--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00006Date: 09/15/97 From: KARL SMITH Time: 07:33am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Change isn't Bad From: ksmith@utah-inter.net (Karl Smith) Subject: Re: Change isn't Bad Hi Harvey and Steve, etc. A friend of mine made a statement about term limits which I think really sums things up perfectly. He said that we expect the government to do so many things for us for which we should be responsible--even fire themselves. At 02:59 AM 9/15/97 GMT, you wrote: > > >Hi Harvey, > > -=> Quoting Harvey Heagy to Steve Jacobson <=- > > HH> Obviously a third term for a president was enough of a > HH> problem that 2 thirds of congress and 3 fourths of the > HH> states made it part of the constitution so as to insure > HH> that the courts couldn't strike it down. > >True enough, but the same can be said of prohibition. Anyway, my point >is that term limits are not the solution for all political bodies simply >because they are in the US constitution. We need to examine term limits >as they fit into our organization. > >The bottom line is, though, you think it would be a good idea and I >don't. We simply disagree on that one. We made our points. > >Steve Jacobson > >___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 > > Karl Smith CSA Adaptive Products and Services 4304 South El Camino St. Taylorsville, Utah 84119 Phone 801-967-5655 Toll Free 800-335-4995 Fax 801-969-4357 E-mail KSMITH@UTAH-INTER.NET "Never confuse an open mind with an empty head." --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00007Date: 09/15/97 From: AL AND MASHA STEN-CLANTON Time: 06:56pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Change isn't Bad From: Al and Masha Sten-Clanton Subject: Re: Change isn't Bad Greetings! It might indeed be good to have a convention format with general sessions in the morning and division meetings in the afternoon. My immediate reaction is one of reluctance, however. When I attended conventions (as I hope to again soon), it seemed to me that there was already too little time to consider resolutions as fully as I thought made sense. (I don't know how well ACB does at that.) Peace! Al --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00008Date: 09/15/97 From: DAVID ANDREWS Time: 09:18pm \/To: HHEAGY@DELPHI.COM (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Change isn't Bad h> From: hheagy@delphi.com h> Subject: Re: Change isn't Bad h> I am not necessarily saying that term limits would be good for h> the N.F.B. as there are advantages both ways. I was merely h> pointing out that where the U.S. is concerned F.D.R. apparently h> became powerful enough that unlimited terms was something that h> was decided to be not in the best interest of the nation. h> I just think it should be open-mindedly looked at. There is I think that term limits are sometimes used to get people out who may not be popular with a large minoir minority, but not necessarily a majority. If I was against someone, I might be in favor of term limits, but if he was great and doing a good job, then I would be against them. That isn't the reas on to have them. h> another change we might consider, and I said, "consider." I know h> we don't like to copy anything the A.C.B. does, but their format h> of a general session in the morning and division meetings in the h> afternoon may be an idea whose time has come for us. We are h> becoming so big that people with varied interests can't possibly h> get to as many division meetings as they would like to. Perhaps h> spreading them out throughout the week would be something that h> deserves consideration. True, we would not be getting as much of h> an overview, but we would be able to get more in depth h> information about topics of personal interest. I am not saying Your raise an interesting point. Yes, it is impossible to get to all the division sutff, etc., you would want. but I am not sure what the solution is. Our greatest strength is as a unified national organization. We can't do anything, or should I say, in my opinion we shouldn't do anything, to take away from our main strength. The general sessions are important for that unity and strength and shouldn't be reduced. David Andrews --- Maximus/2 2.02 * Origin: NFB NET St. Paul, MN (612) 696-1975 (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00009Date: 09/15/97 From: DAVID ANDREWS Time: 02:42pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Action Alert: NLS Conference Committee 14:42:4809/15/97 From: David Andrews Subject: Action Alert: NLS Conference Committee Meeting Soon The Congressional