November 11, 1997
THE WASHINGTON POST
The District and the Region

[Headline] Disabled Hold Protest on Capitol Hill
[Subheading] Hearing Sought on Bill To Aid Home Care

By Cheryl W. Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer

More than 350 disabled people from across the country staged a sit-in yesterday at the Rayburn House Office Building, demanding that a hearing date be set for a bill that could mean the difference between the ability to live at home or being forced into an institution or nursing home.

The.demonstrators, members of Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, lined the corridors and crammed into the office of Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.). The protesters vowed to stay until the representative agreed to schedule a hearing on the legislation that was introduced in June by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). Bilirakis is the chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee on health and environment.

"We've been waiting too long to get a hearing," said protester Bob Kafka, of Austin. We've written letters and called. The people here are angry, and we want a date set before we leave here."

Bilirseakis was out of town yesterday, but his chief of staff agreed, after the protesters waited 3 1/2 hours, to set up a hearing to take testimony on the matter no later than the end of March.

[Image]
[Image caption] BY RAY LUSTIG-THE WASHINGTON POST. Some of the 350 protesters with the group Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today conduct a sit-in in the halls of the Raybum House Office Building in support of a bill to help them hire attendants to enable them to stay in their homes.

[text continues] "I think they believed we listened to them," said Pattie DeLoatche, Bilirakis's chief of staff. "I'm just glad it was done in a way that wasn't disruptive."

The bill, the Medicaid Community Attendant Services Act, HR 2020, would allow disabled people who qualify to hire attendants to provide care for them at home or in a community-based setting such as a school, workplace or church.

"We definitely need more money for home- and community-based services," said Lori Barnard, of Topeka,
Kan, who works as an independent-living counselor. "It's such a minor thing they're asking for—to be in their home."

Tiffany Nash, who traveled from Atlanta, said the legislation is important to disabled people who want to live as normal a life as possible.

"I prefer living in my own home and being able to take care for myself with a little assistance rather than someone doing it totally for me," said Nash.

Brenda Eldridge agreed.

"I have a certain level of independence, and it doesn't come cheaply in this society," said Eldridge, of Warnego, Kan "A lot of people are single and are going to stay single, and they need to be able to live on their own."

The protesters said the legislation is also crucial to their long-term survival.

"We feel people live longer if they have their freedom rather than living in nursing homes," said Rick Jackson, of Columbus, Ohio, who uses a wheelchair and whose wife has muscular dystrophy. We just want a choice. I don't want to be forced into a nursing home, but people are being forced into nursing homes because they can't get adequate care at home."

Létrehozva

Kedd 16 Július 2013

Feltöltve

Csütörtök 21 November 2019

Albumok

• Washington DC, fall 1997

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188

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Make

Canon

Model

Canon EOS 40D

DateTimeOriginal

2013:07:16 16:11:47

ApertureFNumber

f/11.0