 Major sponsors for Abledon On Air include Green Mountain Support Services of Vermont, Washington County Mental Health, Al-A'Israel. Food sponsors for Abledon On Air include Geffen Foods Israel, Osam Foods Israel. Major media sponsors for Abledon On Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, www.thisisthebronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, U.S. Press Court, Domestic and International. Anchor, FM, and Spotify. Welcome to this edition of Abledon On Air, the one and only program that for the past seven years and beyond focuses on the needs, concerns, and achievements of the differently able. I've always been your host, Lauren Seller. My wife, Arlene, is not here today. On, before we begin our program, we would like to thank our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health, Green Mountain Support Services, and many others. On today's edition of Abledon On Air, we will focus on the election results as it stands. So this is an election special, and we will also focus on what Joe Biden, or as he's called, Smoke and Joe, will be focusing on the disability community if he gets into office. As it stands now, Joe Biden, let's pop up a map, and it will be done in editing. But as it stands now, Joe Biden has 238 of the 270 votes to win for president of the United States, and Donald Trump only has 213. And it has been a landslide for Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania is in deadlock as well as some other states. Florida had gotten one by Donald Trump as well as Texas, so on and so forth. But the way it stands now, as of 6 a.m. this morning, we are going to be, and according to CNN, we are going, it's going to be deadlock, which means that it will probably be a recount of the vote. So in actuality, you need 270 votes to win president of the United States. I am so glad I am not president of the United States. But let's really go into what Joe Biden will be doing for the disability community if he wins. Let's pop that up, okay. All right, equality for people with disabilities, Joe Biden for president. If he wins, which most likely he will, his plan for the disability community is as follows. Let's go back down here. Equality for opportunity, full participation, independent living, economic self-sufficiency, is extremely important for people with special needs, and he's going to work on also changing the social security administration by giving people with special needs probably more in their social security checks. When Obama was working with Joe Biden and Joe Biden was vice president, they were really working on healthcare and other pandemics. So things are really going to change for the disability community. There are a lot of people, especially in Vermont, that are facing economic hardships. And now, by the way, as far as Vermont is concerned, because of this pandemic that we are going through, three squares has gotten more, and Medicaid has gotten more, and there are going to be more stimulus packages for people on the national level. Single people get 1200, married people get $2,400. Today, according to the Joe Biden website, today our country, once again, is facing enormous economic challenges brought on by the pandemic. And it's impact on having businesses and workers across the globe. As President Biden will lead, they're saying he'll be president, will lead an effort to rebuild our economy. He will also strengthen the disability community to build a stronger, more expensive middle class and that everyone, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability can find a place. This means that amending our laws, policies, and culture to ensure that full inclusion of the 61 million individuals with disabilities in the United States in part of our society. Biden will prioritize enacting and implementing policies that break down barriers to access for people with disabilities and living and succeeding in their chosen communities, which means good jobs in competitive, integrated employment, which also means probably the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was enacted by President Bush, Senior will become stronger. And he'll have integrated housing, accessible and affordable transportation, inclusive voting processes, and needed long-term services and support. Trump, by the way, wants to have more mental institutions instituted, which probably, according to organizations such as Washington County Mental Health in Vermont, many advocates there won't let that happen. As President Biden will reverse the damage done by the Trump presidency and fight efforts to weaken, fight efforts to weaken civil rights for all Americans and diligently by Congress and the disability community to expand access to needed services. Biden recognizes, according to his website, he recognizes that he needs to view all policies ranging from climate change and economy and housing, as well as education through an inclusive lens. He will ensure and include policy development and implementation to accomplish these goals, which include full inclusion for people with disabilities in policy development and aggressively enforce civil rights for people with disabilities. He will guarantee access, high access to affordable healthcare, including mental health, and expand access to home community-based services in long-term services and also supports with most integrative settings and help the needs based on self-determination. And he will also expand competitive, high-integrative employment institutions and opportunities for people with disabilities and protect and strengthen economic security for people with disabilities He will expand accessible, integrative technology as well as affordable housing, transportation, assistive technologies and protect people with disabilities in emergencies, which brings me to this. When COVID first started back in January, when services started to close for people with special needs, this really brought the communities for people with special needs in Vermont to a standstill. When we first couldn't go to a doctor's office, dentists were closed, services for people with epilepsy were closed, now things are starting to get back open. Biden also wants to ensure full inclusion for people with disabilities in policy, development, aggressively and enforce several rights for people with disabilities. I know I'm repeating a lot of things, but this is really extremely important. Throughout Biden's career, Biden has fought for the rights, for opportunities for people with disabilities, including the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is extremely important. I'm going to bring that up. