Transcript from Re-Introduction of the Disability Integration Act

Anita Cameron:

Welcome, everyone, to the re-introduction of the Disability Integration Act. My name is Anita Cameron. I am a national organizer with ADAPT, and it is my honor and pleasure to introduce to you the Senate Minority Leader, my senator from the great state of New York, Chuck Schumer.

Sen. Chuck Schumer:

Thank you. Thank you so much. It is great to be back. On such a wonderful occasion. I want to thank all of my advocates in the community for being such a strong support through the years as we are moving forward to get the Disability Integration Act passed into law!

I am proud to reintroduce the legislation, and as you know I have been an advocate and champion for the disabled community throughout my Senate career. As you all know the story, this is what introduced me to it. Across the hall from us in our apartment building was then a little boy named Joey. He was in a wheelchair. Sometimes his mom would ask me to take care of him. I did. I would take Joey outside. But because there were simply no curb cuts, he was confined to the block in which we lived. It was a revelation. I worked really hard to get New York City to put curb cuts in. That gave Joey freedom. Freedom!

That is why I fought hard for the ADA back in 1990. I worked with the great Bob Casey to get the ABLE Act to become law in 2014. We have made some progress, but we have more to go. We will not rest on our laurels, are we?

Right now a person who needs long-term services and support has a very limited choice where they can receive services and it is irrational and expensive. People with disabilities are often denied the choice to stay at home and get services. It means people are placed in institutional facilities far away from their families. Far away from their jobs. Far away from where they work. It makes no sense and the people in the disability community, like the rest of us, should have the opportunity to live the lives in a community they are part of with their loved ones. That is all we want to do.

That’s why I authored the act. That’s why we gotta do everything we can to make sure Americans with disabilities have the resources to live and thrive in the comfort of their homes and communities if they choose to. Our bill is simple: It says any individual with a disability who is eligible to receive institutional care, should be given the option to receive the same long-term services and support at home. Just as they received in an institutional setting. The legislation I have to say would not be possible without you, the great advocates who have come down here regularly. I want to thank Bruce Darling. Bruce?

There you are! From Rochester, Rochester, New York. And Stephanie Woodward.

Who have worked with me and convinced me to be the sponsor of this legislation. I want to thank all the groups here. ADAPT, the Council on Independent Living, the American Association of People with Disabilities, and also AARP.

I want to thank both Senator Casey and Sen. Gardner for the support on this bill.

Now let me say this. There is no better day to re-introduce this bill then on Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, because this bill is ultimately a civil rights bill. At its core it’s about one simple thing: people with disabilities must be treated equally to those without. I’m reminded of what Dr. King said that inspires me and I hope will inspire you. He said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”. We, together, can bend that arc a little more towards justice to those with disabilities by passing this legislation. So, let’s get to work! Thank you, everyone. It is great to see you. We’ll will keep working until we win. Right? Thank you!

Anita:

Wasn’t that great? Senator Schumer’s been a true friend of the disability community. So next, I am going to introduce three people who I totally, totally –I don’t even have the words to say how much I admire. They will give you a history of the Disability Integration Act. And so I am going to –I want to introduce in the proper term. Mike Oxford.

Mike Oxford:

[Having trouble with Microphone] Check Check Check…Can you hear me now? Okay. Hello, everyone! You are looking good! This is a day to celebrate. So real fast, I have to give the quick history of how we got here today according to me and sort of ADAPT.

Beginning in 1990, ADAPT shifted gears from access to transit and the Americans with Disabilities Act to this issue. Ending the institutional bias so people could live wherever we want to live and do whatever we wanted to do like everyone else. From 1990 until 1997, we did a number of things. But I remember chasing around Louis Sullivan with my buddy Anita. What we wanted was we wanted to redirect 25 percent of the Medicaid nursing home budget towards home and community. We knew all the money was tied up in nursing homes. We figured to transfer some of their money over to home and community. Well…we did not get much traction on that. So, we started thinking, “man… what about legislations”?

