 March 6, 2006 Dear Budget Committee Member, We, the undersigned members of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), are writing to respectfully request that you frame a Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Resolution that permits the federal government to address the myriad needs of people with disabilities. The CCD is the nation's largest and leading coalition that addresses disability policy. CCD member organizations represent national advocacy, provider, professional and other groups. In general, our constituency is greatly concerned that the Administration's FY 2007 budget request, if implemented, would, like last year, require federal agencies to retreat from, not advance, the independence, economic self sufficiency and community integration of the 55 million citizens with disabilities in our country. The woefully inadequate FY 2006 funding levels for disability discretionary programs, coupled with the billions of dollars in cuts to vital entitlements that serve our constituency, are a recipe for disaster. Major cuts to Medicaid and jobs training programs, along with freezes to many disability programs are forcing the states to eliminate and/or reduce services and supports to children and adults with disabilities. That scenario cannot and must not be repeated this year. Yet, it is clear that the Administration's FY 2007 budget request would bring more harm to our constituents. More cuts to entitlement and discretionary programs are proposed, from job training to housing, to discretionary health programs, to special education, to Medicaid, Medicare and other vital entitlement programs. The budget also proposes the complete elimination of funding for critical health, employment and advocacy programs. These proposals are wholly unacceptable to us and must be rejected by the Congress. We are chagrined and appalled that decades of slow but steady progress to improve the lives of people with disabilities is now seriously threatened by these draconian fiscal policies. We know from experience that programs that move individuals from dependence to independence is sound public policy. We also know that the maintaining or even increasing dependence will cost tax payers more. This is an outcome that we simply cannot afford. CCD stands ready to be of assistance to you as you begin to work on the FY 2007 Budget Resolution. Thank you very much for considering our views. Sincerely, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing |