DATE: May 22, 1995
RE: CAREERS Bill, Immediate Action Needed!
On May 24, the Committee on Economic and Educational
Opportunity in the House will meet to consider and probably
report H. R. 1617, the proposed CAREERS Act. Information about
this bill has been circulated previously and can be found on the
NFB-Net Bulletin Board. It is under the file names "ALERT2.TXT"
or "ALERT2.ZIp."
Congressman Major Owens has just announced plans to offer an
amendment when the CAREERS bill is considered by the House
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunity on May 24. His
amendment would strike Title V--the Title in the committee print
concerning rehabilitation--and replace it with several very
acceptable amendments to the Rehabilitation Act.
Congressman Owens's amendment is a responsible approach. It
preserves the existing specialized vocational rehabilitation
system but also creates opportunities for the states to
coordinate vocational rehabilitation with a revamped work force
development system. Following a philosophy similar to the
CAREERS Act, the amendment also consolidates and stream-lines
some existing program authorities which have been added to the
rehabilitation Act over the years.
Mr. Owens can prevail with this amendment if enough people
from far and wide express their strong support. The text of a
supporting letter is shown below. Communications similar to this
should be transmitted to each member of the Committee on Economic
and Educational Opportunity. There is no time to waste with the
ordinary mail. Messages should be delivered by phone, fax, e-
mail or some other fast method. A list of the committee members,
staff contacts, phone and fax numbers has been posted on NFB Net.
You can reach NFB NET by calling (410) 752-5011.
The sample letter follows:
May 22, 1995
The Honorable XXX
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D. C. 20515
Dear Representative XXX:
This letter concerns the proposed CAREERS Act, H. R. 1617.
Congressman Major Owens has announced his intention to offer an
amendment to that bill, which would maintain vocational
rehabilitation as an identifiable program with flexibility and
linkages to the consolidated employment and training system. The
National Federation of the Blind strongly supports this amendment
and asks for your vote to approve it.
Without Congressman Owens's amendment, the CAREERS Act would
merge the vocational rehabilitation program with the generic
unemployment, education and training services system. All
specialized blindness-related assistance would have to be
obtained through "one-stop" local offices. As the amendment
recognizes, such a plan might appear to be reasonable on paper,
but it would not work in practice. This is so because persons--
blind people, for example--who have complex and diverse needs and
whose numbers are comparatively small would be forced to the
sidelines by the genuine and pressing demands of far larger
populations.
The vocational rehabilitation program is already a virtual
block grant system, using a one-stop approach. In many cases the
services provided are obtained from a multitude of sources.
However, everything is arranged through a single, accountable and
pre-planned program in which the individual's choice must be
emphasized.
The integrity of separate service delivery systems which
fulfill legitimate purposes should not be destroyed. Mr. Owens's
amendment recognizes this fact. For the reasons explained here,
blind people from throughout the country are proud to support it.
Very truly yours,
James Gashel
Director of Governmental Affairs
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
David Andrews, director
International Braille and Technology Center
for the Blind
National Federation of the Blind
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