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主頁 / 相冊 / ADAPT's 25th Anniversary - Washington DC, Spring 2008 33
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VOL. 53, NO. 129 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008 [Headline] LEARNING TO ADAPT [image] [image caption] Republican National Committee security guards battle protesters from the disability advocacy group ADAPT on Tuesday; 21 members of the group were arrested in the Russell Building. See story, p. 26. Bill Clark/Roll Call
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Protesters representing the disability advocacy group ADAPT staged a sit-in in Sen. John McCain's office and scuffled with RNC security guards on Tuesday. Rep. Rob Wittman was among those looking for a back door to the party's headquarters (right). [no image included here] [Headline] Protesters Blockade RNC, McCain's Office By Elizabeth Brotherton and Paul Singer ROLL CALL STAFF At least 21 people were arrested Tuesday during a protest that cut off access to GOP presidential candidate John McCain's Senate office and Republican National Committee headquarters for most of the afternoon. Hundreds of protesters from the disability advocacy group ADAPT gathered at the Arizona lawmaker's suite in the Russell Senate Office Building and at the RNC on First Street Southeast, urging McCain to sign onto legislation that would increase access to community-based health programs for those needing long-term care. A handful of demonstrators pushed their way past security guards and into the RNC lobby, and protesters in wheelchairs blocked the building's entrances. An ambulance arrived on the scene, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. After blocking the RNC doors, some pro-testers wrapped yellow police-like tape around the entrances, while others unveiled a number of signs, including one reading "Stop Funding Institutions" and another reading "Sen. McCain Support Community Choice!" In Russell, dozens of protesters — most of them also in wheelchairs — blocked off much of the second floor and took over the lobby of McCain's office, chanting, "People are dying, shame on you" and "I'd rather go to jail than die in a nursing home!' Russell is where Capitol Police arrested the 21 protesters, some of them in wheelchairs, according to a Capitol Police spokeswoman, Sgt. Kimberly Schneider. Later in the after-noon, access to the area around the office was reopened, with dozens of police officers monitoring the ongoing sit-in from the hallway. Both the Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department responded to the protest at the RNC building, and the demonstrations continued well into the evening. ADAPT national coordinator Mike Oxford, who took part in the protest outside the RNC, said the group came to Capitol Hill to urge McCain to support the Community Choice Act, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill ). McCain was campaigning in Florida on Tuesday. The Senator has not yet had a chance to review the bill in-depth, a spokesman said. A RNC spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday evening. The protest is one in a series ADAPT has sponsored over the years in support of legislation that would shift federal money to community-based disability assistance and away from nursing homes and other institutions. The group held a similar protest at the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday. Medicaid currently pays for long-term care in nursing homes and other institutions but does not pay for the same services provided at an individual's home. ADAPT and other disability activists argue that this "institution-al bias" essentially forces people with disabilities to move into such facilities. The Community Choice Act would allow Medicaid dollars to flow to community-based care options, but the bill has yet to be considered on the floor in either chamber. Variations of the legislation have been introduced since the late 1990s but have stalled over cost estimates suggesting the bill could cost tens of billions of dollars annually. Disability advocates believe these estimates are wildly overstated, and supporters are working with the Congressional Budget Office to get a new, more realistic cost estimate for the bill before moving it to a vote in either chamber, according to Democratic staffers. Both of the Democratic presidential con-tenders, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama ), have signed on as co-sponsors of the Senate bill, and the goal of Tuesday's protest was to get a meeting with key Republicans through which protesters hoped to win McCain's endorsement as well, Oxford said. "We really had wanted to meet with top people with the RNC, as well as get their help in meeting with the contender of this party, Sen. McCain," Oxford said. The protest also marked the 25th anniversary ofADAPT, and many protesters wore tie-dyed shirts to mark the occasion. Not all of the protesters were focused on blocking access to offices. Judy Ball hand-ed out fliers about the Community Choice Act near the Capitol South Metro stop. Ball traveled from Texas to help with the protest and said she came to support a disabled friend. If something happens to his wife, they could say, 'You'll be put in a nursing home,'" she said. Oxford said the group did not intend for the protest to create strife between ADAPT and Republicans, but rather engage folks on an important issue. "People are inconvenienced for a couple of hours versus their entire life," Oxford said. "We really ask people to look at it like that." Ashley Roque of CongressNow and Bill Clark contributed to this report.
