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Home / އަލްބަމްތައް / Washington DC, Spring 1993 29
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Wade and Lincoln Memorial US Capitol
Wade and Lincoln Memorial US Capitol
Memorial Rally for Wade and Lincoln Blank on West steps of the US Capitol. Music and speakers.
HHS Secretary Donna Shalala Meets with ADAPT
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[Headline] ADAPT MEETS WITH CLINTON Thirty national disability rights groups, among them ADAPT, met with President Clinton on Tuesday, July 27 to discuss Clinton's agenda on disability issues. Clinton and the disability groups agreed the three main issues at this point are ADA, Health Care and Personal Assistance Services. The President confirmed his strong commitment to enforcement of the ADA and opposition to weakening of the law, something that has been rumored to be in the wings. He also affirmed his commitment to including people with disabilities in health care reform. Mike Auberger, national organizer for ADAPT, presented the piece on personal assistance services. Auberger outlined the concern of ADAPT, and the disability community generally, with the current promotion of a states rights approach to community based services. Right now our nation warehouses over two and a half million people with disabilities in nursing homes and other institutions at a national cost of approximately $140 Billion each year. Over half our states have chosen not to provide attendant services at any real level, while all have significant nursing home programs. A national attendant services program MUST: (1) be mandated, and (2) have minimum standards below which a state cannot fall. Challenging the President to stop the warehousing of people with disabilities in these institutions, Auberger said "you have the ability, and hopefully the desire. ADAPT challenges you to free people." Though the meeting was scheduled for 20 minutes, it went on for an hour. Clinton began the meeting with a relay call to Senator Harkin’s brother (who is deaf) in honor of Monday's deadline for a national relay service. As Auberger left the White House he thought of the irony that ten years ago he and other ADAPT members had lain in that very street (Pennsylvania Ave.) blocking buses with their bodies for the right to ride. Protests got ADAPT into this meeting and clearly protest will bring us victory.
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The Washington Post, Metro Section 5/6/93 [Headline] The Disabled Plan to Show Washington They're Enabled—and Entitled By Liz Spayd, Washington Post Staff Writer Michael Auberger has shackled his wheelchair to city buses in Dallas. He has barricaded hotel entrances in San Francisco, and he has thrown himself in front of federal buildings, government officials, even oncoming traffic, all to draw attention to the rights of the disabled. This weekend, Auberger and hundreds of other activists from across the country plan to converge on Washington for a three-day blitz of demonstrations and marches in what promises to be the largest protest in history for people with disabilities. “We've written the letters, made the phone calls, had the meetings, and the bottom line is we're still being treated like second-class citizens." said Auberger, co-founder of ADAPT, an activist group that is spearheading the activities. “lf those channels don't work, you take to the streets." Organizers say the immediate purpose of the demonstrations is to demand that the federal government commit more money to helping disabled people live at home, instead of in institutions. At the same time, they want to continue the larger campaign for equal rights that produced the Americans With Disabilities Act, landmark legislation that went into effect last year. A march to the White House and a memorial service for Wade Blank, who was a leader in the movement, are expected to draw the largest crowds, both on Sunday. What may draw the most attention, however, are demonstrations on Monday and Tuesday, when protesters are expected to disrupt Washington with human blockades of buildings and streets. The exact places and times for those actions aren't being disclosed, but the targets could include public buildings, such as the Capitol and the White House, and some federal agencies. “We like to preserve the element of surprise," Auberger said. ADAPT — an acronym for American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today — has been staging protests every six months for more than a decade to fight what it says is the inhumane treatment of the disabled at nursing homes and other institutions. The group said it hopes to redirect 25 percent of the $23 billion in Medicaid funds currently budgeted for nursing homes into programs that would enable those with disabilities to have attendants in their homes. Currently, each state sets policy for how much Medicaid money will go toward attendant care programs, but there is no national policy. [Subheading] Disabled Activists Plan 3-Day Protest The strike on Washington is timed to pressure the Clinton administration into focusing on people with disabilities as part of its package