Conference Committee which will consider a possible NLS funding increase will meet on Wednesday September 13. Immediate action is needed. David Andrews ACTION ALERT ON LIBRARY APPROPRIATIONS DATE: September 15, 1997 FROM: James Gashel RE: Upcoming action by Senate and House conferees This notice (which is also available electronically at "http://www.nfb.org/legslatn.htm") is provided to request action in support of funds for the Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped program of the Library of Congress, known as the NLS program. Communications to support an increase in the appropriation for the books for the blind program should be directed to the Senators and House members who will serve as conferees on the bill--H.R. 2209--to appropriate funds for activities of the legislative branch including the Library of Congress. Contact information for the conferees is provided at the end of this notice. Also, any member of the Senate or House, in addition to the conferees, should be contacted and asked to help. The amount appropriated to NLS has a direct impact on the number and variety of books produced in Braille and sound- recorded formats. It also affects the quality of the service. The present issue which the conferees will resolve is whether or not to appropriate money for replacement of aging and obsolete play-back machines. The machines are the infrastructure of the program. A decision to direct funds to meet other needs outside of the NLS program would be a decision to permit the further deterioration of the machine supply. This would definitely sacrifice the quality of the program. The conferees for the legislative branch appropriations bill are scheduled to meet on Wednesday, September 17. Therefore, every effort should be made to communicate with them as well as with other members of Congress (House and Senate) before that time. As the bill now stands, the amount approved for the NLS by the Senate is $47,870 million. The amount approved by the House is $45,936 million. Therefore, almost $2 million is at stake in Wednesday's meeting of the conferees. The contact information follows: COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH SUBCOMMITTEE Note: The Senators on the list below appear in order of their subcommittee ranking. The chairman and ranking minority member of the full committee are ex-officio members of all subcommittees. Therefore, they are shown as such on this list. Their position on the full committee can significantly influence subcommittee action in many circumstances. MAJORITY Robert F. Bennett, UT, Chairman 202-224-5444 - voice 202-224-4908 - fax Christine Ciccone, STAFF ASST. Ted Stevens, AK 202-224-3004 - voice 202-224-2354 - fax Steven J. Cortese, STAFF ASST. Larry E. Craig-ID 202-224-2752 - voice 202-228-1067 - fax Brooke M. Roberts - STAFF ASST. MINORITY Byron L. Dorgan, ND, Ranking Minority Member 202-224-2551 - voice 202-224-1193 - fax James H. English - STAFF ASST. Barbara Boxer-CA 202-224-3553 - voice 202-228-4056 - fax Kate O'Malley - STAFF ASST. EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Thad Cochran, MS 202-224-5054 - voice 202-224-9450 - fax Christine Ciccone, STAFF ASST. Robert Byrd, WV, full committee, Ranking Minority Member 202-224-3954 - voice 202-224-8070 - fax James H. English - STAFF ASST. COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES LEGISLATIVE BRANCH SUBCOMMITTEE Note: The members of the House on the list below appear in order of their subcommittee ranking. The chairman and ranking minority member of the full committee are ex-officio members of all subcommittees. Therefore, they are shown as such on this list. Their position on the full committee can significantly influence subcommittee action in many circumstances. MAJORITY James T. Walsh, NY, Chairman 202-225-3701 - voice 202-225-4042 - fax Ed Lombard - STAFF ASST. C. W. Bill Young, FL 202-225-5961 - voice 202-225-9764 - fax Douglas Gregory - STAFF ASST. