selection Seedlings offers. We greatly appreciate 
the support from Seedlings, which will help us to 
get more Braille under childrenâ€™s fingers. 
Please contact Carlton Walker at (410) 659-9314, 
extension 2225, or via email at 
<mailto:cwalker at nfb.org>cwalker at nfb.org for more 
information. Visit the NFB BELL Academy home page 
at 
<https://nfb.org/bell-academy>https://nfb.org/bell-academy 
for more information or to register for NFB BELL Academy.

Reminders:

Preregistration for Convention:
Please don't forget to preregister for 
convention. Both the form and link to do so 
online can be found on our website at 
<https://nfb.org/convention>https://nfb.org/convention.

Dates to Keep in Mind:

Â·        April 25: NFB EQ student application 
deadline, <https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-form>https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-form
Â·        May 1: Distinguished Educator of Blind 
Students Award application deadline
Â·        May 17-20: BLAST, Chicago
Â·        May 19-21: NFB STEM2U Minneapolis
Â·        May 21-26: International Council on 
English Braille 6th General Assembly
Â·        June 7: NFB EQ teacher application 
deadline, 
<https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-teacher-application>https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-teacher-application 

Â·        June 19-25: NFB EQ (first iteration)
Â·        June 30-July 5: National Federation of 
the Blind Convention, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Florida
Â·        July 31-August 6: NFB EQ (second iteration)
Â·        August 2-6: NFB EQ teacher cohort
Â·        August 18-25: WBU and ICEVI General 
Assembly, Rosen Centre, Orlando, Florida, 
<http://www.wbu-icevi2016.org>www.wbu-icevi2016.org

The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
you or your future. Every day we raise the 
expectations of blind people, because low 
expectations create obstacles between blind 
people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
want; blindness is not what holds you back.

Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314
Fax: (410) 659-5129
Email: <mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice
Web: <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org

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