of health care revisions, due out soon, activists said. "Clinton has talked about change and says he wants people to be able to live at home, but what we're looking for is more than just words," said Bob Kafka, an ADAPT organizer in Texas who plans to bring a caravan of about 50 people to Washington. In the past, ADAPT activists have drawn attention to their cause by employing sometimes sensational tactics. They have done belly crawls across hotel lobbies in San Francisco, clawing at passersby. They have taken sledgehammers to street curbs in Denver to protest sidewalks that were inaccessible to wheelchair users. And they have swarmed and blockaded buildings in virtually every major U.S. city; a demonstration in Chicago last spring forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 American Medical Association workers and created disruptions in a half-dozen other downtown facilities. Though such events have attracted media attention, some individuals and `groups` sympathetic to ADAPT’s cause question how effective they are in achieving the larger goal of attaining more money for in-home care. “We're sympathetic to their concerns, but we think the tactics they use bring attention to ADAPT and not the problem," said Claudia Askew, a spokeswoman for the American Health Care Association, which represents 11,000 nursing homes and is a frequent target of ADAPT protests. Disabled people also are somewhat splintered over whether ADAPT's approach helps or hurts their cause. “There are people with disabilities that think ADAPT is a little extreme," said Patrick McCurdy, vice president of Marylanders for Adequate Attendant Care, a group that generally relies on peaceful protests and negotiations to lobby for in-home care. McCurdy did defend ADAPT's technique as a necessary part of an overall approach to force change in a society that he said has long ignored the rights of disabled people. Few spoke up for those rights until recently, but the Americans With Disabilities Act provided new protections to disabled people and helped forge a civil rights movement among the 43 million people with physical or mental impairments. “A great byproduct of the [disabilities act] is the new sense of confidence and empowerment it has instilled within the disability community," said Justin Dart, chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, a small federal agency. “It's generated an enormous infusion of dignity and pride." Gregory Dougan, a District resident, said the renewed sense of hope is one reason he will take part in Sunday's march. Dougan, who was born with cerebral palsy and uses crutches, said he is fortunate to be able to live at home. But several of his friends live in institutions because they can't get the in-home care they need. And on Sunday, Dougan said, he will be thinking of them. "I'll be tired at the end of the day," he said, "but my crutches and me are going to that march."
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Photo: by Tom Olin? In a somewhat dim hotel ballroom with chandaleers, a short woman in a red shirtdress (HHS Secretary Donna Shalala) stands facing a large crowd of people, most of whom are in wheelchairs. She holds a mic and some papers in one hand and reaches out with the other to shake hands with a woman in a wheelchair [Carla Laws] with a cap and shorts and a white sleveless t-shirt. Carla reaches forward to shake with a brace on her hand. Beside Carla is a man in a wheelchair [Lee Sanders] in a blue t-shirt and tan pants, wearing a beret, a choker and facepaint. On Shalala's other side someone sitting on the floor is holding a poster about disability. Shalala is not much taller standing than Lee and Carla (both tall people) sitting in their motorized wheelchairs.
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* 10 WORST NURSING HOMES * ***CERTAIN DEATH*** **** AWARDS **** HERITAGE MANOR CARE CENTER (NOW FIESTA CENTER) HONDO, TX KNOWN FOR DEATH OF CHILDREN THIS "HOME" KEPT CHILDREN IN CAGES. CITED FOR FOR "ACCIDENTAL" DEATH OF THREE CHILDREN, THE NEWSPAPER COVERING THE AFFAIR REPORTED THE "HOME" ALMOST LOST THEIR MEDICAID FUNDING OVER THE INCIDENT. ONE DISABILITY ADVOCATE ASKED: "HOW MANY CHILDREN DO YOU HAVE TO KILL BEFORE YOU DO LOSE FUNDING?" MANAGED ALTERNATIVE CARE CHATSWORTH, CA FOR: STAFF INCOMPETENCE COMMONLY KNOWN AS A "COMA HOMA", THIS PRIVATELY RUN UNIT FOR PEOPLE IDENTIFIED AS COMATOSE AND NO-CODE, IS WHERE THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES FORCES VENTILATOR USERS TO "LIVE". ONE RESIDENT OVERHEARD STAFF SAY "IT WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER IF HE WERE IN A COMA. THEN WE WOULD NOT HAVE TO GET HIM UP. WE'D ONLY HAVE TO TURN HIM, WIPE UP HIS SHIT AND CHANGE HIS FEEDING BOTTLE." BROOKSHIRE HOUSE (FORMERLY ASBURY CIRCLE) DENVER, CO FOR: MAGGOTS MAGGOTS IN THE UNATTENDED, OPEN WOUND OF A RESIDENT WAS ONLY ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY PUBLICIZED VIOLATIONS OF THIS NURSING HOME. THE $10,000 A DAY FINE LASTING TEN (10) DAYS - UNTIL HEALTH DEPT. VIOLATIONS WERE CORRECTED - WAS A FIRST. (continues p.4...) unavailable at this time [This page also includes the continuation of "D. C. Action." The full text is available under Image 799. Please refer back to 799]