So, we decided to have our first sponsor be arguably the most powerful politician in America at the time and one of the most conservative. Newt Gingrich introduced our first bill called “CASA” in 1997. I want to give a history lesson a little bit. Senator Schumer is here Senator Casey, Senator Gardner. The hearing we had when I saw Newt Gingrich coming down the aisle arm in arm with Dick Gepthart. They did not like each other as far at this we know. They never did anything together! But on this issue, it transcended partisanship, donkeys, elephants, that stuff! Because it was about freedom. Everyone got it. Since then, we have pursued this bipartisan legislation but what we want to do is reform Medicaid.

We tried and tried and tried to reform Medicaid through various bills. Senator [Tom] Harkin started introducing bills for us – and what we heard was Medicaid people are worried about money and people don’t like to hear “Medicaid” around here. We decided to switch from the service delivery side to rights. To rights, because we tried the service delivery side from 1990 until what? About four years ago? Something like that. We tried and tried. We made some success. Now we are on rights. We all know we need services. We think we need a right to services to drive the service delivery network so we can stop having people carved out, cost-capped, waitlisted. You get served this year, but it kicks you off next year. All these horrible things that happen to people have to stop, and we think it’s the basis of rights. As the former NCIL president CIL director still. When I learned I.L. 1 million years ago here’s the thing it’s all about getting rights! That is the basis for success with people and disabilities and getting where we go. That’s why we are fired up about the Disability Integration Act. Thank you!

Anita Cameron:

Alright yeah, Mike! Yes! Next up Is Kelly Buckland president of NCIL.

Kelly Buckland:

Thanks Anita, Thank you Mike. Wow, you guys really do look good. It’s really exciting to be here today. It is an honor and pleasure. I won’t talk very long, there’s a lot of people on the agenda. There has been a symbiotic relationship between ADAPT and NCIL. I think this year we took it to the hilt. When Bruce Darling ADAPT organizer and Kelly Buckland got arrested together in the capitol building. And I really have to give a shout out to all of [I.L.] Centers and NCIL members in the room and across the country. You guys have really stepped up and I have been proud of the work you have been doing. You gotta keep it up we have to keep this going. We have to pass this bill as Sen. Schumer said and let’s not stop until we get this thing done. Thank you, everyone.

Anita Cameron:

Thank you, Kelly. Next up my ADAPT brother, Bruce Darling. Give it away!

Bruce Darling:

So, we are short on time. This bill is a civil rights bill! It is written differently, and it was written by the disabled people who sacrificed their lives and liberty in the institution. We wrote this bill by going to every report and highlighting how people became institutionalized and clipping it out. (Because we’re old) we clipped it and put it in a pile and sorted it to come up with the specific prohibition in the bill. This bill honors the sacrifice of those of us who have been in institutions and who have lost their lives and liberty. So, who wrote this bill from the very beginning, and we need to honor that. We need to honor the ADAPTers who fought for the bill across this change. Across 28 years. Oh my God!

We have come to the realization. Our arguments have changed and evolved over time. In the last two years we have come to the realization: We have the right to life and liberty as everyone else.

There is NO asterisk in the Declaration of Independence or Constitution that says unless you are disabled. I want us to know we are not just fighting for ourselves. I see these wonderful children here. We are fighting for our children. Our children deserve a future that has everything that we have to offer as a community and a society. We need to make sure that happens.

Finally, I want to say there is growing support for this bill. Just today we received a letter from the Colorado Health Care Policy and Finance folks basically the Medicaid director and office in Colorado endorsing the Disability Integration Act.

So, the work needs to move on. We are going to make this happen and we are going to Free Our People!

Anita Cameron:

Thank you, Bruce. Yes! All right. So, next up, I have the pleasure of introducing Amy Bos from Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner office. Please come forward and speak to us. Thank you!