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, CA 202-225-5452 - voice 202-225-2558 - fax Frank Purcell - STAFF ASST. Zach Wamp, TN 202-225-3271 - voice 202-225-3494 - fax Claire McVey - STAFF ASST. Tom Latham, IA 202-225-5476 - voice 202-225-3301 - fax Paul Zurawski- STAFF ASST. MINORITY Jose E. Serrano, NY, Ranking Minority Member 202-225-4361 - voice 202-225-6001 - fax Lucy Hand - STAFF ASST. Vic Fazio, CA 202-225-5716 - voice 202-225-5141 - fax Don DeArmon - STAFF ASST. Marcy Kaptur, OH 202-225-4146 - voice 202-225-7711 - fax Susan Role - STAFF ASST. EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Bob Livingston, LA, full committee, Chairman 202-225-3015 - voice 202-225-0739 - fax Ed Lombard - STAFF ASST. David Obey, WI, full committee, Ranking Minority Member 202-225-3365 - voice 202-225-9476 - fax Scott Lilly - STAFF ASST. David Andrews (dandrews@visi.com) or BBS: (telnet to nfbnet.org) or call (612) 696-1975 Net-Tamer V 1.10 Beta - Registered --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00010Date: 09/16/97 From: ANDY BARACCO Time: 03:59pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Change isn't Bad From: Andy Baracco Subject: Re: Change isn't Bad Hi David. I don't think that Harvey was suggesting that General sessions be reduced, just spreading them over a larger number of days. Perhaps starting them on Monday rather than Wednesday. Andy Baracco --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00011Date: 09/16/97 From: JAMAL MAZRUI Time: 02:30pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Clinton statement on Gorton amendment (F14:30:4809/16/97 From: Jamal Mazrui <74444.1076@compuserve.com> Subject: Clinton statement on Gorton amendment (Forward From dandrews@visi.com) The White House Briefing Room September 16, 1997 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT Message Creation Date was at 16-SEP-1997 13:11:00 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________________ ________ For Immediate Release September 16, 1997 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT The vote by a narrow majority of the U.S. Senate to support the Gorton Amendment undermines the bipartisan spirit of cooperation that is so vital to improving American education. At worst, this decision to block grant education programs is, as Secretary Riley said, a "back-door attempt to kill off the Department of Education." At best, the vote was a hasty, ill-considered decision that would have a serious impact on our schools. I welcome the Senate,s overwhelming support for my proposal to offer states and communities voluntary national tests in 4th grade reading and 8th grade math. However, the adoption of the Gorton Amendment less than two hours later eliminated the very funding needed to continue development of these tests. The Gorton Amendment would halt many of our most successful efforts to improve education, including our efforts to get computers into every classroom; raise standards through Goals 2000; establish more charter schools; assist young people in making the transition from school to work; help parents and schools keep our children safe and drug-free; and create more opportunities to help immigrant children learn English and stay in school. The Amendment would seriously harm the Title I program, which provides extra help to low-income students so they can master the basic skills of reading and math and reach high academic standards. It also undermines programs targeted to help gifted and talented students, support arts education, and promote exciting new efforts to create technology partnerships. Further, this amendment would slash funds used to help adults with severe disabilities obtain employment. This is not a vote, as some would suggest, about who controls public education. Rather it is a vote about whether the Federal government will maintain its commitment to help local communities strengthen accountability and raise academic standards in basic skills, improve teaching and learning, assist parents and schools in keeping children safe and drug-free, promote public school choice for parents and students, and prepare all of our students for the 21st Century. The Department of Education has historically targeted its funding to schools that serve disadvantaged students. If the Gorton Amendment became law, the wealthiest school districts would be the winners and the rest of our communities would inevitably be the losers. Politics must stop at the schoolhouse door. The Gorton Amendment is unacceptable. I understand a similar provision may be offered in the House. Let me be clear. If necessary, I will use my veto power to make sure that no such provision becomes the law of the land. --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00012Date: 09/17/97 From: POSTMASTER ID FOR INETGATEWAY Time: 01:54am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: from Postmaster: mail failed From: postmaster@connectinc.com (POSTMASTER id for INETGATEWAY) Subject: from Postmaster: mail failed Connect Mail errors: The following ids are invalid:5412 From nfb-talk@nfbnet.org Tue Sep 16 23:54:46 1997 QMARGV-TO: 5412@handsnet.org Return-Path: Received: from franklin.connectinc.com by sword.connectinc.com (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id