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INCITEMENT INCITEMENT INCITEMENT D.C. Action. SHALALA MEETS WITH ADAPT 2,000 MARCH ON WHITE HOUSE The line of demonstrators stretched ten blocks. Heat waves rising from the street gave the ADAPT Wheels to Freedom march on the White House a Fellini look. Waves of emotion rising from the crowd matched the heat 2,178 ADAPT activists and supporters marched for freedom and attendant services in Washington DC, May 9th. During his campaign, Clinton had promised ADAPT action on a national attendant services program within the first 100 days of his Presidency. 110 days into the Clinton Presidency ADAPT activists from 26 states converged on DC to collect on that promise. The event started at the west steps of the US Capitol with a. memorial melebration for the lives and contributions of Wade Blank and his son Lincoln. Prwident Clinton sent a letter of sympathy with his Aide Paul Miller (see p. 5). Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, representatives for Senator Harkin and Congressman Major Owens, former EEOC Chair Evan Kemp, President's Committee on Employment or People with Disabilities Chair Justin Dart and ADAPT leaders Mike Auberger and Stephanie Thomas. Disability rights singers Elaine Kolb and Johnny Crescendo also performed. Wade's contributions and vision were remembered, his dedication honored and comrsdeship missed. The celebration ended with the message that our struggle can not and will not die with Wade; we must continue the fight until our brothers and sisters are free. Crescendo sang his latest song "Tear Down the Walls (of the nursing home!)" On that note, the huge crowd left the Capitol and headed up Pennsylvania Ave. When we arrived, marchers lined up along the two block long fence in front of the White House. Facing inward, we chanted "Free Our People". The President's door remained shut. A three foot by five foot list of ADAPT’ s six demands was hung on the front gate. On signal each person reached through the fence and planted a red or white cross on the lawn to symbolize the 9,520,000 people who, since 1965, have died or are at risk of dying in a nursing home. Our message planted. we turned and left Moving along the fence you saw on the crosses messages to Wade and Lincoln as well as to friends and family who had died or were stuck in nursing homes. Monday began with an event the Bush administration refused to allow for two years Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Donna Shalala came to ADAPT 's hotel for meetings with ADAPT. Bush's HHS Secretary Sullivan ma refused to ever mm to ADAPT. First Shalala and her staff met with a small group of ADAPT leaders who, due to lack of attendant services had been in nursing homes, were at risk of being warehoused or had similar perspectives on the issue. Although the Secretary's staff had originally wanted to discuss facts and figures, this group brought the discussion up to the real level, the level of the impact on human beings’ lives. Sharon Atkins, Lupe Vasquez, John Gladstone, Anita Cameron, Stephanie Thomas, Irene Norwood, Teresa Monroe and Rick James each shared a piece of the picture and of the demands. By the end, Shalala acknowledged the institutional bias and had a personal taste of the bitter reality. Appointing a liaison with ADAPT, she promised to respond to each of five demands within 30 days The meeting, originally scheduled for 15 minutes, had grown to 45 minutes Next Shalala came out and met with all 500 ADAPT activists. When she saw ADAPT in all its glory she stepped off of the platform, cancelled her next scheduled appointment and moved out to the crowd to shared her goals for attendant services and health care reform. Only an inch or two taller than many of us in our chairs, she fit right in. People asked about many issues relating to health care and attendant services. In the end ADAPT said that the administration's goals sounded great, but that actions speak louder than words and we will be watching for actions to follow the rhetoric. Adapt did not stop there. Afterwards we marched over to the Capitol demanding a meeting with Congressional leadership. Even if the Administration did everything we wanted, at least parts of any plan will need to be enacted by congress. so we turned our attention to them. However, the Congressional leadership was too busy to meet, so we said we would wait Our group took up an entire wing of the ground floor of the Capitol. spilling out into the rotunda When folks climbed out of their chairs to get comfortable (for what looked like a long wait), Capitol Security got uncomfortable and started arrests. Arrests led to chants, which led to more arrests, 115 arrests in all. Tuesday brought the focus to the architects and main supporters of our current warehousing system: AHCA, the American Health Care Association. This nursing home industry lobby group had recently created new propaganda pap: "Quality of Life" Awards. ADAPT's response? Our first annual Certain Death Awards ceremony (to recognize the 10 worst nursing homes) held at the steps of their front door. Gathering