Thursday, May 21, 2009

Society Recognized by Majority Leader

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer Speaks at Press Conference on 2009 Report about Accessability in the House of Representatives

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) joined Members of Congress, Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard, Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers, and members of the disability advocacy community at a press conference on the release of the CAO 2009 Disability Report (pdf). Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

“I want to thank the Members here today, Representatives Langevin, and Wasserman-Schultz, as well as Representatives Sensenbrenner and Upton, for their commitment to making the house a safer and more accessible place for all citizens.

“I would like to recognize our friends in the advocacy community who are with us – Mary Dolan and Nancy Starnes from the National Organization on Disabiltiy, and Shawn O’Neail from the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

“I also want to acknowledge the work of Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard and Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers who have made disability access a priority and worked to implement improvements both structurally and in policy.

“And I especially want to thank Congressman Langevin for his comments, his advocacy on disability issues, and his help in passing and improving the Americans with Disabilities Act."

This is an excerpt from a press release on this event. Read more here.

2 comments:

ellie said...

This is great. Long over due but now it's here. I remember Senator Dole talking about how the senators talk on and on about the plight of the disabled but end up offering nothing. And not a thought given to the fact of how inaccessible the congress is! Will promote this in my blog hoping to stir up some changes locally.

Anonymous said...

As someone who has had MS for over 30 years and currently using Avonex, I fear that government run health "care" will in all likelihood RESTRICT certain medications, such as Avonex, due to cost.

The majority of people have private health insurance and despite what the Obama Administration says about a government system not affecting private insurance companies, the goal of the Administration is for private health insurers to become part of the government system, as the premiums for private insurance will be much higher than those of the government run system.

We are headed toward Socialized Medicine and for those of you, including the NMSS that support it, be careful for what you wish for...just check out how healthcare is RATIONED in Canada and the U.K.!!

People with chronic illness such as MS and the elderly will experience that rationing first and God help those who have a LIFE THREATENING ILLNESS such as Cancer...they'll just DIE WAITING FOR TREATMENT!!