Deaf Watch Newsletter
Richard Roehm
(address Ssnipped

Deaf@Activist.com

April 9, 1998

The Honorable Barbara Boxer
United States Senate
Washington, D.C.  20510-0505

RE :  S. 1619 and S. 1482.

Dear Senator Boxer:

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose two bills that attack my freedom of 
speech in cyberspace -- S. 1619 and S. 1482.

The first bill, S. 1619, the Internet School Filtering Act, sponsored by Senator 
John McCain, would require that all public libraries and schools that receive 
federal funds for Internet access use blocking software to restrict Internet access.
The second, S. 1482, sponsored by Senator Dan Coats, is essentially the same bill 
as the Communications Decency Act, which was unanimously overturned last year by the
United States Supreme Court.

While these are two separate pieces of legislation, both of these bills are moving
through the Senate together.

I am opposed to S. 1619 because I strongly believe that parents and teachers -- not
the government -- should provide our children with guidance about accessing the
Internet. Clumsy and ineffective blocking programs are a Band-Aid solution to 
parental concerns that also often filter out valuable information that should be
available to minors.

In addition, I oppose S. 1482 because -- just like the unconstitutional 
Communications Decency Act -- it would limit my ability to speak freely on the Net.
You must not allow the government to treat me like a five year old by reducing the
amount of information I can read on the Internet.

The Deaf Watch newsletter relies heavily on the ability to share the thoughts, 
gripes, and opinions as freely as possible.  These 2 bills are a step in the wrong
direction as they may lead to legislation barring discussion of harmless views over
the internet.  These two bills are like laying out the foundation slab on the ground
for some tougher legislation that will stand tall as a wall and curb our desires to
speak freely over the internet.

With 70% of the disabled being unemployed they rely on the internet to share their
feelings and frustrations as freely as possible and using the internet to help them
try to gain independence.  Blocking the disabled children's access to the internet
through the library's computers is not the answer as it will not prepare them for 
the real world when they finish school.  The internet has been a useful tool to the
disability community in combating discrimination through education since the Americans
with Disability Act is poorly enforced in many areas of the disability community.
It is very important that the next generation of disability constituents are fully
informed of our experiences so they can be more careful with their career paths.
Taking this opportunity away from the disabled children will create more of them
dependant on welfare programs when they finish school.

Please oppose these bills and any other efforts to dilute the potential of this
powerful medium.

The disability community is one of the largest and most underrepresented groups in 
the State as well in the nation.

We at Deaf Watch Newsletter  thank you very much for your time to read this letter 
and anticipate your support.

Sincerely,


Richard Roehm
Deaf Watch Newsletter