out in front ADAPT members tried to enter the building but were locked out; so we blocked the building. Cops swarming around the building got a jolt when the second wave of several hundred ADAPT activists marched up the hill from the subway station to join the rest of our troops. AHCA Executive Director Paul Willging was invited out to accept the awards. When he did not show up, a yellow cardboard dummy stood in for him An ADAPT representative from each of the states of the 10 worst nursing homes read the Certain Death Award and the human rights violations for which they were nominated and chosen Violations ranged from maggots in bedsores to abuse and death. Marching home through the streets of DC, ADAPT began celebrating a victorious week of actions. We topped all our past records. Our Wheels to Freedom march was the largest disability rights march in history. We met with the HHS Secretary, she talked our line about attendant services and folks incarcerated in nursing homes, and we put her on notice that we were watching her actions. We put Congress on notice that we were serious about changing the institutional bias of our long term care system and demonstrated the depth of our seriousness with the largest number of arrests to date. We called AHCA's bluff, exposing their darker underside with the Certain Death Award Ceremony at their front door. When we got back to the hotel, we found even one more victory we found a hotel that liked us, they threw us a party. AHCA President Willging "stand-in" accepted the Certain Death Awards. Photo: Carolyn Long [Caption] ADAPT members at the table with HHS Secretary Shalala Photo by Tom Olin
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This is the final section of the "D.C. Action" which began on Image 799. Please refer back to 799 for the full text.
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Washington Post, Monday May 10, 1993 D1 METRO Photo by Gerald M , The Washington Post: With the US Capitol dome behind them, ADAPT protesters march at the camera. In the front row left to right are Rick James in his signature mountain man hat, Stephanie Thomas, Frank Lozano and his dog guide Frazier, and Paulette Patterson with her fist raised. Behind her a man holds a large poster that reads "Do Not Tread on Disability." Caption reads: Asking for more financial aid for the disabled so they can live independently, hundreds of demonstrators march from the Capitol to the White House. [On the right side of the picture is another article about protests against gun violence. on the left side is the article about ADAPT.] [Headline] A Cry for Freedom and an Outcry Over the Killings: Demonstrators for Disabled Seek Funds for Independent Living By Liz Spayd, Washington Post staff writer Waving signs and chanting. ‘Free our people now,‘ hundreds of disability rights advocates from across the country rolled their wheelchairs down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House yesterday in a peaceful but boisterous demonstration for better treatment of the disabled. The demonstrators, many of them quadriplegics and paraplegics, are fighting for money that would allow more of the disabled to live independently instead of in nursing homes. Some have said they intend to stage disruptive events in downtown Washington today to draw attention to their cause. ‘What we need is more money for others to have the freedom I have now,‘ said Jack Urbany, of Pennsylvania, who until last year lived in a nursing home "I'm so happy to be free." Because many people with disabilities don't have jobs, financing a trip to Washington meant holding garage sales. selling buttons and organizing letter-writing campaigns to raise funds. Their willingness to make the effort is in part testament to the Americans With Disabilities Act, whose enactment last year is helping to forge a new civil rights movement in the United States. The ranks of the disabled agitating for better treatment has swelled since the law was passed, according to activists, because it empowered See PROTEST, D4, Col I [Headline] A Chain of Remembrance Links Protesters Against Gun Violence By Serge F. Kovaleski, Washington Post Staff Writer The pink dress that once adorned a spry 7-year-old girl who was gunned down as she rode her snowmobile. The Statue of Liberty brandishing a handgun, her crown lined with bullets. Tombstones, and wistful odes to the dead. Those were among the more than 1,200 links that made up the Chain of Remembrance, a sprawling patchwork of mementos, grief and outrage that was the symbolic centerpiece of an emotional Mother's Day rally against gun violence at the Lincoln Memorial. Several hundred demonstrators, relatives of the slain and gun control advocates, ringed the Reflecting Pool yesterday, holding 18-by-18-inch cloth threaded together in honor of the dead. A church choir sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Demonstrators also hoisted placards decrying the National Rifle Association and wore T-shirts emblazoned with names, words of remembrance and, in some cases, photographs and sketches of slain loved ones. Others sat inconspicuously under the brilliant sunlight, crying as they reflected