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H.R. 1255 ACTION ALERT
DISTRICT VISIT INITIATIVE
VISITS and CALLS in SUPPORT of H.R. 1255
IF NOT US, WHO?
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VISITS
From August 3 – September 4, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives will be working from their District offices near your home. This is an incredible opportunity for you to meet with your Representative, explain the importance of H.R. 1255, and ask him/her directly to COSPONSOR H.R. 1255.
VOR can provide you with supporting documents to leave with your Representative. Contact Tamie at
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.
CALLS
If you are not able to meet with your Representative in his/her District office, calls are important and effective too. Call the District or the D.C. office and ask to speak with the Health LA – this is the staff person that will mostly likely handle request relating to H.R. 1255.
CONTACT INFORMATION, REQUESTING AN APPOINTMENT
Visit http://www.congress.org. Enter your zip code (near top right of screen) to identify your U.S. Representative. Click on his/her name. Choose the “Contact” tab, and then the link to “More District Offices.”
VISITS: Call the District office number and ask to speak with the Scheduler to request a meeting with your Representative.
CALLS: To speak to the Health LA, call the District or Washington, D.C. phone number.
FOLLOW-UP
At least weekly, place a follow-up phone call to inquire as to the status of your request.
Be polite, but persistent.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT H.R. 1255
See, http://vor.net/HR1255positions.htm.
Contact,
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for questions or position papers for your meetings or to email to the Health LA. Materials can also be sent for your meetings in August.
TEMPLATE MESSAGE
The following is your basic “please support H.R. 1255” letter. It can be used as part of a written request for a meeting, if necessary; as a template for your phone call to Representative’s office, or as follow-up communication. It can be changed and personalized.
Template:
I am your constituent and am writing to ask that you cosponsor H.R. 1255.
Introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), as of July 27, H.R. 1255 had 58 cosponsors, with nearly equal Democrats and Republicans. This strong bipartisan support is not surprising. H.R. 1255 will advance the civil rights of individuals with profound cognitive disabilities whose care needs are often best provided for in Medicaid-licensed homes where high quality, compassionate supports are provided.
H.R. 1255 will require that before federally-funded class action lawsuits can be filed on behalf of the profoundly disabled residents, they and their legal guardians (usually close relatives) must receive notice of the lawsuit and be given a time-limited opportunity to opt out of the lawsuit. As it now stands, the attorneys filing these actions have never met the majority of class members and could do not know their individual needs. When these lawsuits force the closure of the residents’ specialized homes, tragedy often (predictably) follows because these vulnerable people are separated from the services they require for their survival.
The injustice and resulting tragedies will be addressed by passage of H.R. 1255. Please contact Pilar Falo, Legislative Counsel to Rep. Barney Frank at 225-5931 to support H.R. 1255 as a COSPONSOR. Thank you very much for your prompt consideration and action.
Sincerely,
NAME, CONTACT INFO
H.R. 1255 Cosponsors as of July 27, 2009
Sponsor: Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) Cosponsors so far: 60!
Democrats (29)
Rep. James Moran (D-VA)*
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)*
Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA)*
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)*
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA)
Rep. John Olver (D-MA)
Rep. John Barrow (D-GA)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
Rep. John Larson (D-CT)
Rep. James McGovern (D-MA)
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA)
Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX)
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-MA)
Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA)
Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD)
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL)
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA)
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)
Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA)
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)
Rep. Al Green (D-TX)
Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO)
Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO)
Rep. Charles Melancon (D-LA)
Rep. Marion Berry (D-AR)
Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA)
Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)
Republicans (31)
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX)*
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)*
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)*
Rep. David Dreier (R-CA)*
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA)*
Pep. Frank Wolf (R-VA)
Rep. John Culberson (R-TX)
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA)
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL)
Rep. John Boozman (R-AR)
Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA)
Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX)
Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ)
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL)
Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA)
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX)
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Rep. Steve King (IA)
Rep. John Fleming (R-LA)
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA)
Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN)
Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
*=original cosponsor
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVOCACY. IF NOT US, WHO? |
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