Archives: Monthly Update
October 2007
Contents:
- Security for All or None at All…
Security for All or None at All…
 (Excerpted remarks from ANCOR CEO Presentation at NAC “DSPs to DC” Capitol Hill Rally, September 11, 2007)
Greetings to the hundreds of direct support professionals, family members and people served who have traveled here to stand up and be counted before the leaders of our great nation. Our thanks to the ANCOR members in attendance and to our supporting partners: The ARC of the U.S., United Cerebral Palsy, and Lutheran Services in America.
Direct support professionals, I welcome you, I am humbled by you, and I applaud you. You are the quiet heroes who give integrity and legitimacy to our great human service endeavor. You bring dignity, respect and vital supports to hundreds of thousands of our children, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors.
I am here today to applaud the Congress of the United States, for I believe they were well intended in passing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It was noble … It was long overdue … And it took great vision.
But no matter how well-intended a vision might be, we stand here today proclaiming: Good intentions are not enough!
They’re not enough for the hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities who languish on waiting lists.
They’re not enough for the countless parents who suffer through sleepless nights worrying about who will care for their children after they are gone.
And they’re not enough for DSPs who labor at two and three jobs because their chosen profession doesn’t pay enough to feed their families’ stomachs, let alone their children’s dreams. For them, good intentions will never be enough!
Without question, the integrity of our support services hinges on the heart and valor of DSPs.
Only DSPs can deliver on the dream of a fulfilled life in the community.
Only DSPs can give peace of mind to families who feel abandoned.
Only DSPs have shown that real commitment is rarely convenient. And that real security must mean security for all.
Indeed, if there is one watchword that reflects the angst of our generation, it is the issue of security. Perhaps never before have the American people felt as insecure as we have since the events of September 11, 2001.
Yet here we stand on September 11, 2007… And, while our elected leaders still wrestle with security on a national level, thousands of DSPs across America wrestle with security on an equally urgent level. Only their security has nothing to do with building fences or missile systems; but everything to do with building opportunity and securing our American way of life.
Perhaps that is the spirit that moved Mikhail Gorbachev to utter the following words:
“The nations of the world today resemble a pack of mountaineers tied together by climbing rope. They can either climb on together to the mountain peak….Or they can fall together into an abyss.” Gorbachev boldly proclaimed, “Security is indivisible.” “It is either equal security for all …Or none at all.”
And that, my friends, is our message today: Security for all or none at all!
We rally this afternoon to remind Congress that unless greater security is accorded those who support America's most vulnerable citizens, there can be no lasting security for any of America's citizens. And that also means the families as well as the men, women and children being served. Unless DSPs are given their due, as we Americans age and weaken, there will be no one left to care.
The legislation now before Congress is entitled the “Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act.” This is because DSPs are the guardians of security.
DSPs are the champions of security. And now it’s time for DSPs to finally be the recipients of meaningful and lasting security.
So when we challenge Congress to dispense with the double standards, you must cry out—Security for all! And when I declare that DSPs are devalued, you must cry out---Security for all! And when I say that DSPs deserve to be compensated, remunerated and otherwise venerated—you must cry out for what is rightfully yours…Security for all or none at all!
For only on that day, when all Americans can claim the same rights that define human aspiration, only then can this great nation truly celebrate its diversity and its rightful place as a leader among nations.
In closing, I pledge to you, the DSPs of America, have no fear that your needs and rights will go unheard. Have no fear that your hopes for your families will remain beyond your grasp. Because your mission, your vision and your dreams of security will be firmly anchored in the American ethic as long as ANCOR has a voice, the passion and the will. And I promise you all, we have the will! Security for all, or none at all… ■ |