on the cruel fates of their dead relatives and how such tragedy, in a flash, has thrown their own lives into turmoil. For some, it was a chance to share their wrenching tales of misfortune. "Everyday, every minute and every second of our lives has [See Violence, D4, Col. 3] [Headline] Hundreds Demand Better Treatment for Disabled Better Treatment for Disabled in D.C. Rally PROTEST, From D1 physically and mentally impaired people with the same rights as other minority groups. At a rally on the west steps of the Capitol, march leaders said that although their fight for equal rights was strengthened by the disabilities act, many improprieties still exist. ‘What is inappropriate is millions of human beings living with less dignity than we accord our pet dogs and 'ats,' Justin Dart, head of a small federal agency devoted to disability issues. told the crowd. "What is inappropriate is American citizens impirisoned without due process of law." The protesters, in a line, wheeled their way up Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, where they arrayed themselves in single file along the long iron fence in front of the north lawn. There they placed white crosses on the lawn symbolizing the deaths of thousands of people from substandard and poor nursing home care. ‘This is kind of déja vu for me." said Paul Melvin of Norfolk, wiping away the sweat on his brow as he sat in his wheelchair in front of the White House gates. “l came in the late '60s and early '70s tor Vietnam protests." His current cause, and that of other demonstrators, is to redirect one-fourth of the $23 billion that Medicaid budgets for nursing homes into programs that would enable those with disabilities to live at home. Failure to establish such a policy, group leaders say, forces 1.6 million people to live in the isolation of institutions instead of the mainstream of society. Though a change in federal policy was the chief reason. many said they felt a sense of empowerment by participating in such an event. "This is overwhelming. I've never experienced anything like this,“ said an exuberant lsabel Alvidrez, 23, of El Paso, The demonstration, led by a Denver-based group called Adapt, was timed to pressure the Clinton administration to consider the rights of the disabled in its package of health-care revisions due out soon. It is not the first time President Clinton has found himself the target of Adapt. While Clinton was governor of Arkansas, demonstrators shackled themselves to his office until he agreed to restore cuts in funding for in-home care for the disabled. Last October, his San Francisco campaign headquarters was blocked for hours by dozens of wheelchair users who successfully pressured the candidate to include long-term care for the disabled in his plan for health-care revising. Now, the demonstrators hope to hold Clinton to his promise. They are scheduled to meet with Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala today. Two years ago, then Secretary Louis W. Sullivan's failure to meet with Adapt led protesters to thread chains through their wheelchairs in an attempt to block the entrance to the federal agency‘s headquarters on Independence Avenue SW. Similar tactics are likely to be used by Adapt in the streets of Washington today. Though they won't say where. Adapt leaders insist they will make their presence known, either with human blockades or other techniques designed to create disruptions and spotlight their cause. “l can't say what the targets will be, but there will be civil disobedience in Washington,‘ said Michael Auberger, co-founder of Adapt, which stands for American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today. Adapt's use of sometimes militant tactics has sometimes drawn criticism from other disability rights groups who would prefer to rely on more peaceful means to attain their goals. But Pascuala Herrera. a Chicago resident who said he plans to participate in this week's disruptions. insists such steps are necessary. "The first priority is to use a peaceful approach. but if they don't listen to us, we have to do more," Herrera said.
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SF CHRONICLES 5-11-93 [Headline] Disabled Militants Protest at Capitol To Live on Their Own Washington More than 200 chanting protesters in wheelchairs swarmed into the U.S. Capitol yesterday, throwing themselves on the floor and blocking hallways to demand federal programs that would help disabled people live on their own. Several of the demonstrators chained their wheelchairs together and spread sleeping bags across the tiled corridors, saying they were prepared to camp out until congressional leaders agreed to address their concerns. Capitol police closed off portions of the Capitol and - with the assistance of physicians and interpreters for the hearing-impaired — arrested 114 protesters. The group was in Washington for three days of demonstrations to urge changes in federal policies that would enable greater numbers of disabled people to live independently instead of in care homes. Specifically, they are asking that 25 percent of Medicaid funds spent on nursing homes be shifted to in-home care ‘programs.