Amy Bos:

Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Amy Boss, legislative director in the office of Congressman Sensenbrenner. Thank you.

He asked me to deliver some short remarks to you today:

I was honored to stand with her behind President George W. Bush as he signed the Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act in 2008. However, there is much more work to be done. To strengthen laws to protect individuals with disabilities. I think the thousands of advocates who came to D.C. this week, and I think there are some people from Wisconsin in the room. That’s wonderful! Who inspire us to continue pushing on. I look forward to working with you to advance the efforts. Thank you so much.”

Anita Cameron:

Thank you so much, and Congressman Sensenbrenner, we certainly appreciate your leadership on this. Thank you so much. Next up is Rhonda Richards from the American Association of Retired Persons.

Rhonda Richards:

Thank you, Anita. Good afternoon, everyone. AARP is pleased to be here today to support the Disability Integration Act

and join the long list of organizations supporting this important legislation. We commend the bill’s sponsors Senator’s Chuck Schumer and Cory Gardner and Congressman Sensenbrenner to reintroduce this act. We thank Senator Casey here today as a cosponsor of the bill. We also want to recognize the leadership of ADAPT and others in the disability community on this significant bill. Thank you also to ADAPT for organizing this event today.

The vast majority of older adults want to live independently in their homes and communities. This legislation aims to ensure that older adults and people with disabilities who are in institutions or at risk of institutionalization are able to live in communities where they want to be. Achieving the goals of the legislation requires efforts of the federal government, states, local government, and those who provide community-based services and supports and ensures and managed care plans and housing providers, the workforce, and more. AARP supports the goals of the Disability Integration Act and the bipartisan reintroduction of the legislation today is an important step in making the goals and visions of the bill a reality. It is fitting we are here today on the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who worked to make his dream and the dream of many other Americans a reality. The Disability Integration Act can help make what is currently a dream for too many individuals, living independently in their homes and communities, a reality! Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to stand with you in support of the Disability Integration Act. Thank you.

Anita Cameron:

Thank you so much, Rhonda. One second.

Erin Gabriel:

Hello. It’s my honor to introduce you to our senator from Pennsylvania. He is someone who has my unending gratitude for the work he is done to fight for families like ours and for people with disabilities across the country. My senator and more importantly Abby’s Senator: Bob Casey.

Senator Bob Casey:

Well, Erin, thank you so much for that introduction! What a great crowd. I was standing at the door so I could not see the back. I have all kinds of buttons that I was either holding or was handed. I have a Little Lobbyists button here. Erin will remember this button: The Disability Integration Act illustration that was drawn by her daughter Bridget who is here. I know Abby is here. But I want to thank you for this opportunity to talk about an important piece of legislation. I know you saw Senator Schumer a just couple of moments ago. Sen. Gardner will be here soon. We are grateful you are here to talk about a bill. That’s always important. It’s more important when you’re talking about a bill that has not only a great urgency but also because of that urgency and because of YOUR work, this bill is bipartisan! That is a good thing!

Senator Bob Casey – Pennsylvania
Erin Gabriel – Little Lobbyists

That word, “bipartisan”, is not Latin. It’s actually an English word that means “both sides supported”. I say that because it used to be the norm. It used to be the rule not the exception in Washington. If you go back, not quite 100 years, but if you go back a couple of years, most legislation was bipartisan. These days it doesn’t happen that often. I want to thank you for working towards that goal. Not just to get a good bill, which this is, but also to get a bill that is bipartisan.

