(Leadership Conference on Civil Rights logo) Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 2027 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 202/667-1780 FOUNDERS Arnold Aronson A. Philip Randolph* Roy Wilkins* OFFICERS CHAIRPERSON Benjamin L. Hooks VICE CHAIRPERSONS Judith L. Lichtman Antonia Hernandez SECRETARY Dorothy Height TREASURER Gerald W. McEntee LEGISLATIVE CHAIRPERSON Jane O'Grady COUNCIL Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. HONORARY CHAIRPERSONS Marvin Caplan Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr.* EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Owen Bieber International Union of United Automobile Workers Kenyon C. Burke National Council of Churches Jacob Clayman National Council of Senior Citizens Jerome Ernst National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice Keith Geiger National Education Association Morton Halperin American Civil Liberties Union Paul M. Igasaki Japanese Americans Citizens League John E. Jacob NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc. Leon Lynch United Steelworkers of America Sharon Rodine National Women's Political Caucus Nancy Neuman League of Women's Political Caucus Melanne Verveer People for the American Way David Saperstein Union of Hebrew Congregations Molly Yard National Organization for Women Patrisha Wright Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Kenneth Young AFL-CIO Raul Yzaguirre National Council of La Raza COMPLIANCE/ENFORCEMENT COMMITTEE William Taylor, Chairperson STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Ralph G. Neas ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Lisa M. Haywood GRASSROOTS COORDINATOR Mimi Mager (*Deceased) June 6, 1990 Dear Senator: When the Americans with Disabilities Act comes before the Senate, it is expected that Senator Helms will move to instruct the conferees to accept a food handler AIDS amendment that was narrowly approved by the House of Representatives (the Chapman amendment). We urge you to oppose Sen. Helms' motion. The Chapman amendment would allow an employer to remove an individual suspected of having AIDS from any job involving food handler whether or not that person has AIDS. Your vote against the Helms motion will be an important vote against bigotry and irrational fear. HHS Secretary Louis Sullivan, the Centers for Disease Control, and the American Medical Association all told Congress that this amendment is unnecessary and inappropriate. The ADA bill already explicitly provides that anyone who poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others is not protected under the bills. As Congressman John Lewis, so eloquently argued on the House Floor, "The Chapman amendment seeks to divide us, to segregate us, to discriminate against us." A vote for the Helms motion to instruct would be a vote to foster the very type of irrational discrimination that the Americans with Disabilities Act is intended to eliminate. On behalf of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights we urge you to vote against the Helms motion to instruct. Sincerely, (Ralph G. Neas's signature) Ralph G. Neas Executive Director (Benjamin L. Hook's signature) Benjamin L. Hooks Chairperson "Equality In a Free, Plural, Democratic Society"