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June 1993 TASH Newsletter Page 5 [Headline] Doin’ it in D.C. [Subheading] Memorial Rally and March to the White House On May 9, members and supporters of the disability community met in front of the U.S. Capitol to hold a memorial celebration for Wade Blank, founder of ADAPT. Wade, along with his son Lincoln, drowned while vacationing in Mexico in February. He was a man with many dreams and visions Justin Dart, chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, afirms, paying tribute to the cause for which he stood: - personal assistance services that will liberate all who are imprisoned in institutions and back rooms - equal access to transportation, public facilities, communications, housing, health care, education, employment and every aspect of society for all people with disabilities - full implementation of ADA Speaking before the gathering of demonstrators, Dart said, “What is inappropriate is millions of human beings living with less dignity than we accord our pet dogs and cats. What is inappropriate is American citizens imprisoned without due process of law.” Advocates from across the country marched and wheeled their way up Pennsylvania Avenue and positioned themselves along the iron fence in~front of the north lawn, where they placed white crosses on the lawn symbolizing the deaths of thousands of people from substandard and poor nursing home care. The rally also served to send a strong message to the Clinton Administration to acknowledge the rights of persons with disabilities in its upcoming health care revisions, focusing on the concept that a fourth of the $23 billion that Medicaid budgets for nursing homes could be targeted for programs that would enable them to live at home in their own communities. Michael Auberger, co-founder of ADAPT and national organizer for the demonstration, supports the pro-active stance associated with Wade Blank’s leadership: “People with disabilities gained power by acting, by laying aside social etiquette and taking action in their self interest; they gained power by taking. To that end, ADAPT planned legal protests and civil disobedience to make their point — the demand for a national attendant services program. Clip art picture of the White House.
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[Headline] ADAPT descends on Washington, D.C.: Meets with IHHS Secretary Shalala [This article continues in Image 793, but the full article is available here for ease of reading] The nation's capital, Washington, TD.C., was the target of three days of action by the activists of ADAPT. It started with a solemn, moving memorial service for Wade Blank, co-founder of ADAPT on the steps of the Capitol. This was followed by a march to the White House where 300 crosses were planted in memory of the 9 1/2 million that have died in nursing homes. In a dramatic reversal from the previous Bush administration, it was announced by the Clinton administration that HHS Secretary Donna Shalala would meet with ADAPT in an historic, first-of-its-kind meeting on a national attendant services policy. For the previous 2 1/2 years, Bush's HHS Secretary, Louis Sullivan, steadfastly refused to even consider meeting with ADAPT. He would often resort to scooting out rear doors in the middle of a phalanx of Secret Service agents to avoid ADAPT activists. Shalala came to the Quality Inn Hotel for a series of two meetings with ADAPT on Monday, May 10. The first meeting occurred at 9 am when she met with a group of 10 ADAPT activists. They presented Shalala with the position ADAPT has prepared on developing a national attendant services policy together with five concrete steps for the Clinton administration to show their good faith in setting up a national attendant services program. Shalala heard personal accounts of how persons with severe disabilities have had to move thousands of miles away from family and friends in order to keep from being put into nursing homes. After this meeting, and agreeing to work on the five demands from ADAPT, Shalala then had a second meeting with 400 activists from ADAPT from over ZS states around the country. With Paul Miller, of the Clinton White House, and Justin Dart, Chair of the President's Commission on Employment of Persons with Disabilities, looking on, Shalala pledged the administration's support of ADAPT's goals by stating that including attendant services in health care reform is a "key" component of the health care reform package being developed. For 45 minutes Shalala listened to concerns and comments from the assembled activists on the necessity of attendant services so persons with disabilities would not be at risk of entering nursing homes instead of living independently in their own homes. Shalala agreed that attendant services was preferable to nursing homes not only from a civil rights standpoint, but it also makes sound fiscal policy. She continued by saying that while she and the administration would do everything they could to push for attendant services, it was necessary for Congress and the special interests to understand the disability community was firm in demanding services. Inserted Text box: HHS Secretary Donna Shalala would meet with ADAPT in an historic, first-of-its-kind meeting on a national attendant services policy. [back to the article] However in a June statement