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is as follows. Let me bring that up. 1973 Act. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which Biden really brought to the forefront of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, the Rehab Act, prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies in programs receiving federal financial assistance and federal employment and the employment practices to federal contractors, which means that anything job-related and the Rehab Act is as follows. Section 501 of the Rehab Act of 1973, prohibits employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the federal sector, including the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission and the Smithsonian Institution. In other words, Washington, D.C. cannot discriminate against people with disabilities, and Trump is trying to do that, especially which is really horrible, especially when Trump is trying to put people in mental institutions or he's trying to institute institutions for people with disabilities, which he cannot do. You know, and so, Biden is really trying to put special needs to the forefront. Let me get back to that. Okay. As a matter of fact, according to his website, Trump is putting a disability, I mean, Biden is putting a disability coalition together. Biden believes that everyone should be treated with dignity and have a fair shot at getting ahead. This past July 26, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act thanks to the leadership of people with disabilities, disability advocates, and goals according to the law of the Americans with Disabilities Act, full participation, independent living, economic self-sufficiency, et cetera. Joe Biden will work with the 61 million individuals with disabilities in the United States, and you can be part of the society again. If you want to join Joe Biden and his disability coalition, that website is JoeBiden.com forward slash disability coalition. And as a suggestion, any president that puts back a disability coalition, you know, you should join. And anybody that works on a disability committee is extremely important. So if you get a chance, put your name on that list. So let's get back to this here. Disability Joe Biden. Okay. Getting back to what I have said before. Yeah. So throughout his career, he started the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988, and the original Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975, and the Affordable Care Act of 2010. As President Biden will make sure these protections are fully enforced and that people with disabilities will have a voice in policy development. Similar to what we do here, Abel Deleuner, Abel Deleuner, we, you know, has a voice for people who can't speak up for themselves. And it's extremely important to have the First Amendment rights protected in this way. Also, to ensure people with disabilities are included in policy development by creating senior positions at the White House dedicated to disability community engagement and policy coordination. Biden will appoint a Director of Disability Policy with the Domestic Policy Council to ensure that people with disabilities are taken care of on a broader sense with policy discussions. The senior White House official will also engage with a variety of disability stakeholders, including disability community leaders, representatives from the disability organizations, and people with disabilities and their family members. The position that Biden will put into fruition that his administration is getting diverse perspectives and policy will be developed, implemented, and evaluated, and input with people with disabilities. In addition, Biden will ensure senior leaders across federal agencies, including the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor Housing, Labor Housing and Human Development, I mean Urban Development, sorry, Urban Development, Transportation, State, and Justice, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They will share his commitment to breaking down barriers that hold people back with disabilities. Biden will also identify and aggressively recruit, qualify people with disabilities to fill leadership positions across his administration, not merely those positions that relate to disability programs and policy. So he will hire people with disabilities in those positions. And he will aggressively enforce existing rights laws for people with disabilities, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and individuals with Disabilities Education Act idea and the Fair Housing Act. The Civil Rights Act institutional, let me repeat that again. The Civil Rights Act of Institutionalized Persons Act and Rehabilitation Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Air Carrier Access Act. Biden will begin by appointing leaders of the Departments of Justice, Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That's a mouthful. Across the rest of the federal government who share the commitment to tough effective enforcement of civil rights, Biden recognizes people with disabilities who are also people of color and LBG, LGBTQ and also face greater discrimination based on intersection of disability, race, sexual orientation and gender identity. Which brings me to this. Vermont just elected Taylor Small, which is the first LBGTQ lawmaker in Vermont. We only have about six minutes left. We hope that, we're not supposed to say this as journalists, but we hope the right man will be the right man for the job. Biden is leading again with 238 votes versus 213 and there's only 98 left because you're supposed to have 270 votes to win according to the map. Who do you want to win? Basically, like I said, the right man should be the right man for the job and someone that mocks people with disabilities, which brings me to this. Back in 2013, excuse me, 2016, Trump mocked people with disabilities. He mocked a journalist with disabilities from the New York Times and hopefully any mocking of persons with disabilities should not be a president of the United States. We would like to thank our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health, Green Mountain Support Services, and many others for being a part of Abledon Arnair and its sponsors. This puts an end to this edition of Abledon Arnair. I'm Lauren Seiler. Arlene's not here today. Thank you for listening to this election special. See you next time. I'm Lauren Seiler. Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, www.thisisthebronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, U.S. Press Court, Domestic and International. Anchor FL and Spotify.