XAA04735; Tue, 16 Sep 1997 23:54:46 -0700 From: nfb-talk@nfbnet.org Received: from ns.connectinc.com by franklin.connectinc.com (8.7.1/ConnectInc-iRELAY.1) id GAA17015; Wed, 17 Sep 1997 06:56:58 GMT Received: from abq.com by ns.connectinc.com (8.7.1/ConnectInc-RELAY.1) id GAA02646; Wed, 17 Sep 1997 06:51:35 GMT Received: from MHS by abq.com with MHS id $T205843 ; Wed, 17 Sep 1997 00:52:58 -0600 Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 00:52:12 -0600 Message-ID: Subject: Clinton statement on Gorton amendment (Forward Fro To: 5412@handsnet.org -------------< COMMENTS BY Greg Trapp >-------------- Jim, Let us hope that the President is true to his word. Greg ----------< END OF COMMENTS BY Greg Trapp >---------- Received: from mixer.visi.com [204.73.178.1] by abq.com with smtp id $T205734 ; Tue, 16 Sep 1997 23:38:28 -0600 Received: from bbs (host1.nfbnet.org [206.11.202.33]) by mixer.visi.com (8.8.6/8.7.5) with SMTP id AAA01602; Wed, 17 Sep 1997 00:34:27 -0500 (CDT) Received: by bbs; 17 Sep 97 06:37:11 From: Jamal Mazrui <74444.1076@compuserve.com> Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 00:30:48 +0500 X-To: nfb-talk@nfbnet.org, blindtlk@nfbnet.org Subject: Clinton statement on Gorton amendment (Forward From dandrews@visi.com) Message-Id: <199709170530.AAA01297@mixer.visi.com> X-Listname: NFBnet NFB-Talk Mailing List To: NFB-Talk@NFBnet.org (Multiple recipients of NFBnet NFB-Talk Mailing List) Reply-To: NFB-Talk@NFBnet.org (Multiple recipients of NFBnet NFB-Talk Mailing List) Errors-To: sysop@NFBnet.org Sender: sysop@NFBnet.org Precedence: bulk X-Delivered-From: mixer.visi.com Posted-Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 00:30:45 -0500 (CDT) Content-Disposition: inline The White House Briefing Room September 16, 1997 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT Message Creation Date was at 16-SEP-1997 13:11:00 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________________ ________ For Immediate Release September 16, 1997 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT The vote by a narrow majority of the U.S. Senate to support the Gorton Amendment undermines the bipartisan spirit of cooperation that is so vital to improving American education. At worst, this decision to block grant education programs is, as Secretary Riley said, a "back-door attempt to kill off the Department of Education." At best, the vote was a hasty, ill-considered decision that would have a serious impact on our schools. I welcome the Senate,s overwhelming support for my proposal to offer states and communities voluntary national tests in 4th grade reading and 8th grade math. However, the adoption of the Gorton Amendment less than two hours later eliminated the very funding needed to continue development of these tests. The Gorton Amendment would halt many of our most successful efforts to improve education, including our efforts to get computers into every classroom; raise standards through Goals 2000; establish more charter schools; assist young people in making the transition from school to work; help parents and schools keep our children safe and drug-free; and create more opportunities to help immigrant children learn English and stay in school. The Amendment would seriously harm the Title I program, which provides extra help to low-income students so they can master the basic skills of reading and math and reach high academic standards. It also undermines programs targeted to help gifted and talented students, support arts education, and promote exciting new efforts to create technology partnerships. Further, this amendment would slash funds used to help adults with severe disabilities obtain employment. This is not a vote, as some would suggest, about who controls public education. Rather it is a vote about whether the Federal government will maintain its commitment to help local communities strengthen accountability and raise academic standards in basic skills, improve teaching and learning, assist parents and schools in keeping children safe and drug-free, promote public school choice for parents and students, and prepare all of our students for the 21st Century. The Department of Education has historically targeted its funding to schools that serve disadvantaged students. If the Gorton Amendment became law, the wealthiest school districts would be the winners and the rest of our communities would inevitably be the losers. Politics must stop at the schoolhouse door. The Gorton Amendment is unacceptable. I understand a similar provision may be offered in the House. Let me be clear. If necessary, I will use my veto