It was mentioned just a couple of moments ago that this date happens to be the 90th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. When you consider that day, and his contribution to our country I think it’s important to remember why this legislation is significant. Number one, and I’ll just make three quick points, first of which is to make the goal of the ADA a reality we need this legislation. We need the Disability Integration Act. Now I know everyone goes by acronyms around here. DIA or whatever we call it, but I think it is better at the beginning to spell it out. The Disability Integration Act. Let’s not shorten it too soon be acronyms don’t often work out well. It was the civil rights marker that builds on the foundation of the 14th Amendment. Declaring all people have equal rights under the law including those with disabilities! That’s right. We are getting affirmations from that. As you know, without support, and without services, and without accessible housing and transportation, and of course without access to healthcare, there is no true freedom; there is no real freedom. “Freedom” becomes a hollow word if you don’t have supports and services. If you don’t have access and healthcare of course. The Disability Integration Act ensures services and supports available for EVERYONE who needs them and makes sure the services are available in the neighborhoods and available in their own homes.

We didn’t even practice that applause line and it worked. Just for example in Pennsylvania there are 10,000 Pennsylvanians and 650,000 plus Americans around the country waiting for home and community- based services. We want to make sure we get those numbers down. When the Disability Integration Act passes into law, that is an applause line:

it will mean these individuals, these Americans, will have real choices. Real choices and real freedom. Not the freedom to wait for services that may never happen.

The second point I want to make is that we have to make sure we collaborate here in Washington and around the country. Some of you know the collaboration it takes to get a big bill passed. We have had legislation over the years in Pennsylvania at the state level where we require Democrats and Republicans to work together. That happened in state government years ago when my father was elected governor. They passed the Children’s Health Insurance Program. That needed two parties. Initially the other party, the Republican Party didn’t want to do it. They finally got on board and now it is a bipartisan program. We know it as CHIP. The children’s health insurance. We also had bipartisan collaboration here in Washington that led to the passage of the ADA. The Americans with Disabilities Act.

I want to put a plug in for another Pennsylvania Governor: Dick Thornburg. He was the governor of Pennsylvania. From 1978 to 1986 just before my father came in. But then Dick Thornburg came to Washington. He worked for Republican President. He was a strong Republican and he worked with Democrats in the House and the Senate here to pass the ADA. We know collaboration is critically important.

Finally, collaboration also means knowing what principles are important for you and standing up for those principals. You may not think of Medicaid as a principal is a program. Medicaid is a critically important program for people with disabilities, for seniors and for children. There have been efforts, and they are continuing efforts here in Washington to take steps on Medicaid that would decimate the program, or at a minimum, undermine the program. When I hear people in Washington talk about making a particular program sustainable over time saying we will not be able to pay for this program, we may not be able to pay for it or we may not want to pay for it. When I hear language like that I get my fist up and start fighting. We are not going to allow anyone in Washington, DC, in either house and in either party, to undermine the gains we had made on Medicaid over the last 50 years! Not going to allow it to happen! We will fight it.

We have to make sure that even as we are pushing to get the Disability Integration Act passed into law which we will do, because we are determined and we have bipartisan support, we want to make sure we don’t fall backwards two steps with that step forward by undermining Medicaid. We will fight very very hard to protect Medicaid.

Finally, let me make a point about Dr. King. You have all heard great words from his speeches. When he would speak to us as if he were the preacher that he was. He would speak to us almost in a prayerful way. That is one of the reasons why he was so successful. He was so inspiring. We want to make sure that we continue that foundation of not just having a good bill but having the inspiration behind it to make sure we get it passed. Here is what Dr. King said years ago. He said the following about what happens when we focus on justice and injustice. He said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere. When we see injustice in our midst and we don’t fight against it, and tear it out by the roots, ultimately it will hurt all of us. We found that to be true in our history. Thank goodness people in the room believed in rooting out injustice and putting in its place the full measure of justice itself. If you cannot get access to treatment, if you cannot get the benefit of good healthcare through Medicaid or otherwise, if you can’t get access to support and services you are a victim of injustice. We want to make sure that by passing the Disability Integration Act, we provide the full measure of justice in America. We are not there yet. I know we have the ADA. That’s great. But that legislation will never be fully implemented until we have the full measure of justice. Thanks for helping us get to this point. Let’s go out and pass the Disability Integration Act!

