Dr Maurer opened the Gathering In at 5 pm on Monday, January 29, 2007. Jim Gashel introduced the latest developments with the K-NFB Reader, the hand-held reading device. Now, with new software, dollar bills can now be easily read aloud to you. It is exciting that it reads U.S. currency. "Show me the money", Jim Gashel says, is now our new reader's cry. Diane McGeorge next spoke on fund raising. I was surprised that Connecticut only has five members signed up for the first blind march in Georgia. We were also reminded of summer programs such as the Youth Slam where 200 children will have wonderful experiences at camp. Did you know that the Imagination fund primarily funds this camp? The Braille and Technology Center is now set up in a new room. It contains accessible technology and a training lab with workstations. Our library is moving along nicely. The new Independence Market, formerly the Materials Center, has been moved to the old library. The Senior Fair will once again be held in the fall. The National Convention is considering shortening the number of days of the Convention. If you have an opinion on how best to do so please write NFB Communications or Dr. Maurer. No changes will be made this year. They are just kicking the idea around.

A New Jersey congressman spoke and said the blind community will be a force to be reckoned with.

We had a second room to handle the overflow this year. There were over 500 blind citizens marching on Capitol Hill this year. The Columbia Room is the main Gathering In room and the over flow was in the Discovery Room. The Mercury Room is filled with information in print, Braille and on tape. At the end of each day, we reported all legislative ratings and the names of people we had meetings with to the Mercury Room.

Our three issues this year were Social Security, accessible textbooks for blind college students, and maintaining accessible voting machines. Voting is the cornerstone to democracy. Verification and reliability is our concern. This needs to be addressed in HAVA, says Congressman Rush Holt. He has worked on this legislation for 5 years. This past November, New York wanted to segregate blind citizens to vote by busing them for miles to one polling place instead of letting them vote in their own districts. Washington State voted by paper at home instead of using polls.

All NFB participants wore buttons on their lapels in Washington, D.C. They said "Washington D.C. 07 'DO IT NOW'". Eleven Connecticut Federationists participated in the Washington Seminar this year. At the end of each day, we turned in to the Mercury room our rating scales .The scale is one point for speaking directly to congressmen. How much will they support? A 5 means we have their support and will write legislation; a 4 means they are excited and would co-sponsor; a 3 makes no commitments, but are supportive; a 2 is neutral; a 1 is opposed; 0 means that we didn't meet with the legislator so you cannot score it. I am please to say that all seven of our Congressmen in Connecticut were rated 3, 4, or 5 in favor of our issues!

This year was the first time in 17 years that John Padilla was unable to attend the seminar in Washington. All were asking for John, including the staff at the hotel. The aids to the representatives wish John a fast recovery and hope to see him walking the Hill next year. John arranged all the appointment dates, times and confirmations from his home. He also gave my cell phone number to all officials in case of any changes. Thank you, as always John, for your diligent work.

I would like to thank those of you that made Washington D.C. an exciting seminar. We do make a difference!

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