Shalala has seemed to possibly back down from her earlier strong public commitments to ADAPT. In that statement Shalala stated in regards to the current situation with persona] attendant services that, "it is inappropriate for the federal government to mandate how states design and spend their dollars to provide these optional services." Later in the statement Shalala does still continue to consider as part of the adrnir1istration's health care reform, "creating a new long term care/ personal assistance services program; and promoting consumer involvement in decision making for long-term care/ personal assistance services", but also steadfastly refuses to consider the re-direction of existing nursing home funding as a method to fund attendant services. After the meeting, the ADAPT activists carried their concerns to the halls of Congress. ADAPT had over the past months made numerous requests for meetings with Congressional leaders that were ignored. ADAPT decided it was time to take the case straight to the leaders of Congress. Targeting House Majority Whip David Bonior, the ADAPT activists blockaded the doors to his office with their wheelchairs and prepared to camp out until Representative Bonior would agree to meet with them. Several of the activists unrolled sleeping bagskas they crawled out of their wheelchairs, preparing to settle in for the long haul. The meeting was not to be. Instead of Bonior agreeing to meet with ADAPT, Capitol police closed off that part of the U.S. Capitol building and moved in to arrest 115 of the activists. Not having facilities to handle this many wheelchair users, authorities set up holding facilities in the basement of the Capitol Building. The protesters were released just before midnight. “ ADAPT has vowed not to let Congress and the administration forget about the issue of setting up a national attendant service program.
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[This page contains the continuation of the article from Image 794. Please see 794 for the full article] [Headline] A county bids farewell: Wade Blank remembered at ceremony It was a sunny day, Mother's Day, Sunday, May 9, 1993. Over 2,000 disability activists from around the country came to the steps of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C., to honor Wade Blank's life. Blank, who drowned, tragically, with his son Lincoln in February, was one of the shining lights in the disability rights movement. He was being remembered for his history breaking life. Emotions ran high as eulogies were read. Justin Dart, chair of the President's Commission on Employment of Persons with Disabilities, read a moving speech and spoke about Wade's unending devotion to what he believed. He continued that Wade saw every life as important, with the right to live free. He built his life around this premise, and from those ideals, he guided the formation of Atlantis and ADAPT, to the position they have today. All people with disabilities owe a debt to the life of Wade Blank. Against his doctor's advice, Evan Kemp, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, came to read an extremely moving tribute. Kemp, wearing an "ADAPT - Free Our People" shirt, had special words for Wade on how he came to Kemp's aid when Kemp's position at the EEOC was in “a sticky situation". Kemp got into trouble for speaking out against the pity approach of Jerry Lewis's MDA telethon. Kemp stated that Wade pledged to personally walk from Denver to Las Vegas, if necessary, to save Kemp's job at the EEOC. The ceremony started at 11 :30 am with a series of disability rights songs, sung by Elaine Kolb, in tribute to Wade. They noted how the disability movement has changed over the past dozen years. Later, an international flavor was added when Johnny Crescendo, from Great Britain, sang a selection of is disability rights songs. Crescendo dedicated his latest album to the memory of Wade. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa sent a representative to read a copy of the tribute to Wade that Harkin read into the Congressional Record from the floor of Congress. This was followed by Congresswoman Patricia Schroder, who remembered how she met Wade at the historic seizure of two inaccessible buses in Denver, July 5 & 6 in 1978. The Clinton White House sent over Paul Miller, Disability Policy & Outreach, to read a prepared statement on the administration's dedication to the goals Wade Blank and ADAPT have for independence for persons with disabilities. Several speakers from ADAPT including Wade's co-director, Mike Auberger gave tearful expressions of love for the memory of the historic accomplishments of Wade. They remembered working towards the independence of persons with severe disabilities. They are dedicated to see Wade's work continue until there is no need for institutions, like nursing homes, in our society. After more than two hours in the hot sun, the assembled activists then solemnly marched to the White House. For two hours they ringed the White House grounds in memory of Wade Blank and the 1 1/2 million persons in nursing homes, Wade had- been working to free, so they could live independent lives. After two hours, they planted 300 crosses cm the White House lawn in memory of the 9 1/2 million people that have died in nursing homes. They pledged never to give up the struggle, no matter where it took them.