Elena Hung:

Thank you, Senator Bob Casey. Hello. I am Elena Hung. I am the cofounder of Little Lobbyists.

We are a parent led organization of families with children with complex medical needs and disabilities. The original Little Lobbyists, my daughter Xiomara. We recognize that our disabled children will hopefully one day they will grow up and be disabled adults. As we do every day as their parents and caregivers, we want to make sure they have the support in place to live their best lives and maximize their independence in the community and be here with us and not in institutions far far away. That is why we are so so so excited to be here today to celebrate the reintroduction of the Disability Integration Act. You have heard from my friend Erin, and I will pass the mic to her to share a little bit more about her daughter, Abby.

Erin Gabriel:

Thank you. As said my name is Erin Gabriel. I am from Pennsylvania. This is my daughter Abby and her big sister Bridget. Bridget is the artist behind the artwork over here in the corner.

Erin and Bridget Gabriel – Little Lobbyists

Abby is nine years old. She is deaf-blind, she uses wheelchair pick she has a rare progressive and degenerative syndrome that we are learning more about. Medically she has gone through a lot. Because of where we live in Pennsylvania her hearing loss was found at birth and she immediately qualified for early intervention services as well as a home and community-based Medicaid waiver for children with disabilities. We’ve been able to find therapies and treatments that have helped her significantly while keeping her home with her family.

Her syndrome is progressive. She will eventually lose much of what she’s gained, and her seizures will return and intensify. It is unlikely she will ever be able to care for herself completely. As her disease progresses, we know she will soon need nursing care in order to stay at home. We know right now, as a child of Pennsylvania, she will be able to access that care through the home and community- based waivers. As she reaches adulthood, that becomes much more of a question. That waiver is not even available to every child like Abby. It varies state-by-state. It’s part of why we live 600 miles away from our closest family. Abby’s access to care literally depends on her ZIP Code right now.

Right now, Abby is growing up in her community with her family and friends. She goes everywhere with us. She enjoys shopping, going to movies, even some political events here and there. She travels. She goes swimming at the local lake. She snuggled with her dog at home and rides all the rides at the local amusement park. She smiles, she laughs. She brightens the day of everyone around her. She lives her life with more spark than most people I know, and she deserves to have that freedom to keep living in her community.

To get a job if she can. To keep going out with her friends and travel if she wants to. She deserves to have that choice and not be relegated to a nursing home at age 22 because of the services she will require. She deserves to actually live, and not just exist. Abby and people like her deserve the right to that choice regardless of the state they happen to live in. This is why the Disability Integration Act is so important to Abby and children like her and to our family. This summer the national centers for Independent living held an art contest. My daughter, Bridget, entered. It was entitled “What the DIA Means to Me”. After talking for a few minutes Bridget knew exactly what it would mean to her. She drew a picture of herself and her little sister in a wheelchair with a nurse being shown to their table at a restaurant because as she explained to me, “DIA would mean I could visit Abby at her house, and we could go to a restaurant or anywhere we want instead of being stuck in a boring nursing home”.

The DIA means families can stay together and people with disabilities can participate in their communities and live their lives just like every other American! Thank you.

Anita Cameron:

Let’s hear it for the Little Lobbyists!

Next, I am honored and excited, so excited to introduce the senator from the great state of Colorado. That was my home for many many years. Thank you for your support here to speak is Senator Cory Gardner.

Senator Cory Gardner:

Thank you. It’s great to see everyone. Dawn, thank you for coming back to Washington! It’s great to see everyone. Just let me hear you if you have been to Washington before.

So, okay…that’s everyone who’s been to Washington before! Welcome back to town and thank you very much.

I want to thank you for celebrating this day and the introduction of the Disability Integration Act. Congratulations on the introduction of this legislation. We celebrated with some cake and punch and pizza the other day, didn’t we? That’s right.

