From Rocky Nichols, Disability Rights Center of Kansas (DRC), March 03, 2010
Thank you for everyone who helped with this effort. The federal seclusion and restraint in schools bill (HR 4247) passed the House 262-153. The good news is it passed the House and around 21 Republicans voted for it. The bad news is that all Republican members from Kansas voted NO (Rep. Lynn Jenkins, Rep. Jerry Moran and Rep. Todd Tiahrt all voted against the bill). Only Rep. Dennis Moore voted in favor of the bill. We obviously have some more educating to do with the members of the Kansas Congressional Delegation. The issue may come back to the House in a reconciliation or conference report, and we need to have Jenkins, Moran and Tiahrt reexamine their position. If you are concerned about this issue, you should consider weighing in with these three Kansas Congresspersons. They may very well have a shot at redeeming themselves in the near future. The staff of each member of the Kansas Congressional was personally briefed by myself and Jane Rhys on HR 4247, so they knew what they were doing when they cast their NO votes.
The full vote can be found here
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll082.xml
Next the proposal heads to the Senate. The best way you can help is to contact our two Senators and urge them to support HR 4247 AND to co-sponsor the Senate companion Bill (S 2860, being circulated by Sen. Dodd). The best way to educate the Senators is to communicate directly with their staff who deal with education issues (see below):
Senator Sam Brownback
Education Staffer
La Rochelle Young
Larochelle_young@brownback.senate.gov
(202) 224-6521
Senator Pat Roberts
Education Staffer
Melissa Kay
Melissa_Kay@roberts.senate.gov
(202) 224-4774
Please consider contacting the above staff for Roberts and Brownback and engaging them on HR 4247 and co-sponsoring Sen. Dodd’s companion bill (S 2860).
Thanks for your advocacy!
-Rocky Nichols