power to make sure that no such provision becomes the law of the land. --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00013Date: 09/16/97 From: HHEAGY@DELPHI.COM Time: 12:27pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Change isn't Bad From: hheagy@delphi.com Subject: Re: Change isn't Bad On 1997-09-16 NFB-Talk@NFBnet.org said: NF>Hi David. I don't think that Harvey was suggesting that General NF>sessions be reduced, just spreading them over a larger number of NF>days. Perhaps starting them on Monday rather than Wednesday. I was just saying that it is something we could look at. There are merits to letting people attend smaller workshop/division meetings in the afternoon. We are very large now and have more divisions than we ever had. It is impossible for people to attend the number of them that they probably would like because of that. Also, I think the opening session could begin at 9 A.M. instead of 9-45. We could get the roll call of states and the presidential report in during that session provided we budgeted our time well. This would clear more time under the current format. I am told this is a carry over from the early years when most people didn't arrive until the opening day and it gave them time to settle in. Now that most people do, I think it would work and would eliminate the potential of beginning sessions later in the week at 8-30 or 1-30 P.M. which creates logistics problems with taking care of essentials plus lengthens them for too long. Harvey Net-Tamer V 1.10 Beta - Registered --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00014Date: 09/17/97 From: ANDY BARACCO Time: 12:05pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Urgent Action alert (fwd) From: Andy Baracco Subject: Urgent Action alert (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 15:56:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Julie Carroll To: juliec@access.digex.net Subject: Urgent Action alert To: ACB Advocates From: Julie Carroll Director of Governmental Affairs American Council of the Blind Date: September 16, 1997 Re: Urgent Action Alert The House is scheduled to consider its Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations bill (HR 2264) this afternoon. An amendment is expected from Representative Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), which is very similar to the Gorton Amendment just passed in the Senate, except that the Hoekstra Amendment reportedly does not block grant funds from the rehabilitation, adult education, and vocational education budgets. The Hoekstra amendment is a watered down version of the Gorton amendment. It will divert funds intended for the Helen Keller National Center, School to Work, the Administration's program to get computers in every classroom, Tech Act grants, possibly the American Printing House for the Blind, and many other important federally funded education programs and convert these funds to local education agencies with virtually no requirements on how the money must be spent. While the Hoekstra amendment is an improvement over the Gorton Amendment in its impact on vocational rehabilitation, it would still be devastating to federal education programs. Contact your Representatives at 202-225-3121 IMMEDIATELY and ask them to oppose the Hoekstra amendment. There is no time to E- Mail your Representatives. They must hear from you NOW. --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 233 NFB BLIND NEWS Ref: EDM00015Date: 09/17/97 From: ANDY BARACCO Time: 12:39pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: update on gorden ammendment (fwd) From: Andy Baracco Subject: update on gorden ammendment (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 15:27:16 -0800 From: ccb-l@gbx.org To: wq6r@cris.com Subject: update on gorden ammendment [ to Multiple Recipiants ] ListServer: ccb-l (california council of the blind list) From: Dan Kysor. Clinton Promises Veto September 16, 1997--15:30CDT In a copyrighted story, the Associated Press, quoting sources close o President Clinton, says that Clinton will veto any Department of Education bill containing the Gorton Amendment. Quoting Clinton, the story says: "The Gorton amendment is unacceptable...Let me be clear. If necessary, I will use my veto power to make sure that no such provision becomes the law of the land."President Clinton, according to the story, characterized the so-called Gorton amendment as nothing more than a back door attempt to destroy the Department of Education. Hosted by the global blind exchange internet bbs --- * Origin: NFBnet <--> Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045)