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[Headline] Disability Rights Group Forces Lockdown [image] [image caption] About 100 demonstrators gathered at the Republican National Committee headquarters Tuesday to protest Medicaid policies that they say force people with disabilities to move from their homes into nursing homes and institutions. John Shinkle-Politico
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[Headline] ADAPT Closes Down All Access to HHS [subheading] Wins Meeting with Director Over 500 ADAPT activists closed off all access to the DC Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) on April 28. They kept it closed until HHS Sec. Michael Leavitt agreed to meet with them. 75 ADAPT members entered the building entered the building before security locked the doors. They presented their demands to HHS staff: * Meet with ADAPT leaders within 30 days. Recognize that access to the community is a civil right. * Improve the implementation of the Money Follows the Person Demonstration Projects. Increase the flexibility states have. *IMMEDIATELY eliminate rules that cause undue burdens regarding case management. *Eliminate rules that discourage small grassroots providers, like Centers for Independent Living, from meeting the needs of consumers they serve. *Eliminate regulations and interpretation of "spousal impoverishment" and "risk." They must not promote institutionalization of persons with disabilities. *Work with ADAPT to pass the Community Choice Act (S 799 and HR 1621). After a six hour standoff, Leavitt's aide committed to Leavitt to meeting with ADAPT within 30 days. He acknowledged that access to the community is definitively a civil right. Renewed communication began immediately with another meeting between ADAPT and HHS staff on April 30. [image] [image caption] ADAPT blocked all access to HHS and the RNC [image of child with a sign that says "FREE OUR People" and a drawing of the ADAPT logo] [text resumes] Dawn Russell of Texas ADAPT said, "People must be able to choose to live in their own homes, near families and friends. Families shouldn't be torn apart by mean-spirited Medicaid policies and regulations. They force some people into nursing homes. "They even force people to leave their home state to get the community-based services and supports they need." [Subheading] McCain Arrests Disability Advocates On April 29, ADAPT took over the offices of Sen. John McCain in DC. 250 activists demanded support for the Community Choice Act. McCain is the only presidential candidate who has not signed on as a co-sponsor. McCain arresting over 40 of the activists. Another 250 ADAPT activists stormed the offices of the Republican National Committee (RNC) a few blocks away. Five wheelchairs gained entry. The rest blocked all doors and driveways. [boxed text] 250 APAT activists stormed the offices of the RNC. Five wheelchairs gained entry. The rest blocked all doors and driveways. [main text resumes] The main ADAPT demand was that the RNC schedule a meeting with Sen. McCain. ADAPT wants to talk to him about support for the Community Choice Act. The RNC staff repeatedly stated that they did not have the power to ask their candidate's staff for such a meeting. Their denial resulted in a nine-hour standoff. During the standoff the RNC staff refused access to the bathroom for ADAPT members. Congressional co-sponsors and supporters of the Community Choice Act came by to personally meet people arrested by the act. They congratulated ADAPT on their efforts to get it passed. The 500 ADAPT activists from nearly every state in the union represent thousands more ADAPT members. Many did not have the ability to travel to DC. Those thousands are only the tip of the disability voting bloc. They are feeling disrespected and ignored by Sen. McCain and the Republican Party. www.adapt.org
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For Immediate Release May 1, 2008 Contact: Damien LaVera 202-863-8148 [Headline] Dean: Arrests Show McCain Out of Touch With Americans With Disabilities Washington, DC - This week, even as McCain was traveling the country outlining a flawed health care agenda that does little to increase access to quality, affordable health care for Americas working families, John McCain showed how out of touch he is with Americans with disabilities. Instead of meeting with disability rights activists to explain why he refuses to co-sponsor the Community Choice Act of 2007, Senator McCain's staff allowed more than. 20 activists to be arrested in front of his Senate office. [Associated Press, 4/29/08] Both Democratic presidential candidates are co-sponsors of the bill, which would allow countless Americans with disabilities the choice to live and work in their own homes and communities. In addition, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has met with community activists and repeatedly expressed his support for the bill. By contrast, McCain has refused to join the effort to end the persistent institutional bias in America's health care system that forces too many people with disabilities into nursing homes and institutions. The bipartisan bill would amend the Social Security Act to allow people who are eligible for Medicaid coverage of nursing home costs to spend it instead on home-based or community care. DNC Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement: "At a time when John McCain is on the campaign trail talking about health care choices, he refuses to explain why he opposes a bill that would let Americans with disabilities choose how and where to live, work and receive care. I am proud to lead a Party that supports the fundamental right of every single American to make his or her own choices about where to live and work. Apparently John McCain and his staff would rather let the activists get arrested outside his office than explain his position on this critical issue. John McCain is either profoundly out of touch with the needs and challenges confronting Americans with disabilities or just doesn't care. Either way, he's the wrong choice for Americas future." ### Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
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[header] Twenty-fifth Anniversary Program [subheading] April 26-May 2, 2008 adapt twenty-five years [image of Wade Blank] [ADAPT logos]
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