This legislation is a testament to the strong power of the coalition and dialogue between lawmakers and constituents across the country. Thank you for that. You have long communicated your needs and our needs in this country to live in and be fully integrated into all of our communities. And individuals that need assistance with the tasks of daily living should be able to determine which setting is best. I think that is what this legislation, which best fits their needs, and not be forced into an institutionalized setting. That’s what this legislation represents. So, thank you very much to ADAPT for working with my office on this. I look forward in continuing our strong dialogue moving forward. I know you’ve had a busy day. Have you already done Hill visits? Are you are doing more hill visits tomorrow?

Basically, ensuring people are able to live in the community where they want and how they want. We make sure we have a choice to make sure they live in a setting that fits their needs. Your needs. No one should be forced into a situation that doesn’t fit their needs and their best needs and that we have the community-based services and the support that we know this legislation can! Colorado, I think all of us are on the billing Colorado? Is that right?

Dawn Russell:

That’s Right!

Senator Cory Garnder:

The entire delegation is on the legislation!

So, that’s right. I will credit all of that to the work Dawn and the Colorado folks. Very good.

Dawn Russell:

Thanks to our friends in ADAPT, that’s to 40 years of disability rights, straight out of Colorado!

Senator Cory Gardner:

Thank you, Dawn. Enjoy the rest of the day here. Thank you for letting me be a part of this. I hope, I hope we see success with this legislation. Not just introduction but success with passage of the legislation.

Thanks so much for your leadership. Real leadership! The bi-partisan leadership.

Thank you. Dawn thought we just had snow in Colorado so sorry we got it in Washington too. Thanks to everyone for the opportunity to be with all of you today and we will see you on the Hill. Thank you. [To Anita] What part of Colorado were you.

Anita Cameron:

I was in Denver! Downtown, Capitol Hill!

Erik von Smetterling:

Colorado is the Home of ADAPT.

Senator Cory Gardner:

That’s right!

Anita Cameron:

Thank you so much, Senator Gardner. So excited for your support. Next up is my dear friend and colleague from ADAPT. My sister in ADAPT, Allison Donald to tell us about the history of ADAPT.

Allison Donald:

Thank you, Miss Anita. Thank you ADAPT. Thank you, ADAPTers, for being here today and all of the other supportive organizations on behalf of the Disability Integration Act!

I stand here today before you a proud black woman with a disability, AND a member of ADAPT! However, I did not get here alone. WE did not get here alone. As we all stand on the shoulders of Carolyn Finnell, Linda Chism-Andre, Larry Ruiz, Terry Fowler, Willy Cornelison, Mary Ann Sisneros, George Roberts, Mel Conrardy, Jeannie Joyce, Glenn Koop, Bob Conrad, Kerry Schott, Jim Lundvall, Lori Heezen, Cindy Dunn, Pau Bray, Renate Rabe-Conrad, Bobby Simpson, and Debbie Tracy, the Gang of 19!

Those faithful nineteen who put their bodies on the line at the corner of Colfax and Broadway on July 5 and 6 of 1978 in Denver, Colorado in protest of the inaccessibility of the RTD buses. They charge through the disability movement that in 1983, started by Wade Blank and Mike Auberger became ADAPT.

Wade Blank held his organizing skills alongside African- American leaders during those sit-ins, protest, and legal battles that came to define the civil rights movement and now ADAPT. He saw firsthand how nonviolent civil disobedience along with direct action could stir emotions, start conversations and create transformative change!

We have come a long way since Colfax and Broadway 40 years ago. The fight for freedom and liberation for people with disabilities is more urgent than ever. ADAPT continues to demand that we be counted. That our community be seen, and most importantly, our civil rights as American citizens be upheld! Every activist, that you see and that you don’t see, writing letters, making legislative visits, and writing line by line the Disability Integration Act, Act S.117. and protesting does it because our lives depend on it! Just like Senator Schumer, Senator Casey and like with other activists before me, I would like to leave you with a quote. From Dr. Martin Luther King on his 90th birthday. “The time is ALWAYS right to always do what IS right!”

