Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA)

Jim Ward, Founder and President, ADA Watch/National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR)

John Lancaster, Executive Director, National Council on Independent Living  (NCIL)

Jennifer Mathis, Senior Staff Attorney, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

U.S. Capitol Building, LBJ Room, S-211

Wednesday, December 14, 2005, 11 a.m.

Lee Carty, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
(202) 467-5730 ext. 121

Jim Ward, ADA Watch
(202) 415-4753

Daniel Davis, National Council on Independent Living
(202) 577-6403

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a nationally recognized leader in disability rights law, having played a central role in obtaining legal victories for people with disabilities in the 1990 Olmstead v. L.C. and 2004 Tennessee v. Lane Supreme Court decisions. The Center engages in ongoing legal advocacy to fight discrimination against people with disabilities.

ADA Watch is a project of the National Coalition for Disability Rights, an alliance of hundreds of disability, civil rights, and social justice organizations united to defend and promote the ADA and the human rights of children and adults with physical, mental, cognitive and developmental disabilities.

The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) is the oldest cross-disability grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities. Founded in 1982, NCIL represents over 700 organizations and individuals including: Centers for Independent Living (CILs), Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs), individuals with disabilities, and other organizations that advocate for the human and civil rights of people with disabilities throughout the United States.