Welcome to the first e-mail issue of CEASD Government Relations Report.

Members of Congress are now on recess in their - your - home district until April 28. Currently Congress is deeply involved in the reauthorization of IDEA. Please let members of Congress know your views on IDEA over the coming days. This is a critical time to affect the language that will be going into the law. There are several ways you can contact your representatives. The best way is by inviting your Congressional representatives to your school. This is the most effective way of demonstrating the value of what you and your staff do for children and families and how IDEA impacts deaf children's education. If you cannot host your representatives, please write or call their district offices. Model letters are supplied below. Please forward this e-mail to any staff, parents, and other individuals you wish, and encourage them to write and call as well.

House
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed its IDEA bill It is expected to go to the House floor soon after recess, where it will be amended and passed. After that, there will be a conference committee reconciling the House and the Senate bills. The major changes the House proposes were described at the recent CEASD conference. As was mentioned, by and large our suggestions were not included in the bill. Contact information for your House Member can be found at the House web site at www.house.gov. Be sure to contact him/her at the district office, not the Washington office.

Here is the message to the House. Feel free to edit as you see fit.

Senate
The Senate bill is expected to be introduced shortly after recess. Right now most of the action is in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, so if your Congressional Representative is on that Committee you can have the most impact. However, if your Senator is not on that Committee you still should provide input, and your Senator will forward it to the Committee. Contact information for your Senators can be found at www.senate.gov. Again, be sure to contact your Senators at their district office, not their Washington office. Here are the members of the HELP Committee.

Here is the message to the Senate. Feel free to edit as you see fit.

Thanks! and Follow-Up

Thanks for your efforts. Constituent input can tip the balance in favor of having our language included. Don't be shy about contacting your representatives. I am often told by Congressional staff that Congress does not hear enough from constituents regarding deaf children. Your Members of Congress really do want to hear from you. Please contact me with any questions, share a copy of any correspondence with me or let me know the results of your contacts at 301/990-2847 v/tty, 301/990-2848 fax, baraimondo@earthlink.net e-mail, or if you have a quick question, braimondo@wyndtell.com pager.