And the time is NOW to pass the Disability Integration Act, because disability rights are civil rights! Free our people!

Anita Cameron:

Thank you, Allison! Thank you so much for that! A sister ain’t never lied, okay! So, some of you all know that my day job is director of minority outreach, for Not Dead Yet! That’s the disability rights organization of one that sisters with ADAPT that fights against doctor assisted suicide and euthanasia for people with disabilities, and next we have our board member, board officer, Shonda McLaughlin to say some words for Not Dead Yet!

Shonda McLaughlin:

First, thank you all for allowing me to be here today. It’s an honored to be in solidarity here with ADAPT and especially on behalf of Not Dead Yet. Thank you, Miss Anita Cameron. I appreciate everything you are trying to teach me. Thank you.

I would like to share something personal with you all about me. As a teenager, I missed attending a significant part of my sophomore and all of my junior year of high school. It was a time of my life where I couldn’t do anything for myself. Leave the house, dress, sit up, bathe, basic things we all take for granted. Some thought I was a burden to society and my family specifically. Because many are so at ease to write off and divide the lives of people with disabilities like mine. Suicide is perpetuated as a viable option for the disabled as opposed to them exercising their civil rights. Particularly those from certain communities. For example, nondisabled who experience suicide encounter prevention services. While the counterparts would be assisted with suicide. Plus, black people, brown people, and the elderly are disproportionately impacted.

Still I somehow believed I would go on to college regardless of my circumstances. Meaning everyone was telling me I could not go to college. Why? Stemmed from advocacy efforts from parents and children with disabilities and legislation like the Rehabilitation Act and Americans With Disabilities Act made it possible for me to attend college. Most importantly, however, the Vocational Rehabilitation program afforded me the opportunity to temporarily have a personal care attendant. That made it possible for me to choose to participate in some aspects of my collegiate life.

Since that time, however I have done other things. I went on to earn my PhD.

Thank you. Sometimes I go back, and I say “Na-Na-Na-Na-Na” to those who said I couldn’t do it.

The Disability Integration Act is comprehensive. It ensures full integration of people with disabilities. Eligible persons would have access to long-term support services and a federal right in choosing how they receive those services. So Not Dead Yet and ADAPT advocate for policies that promote life and liberty for persons with ALL disabilities. Thank you, ADAPT for your promotion of the Disability Integration Act. Not Dead Yet stands firmly in solidarity with you as this gives people with disabilities and the elderly the civil rights to receive attendant services and supports at home assisting people to live not die. Access to services and support at home must be available to people who need it not suicide. Life and liberty!

Anita Cameron:

Alright! Thank you, Shonda, thank you so much for the Not Dead Yet support.

Before a call on my next speaker, I am going to go “Anita” for a second. I am going to call on the House, to pass the Disability Integration Act by July 26, 2019. We can pass this bill! There is support for this bill. Do not be afraid of this bill. This is civil rights!

Past the Disability Integration Act by July 26, 2019. With that, I’m going to call forward Liz Weintraub of AUCD. Excited to have you here, Liz! I can’t see you so if you can come forward.

Liz Weintraub:

Thank you, Anita. Hello. My name is Liz Weintraub. I am the senior advocacy specialist at AUCD. I am so excited to be here today to help celebrate the reintroduction of the Disability Integration Act. Thank you to Senator Schumer, and Representative Sensenbrenner, for introducing this important legislation in the 116th Congress, and thank you to all of our congressional champions, including my friend Senator Casey.

I remember when this act was first introduced in the 90s under the name of MiCASA. We sure have come a long way. As the saying goes, there’s still miles to go before we can sleep or claim victory. In the late 80s, I was forced into a private institution. They called it a “community”. In fact, that’s how they got my parents to send me there. My parents thought, what could be so wrong with a community? When I got there, I found out, in reality, it was an institution. This experience made me committed to my self-determination and to self-determination for all.

