Dear Friends and Allies:
One of JFAAN’s priorities is to increase the employment and economic self-sufficiency of people with disabilities.
The JFAAN Employment Task Force has developed, with lots of input from many disability organizations, the attached proposed draft Executive Order that we are about to ask the Obama Administration to issue that will create a Commission on Employment. It incorporates and goes beyond some of Obama’s campaign platform promises to create such a Commission on Employment and Social Security disability benefits.
We are signators to the attached letter to President Obama requesting that he announce his Executive Order. The letter suggests that if he is able to announce it before the first anniversary of his Presidency, it could enable the members of the Commission to be appointed in time for the Commission to hold its first meeting on or before the 20th anniversary of the ADA on July 26, 2009.
We urge as many organizations as possible to sign on to the letter requesting the President to issue the attached Executive Order. Note that by signing on to the letter you indicate your organization’s endorsement of the Executive Order. If your organization’s procedures do not enable you to give an organizational endorsement by this deadline, we encourage an officer of your organization to sign on as an individual and, if possible, to indicate his or her title with the organization.
As we intend to deliver the letter to the White House on Friday, December 11, the deadline for sign-on’s is 10:00 am Thursday, December 10th. Send your sign on authorization – with full organizational names (no acronyms
please) to United Spinal Association’s Director of Legislation amorris@unitedspinal.org.
Thank you for supporting this important effort.
Paul Tobin
President and CEO
United Spinal Association
Member, JFAAN Steering Committee