Over 600 New Hampshire voters with disabilities and their families and friends showed up for Friday’s historic, first-ever national, cross-disability presidential candidate forum, hosted by a variety of New Hampshire advocacy organizations and sponsored by over twenty national disability organizations.
Who Showed Up
Five presidential candidates arrived in person to share their positions on a variety of disability issues (Clinton, Biden, Dodd, Kucinich, Gravel), one candidate sent a surrogate to provide a message on his behalf (Edwards), and one joined via phone call (McCain).
What They Talked About
Senator Clinton - Community Choice Act, ADA Restoration, reinstating President Clinton’s executive order calling on federal agencies to hire 100,000 people with disabilities within five years.
Senator Biden - State implementation and Department of Justice (DOJ) enforcement of the Olmstead decision, education for all
Senator Dodd - Help America Vote Act (HAVA), strengthening enforcement of the ADA, affordable, accessible transportation, fully funding IDEA, improving access to telecommunications and technology, his sister Carolyn, who is legally blind
Congressman Kucinich - his single-payer health care plan, his childhood experience with a speech impediment
Congressman David Bonior (on behalf of Senator Edwards) - the connection between disability and poverty, improving accessible transportation, fully funding IDEA, reinstating President Clinton’s executive order of hiring 100,000 people with disabilities into the federal workforce
Senator Gravel - his criticisms of representational
government and his recommendation that laws be made by the people directly, his childhood experience with dyslexia and his adult experience with neuropathy
Senator McCain - improving services for returning veterans with disabilities, strengthening the ADA
To view more photos from the forum, visit the JFActivist blog.
Post a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.