For me, all means ALL. Community is for ALL. Community is for ALL. The DIA is about the civil rights of ALL people. We all have the rate to live life in real communities. We all have the right to get support in OUR community. Today, my husband and I live in a real community with support from an agency that helps us with daily living skills. Let’s make 2019 the year to pass DIA!

It is time to stand up for the rights of ALL people!

Anita Cameron:

Alright! Next, I am going to call to speak someone dear to me. Rebecca Cokley, with the Center for American Progress. Please come. Thank you so much.

Rebecca Cokley:

I hate podiums. Anyone who knows me, knows I hate podiums. So I am being deliberate and political and making a statement. If you cannot see me, welcome, I can’t see you either. This shows that even 29 years after the passage of the ADA, we still have a long way to go.

Congratulations to ADAPT. and congratulations to my friend, Anita Cameron! Hell yes!

A lot of folks here have summoned the words of Dr. Martin Luther King. I want to bring up someone else’s words. I will bring up the words of Congressman Major Owens. Congressman Major Owens, one of the original sponsors of the Americans with Disabilities Act, who met Justin Dart incidentally in the men’s room of this very capitol. After Justin was fired from being the commissioner for the rehabilitation services administration. They decided a plot together. They were thinking about how to bring together the broad-based civil rights communities, progressive allies and the disability community. That is what helped form the basis of early work around the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, when the law was signed, and I thought about this because someone mentioned cake a few minutes ago. Cakes were given to the sponsors of the ADA. One cake was missing. The cake that belong to Congressman Major Owens. He was the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and the House Ways and Means Committee. So every time I went to visit Major bring him cake. So, I encourage you today when you think about eating cake, think about who SHOULD be eating cake. Folks in institutions that don’t get to choose what they eat.

In the words of Congressman Owens, “Our enemy is not each other. Our enemy is segregation”.

So, this day is your day, Anita. The DIA is your legacy, sis. You cannot separate the legacy of the Disability Integration Act from marginalized communities. We know those who are locked up are disproportionately black, brown, LGBTQIA folks, immigrants, etc. The fruits of your labor, my sister, will be 20 years from now, this room is way more queer, way more black, way more brown, way more immigrant.

The abiding hope I have, is that at that time, 20 years from now, Anita, that our community meaning society and also yes, our disability community, is deserving of them.

The disability community has gained significant attention and justifiably so from our progressive allies in terms of realizing that we demand to be at their tables and no not on their menu. As we see different organizations and legislators draft proposals on LTSS it is imperative that we insure they all combat the institutional bias. DIA gives us a place to have this conversation. The Disability Integration Act allows us to talk about how we ensure jobs, schools, healthcare systems are ready to meet these folks where they are. Not to see them is broken but create an environment where every person with a disability, regardless of the type of that disability, regardless of their background, can bring their whole selves to the table.

I was walking through the hallway just now one of the parents was back there with her daughter. Her daughter was making a lot of noise. And she was like I don’t want her to disturb the function. I said, “Have you been to an ADAPT rally?” Hell, I almost pulled out the videos when you are at OUR office. Just sayin’.

That young woman and everyone here we are among our people. In a time when we are constantly playing defense — and I know we are tired. Are you all tired? I was told I had three minutes. I have 10 seconds to go, Bruce. This ain’t the Oscars, baby. What I really look forward to is as we talk about the DIA moving folks from institutions into the community, how we are talking about moving folks from the prison industrial complex with disabilities into the community. How we move immigrants from detention centers into the community. Thank you and That’s it.

Alright everybody. This marks the end of the celebration of the Disability Integration Act. The reintroduction of the Disability Integration Act. Once again, I call on Congress and the House to pass the Disability Integration Act on July 26, 2019. That is your challenge!

Anita Cameron:

Free our people!

Audience Member:

How do you spell power?

Audience Response:

A – D – A – P – T!