Former U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker from Kansas

3/14/2016

Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker

Member of Advisory Committee

c/o Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission 

Suite 801

1629 K Street, NW

Washington, D.C.  20006

Dear Senator Kassebaum Baker,

My name is Matthew Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan with a strong interest in studying history and public policy. The main reason I  consider these subjects to be my favorite because I like to learn the need to advance on Civil Rights to help protect people who are different from being discriminated, protect the environment from pollution,  expand health care reform to help people with pre-existing conditions or who can’t afford get the care they need, and many others.  Senator Kassebaum Baker, I find your work as a moderate Republican U.S. Senator from Kansas on different issues to be very inspiring to me.

When you served in the U.S. Senate in 1978-1997, I liked on how you were a moderate Republican instead of going extreme and working with another political party on different issues.   On health care, I was very proud on how you were bipartisan by working with Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts on creating health care legislation called The Kennedy-Kassebaum Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act which is to protect health insurance coverage for workers including their families when they leave or lose a job, expand on technology to find ways to reduce insurance fraud caused by insurance companies,  and many others. In the healthcare issue, I was very amazed on how you showed your moderate role on helping recruit moderate Republicans to help support this bill.  Your record on Civil Rights like supporting protecting women, minorities, and people with disabilities from being discriminated in public places including education, expressing the need for equal pay for women in workforce, and funding women including minorities’ businesses so they can compete in the economy is common sense.  Another thing on Civil Rights that I truly appreciated was how you joined Senator Bob Dole, Senator Richard Lugar, Senator Alan K. Simpson, Senator Tom Harkin, Senator Ted Kennedy, and Senator Harry Reid on supporting including passing The American With Disabilities Act of 1990 which is to protect people with disabilities from being discriminated in education including public places and even require them to have accommodations to help people with disabilities.  On the environment, I liked on how you supported the Clean Air Act of 1990 to require clean burning fuel to reduce carbon emissions including protect public health, expand on conservation to help protect national parks from being disturbed, and support the need for renewable energy like wind, solar, safe biofuel, and energy efficient products.

Senator Kassebaum Baker, I have Autism with a learning disability and having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects and sometimes I struggle with communication.  Your support for the ADA of 1990 helped benefit me to be protected from being discriminated based on a disability by expanding on Civil Rights and helped me get an education. In education the ADA legislation helped set up accommodations in elementary school through community college that was extra time on exams, have T.A. or tutors work with me on different subjects,  allow educational software to help me work on improving comprehension, and use a recorder on lectures to help improve on note-taking. Also the ADA of 1990 helped set up close caption with subtitles when watching tv, movies, and documentary which really helps improve my vocabulary, understand speech, and even helps me learn different topics.  The ADA helped me get an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  My main focus in my degree is history, government, some science, some business, and criminal justice. I wanted to say that I’m sorry for your loss of your husband former U.S. Senator Howard Baker from Tennessee because he was a true inspiration to me to be interested in U.S. history and his quote “moderate isn’t a dirty word” really taught me about the need to have people represent good ideas instead of going too extreme or state controversial views.   

Senator Kassebaum Baker, I strongly believe that you and your husband made a great difference in your role as U.S. Senators. Again, I’m sorry for your loss and my prayers are for you to do well. Your support for the ADA of 1990 really helped benefit me for the future. You have truly made a great impact on me to continue working hard on Autism and to continue studying history.  Here is a picture of me as a gift to you for inspiring me. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to make a great difference, and inspiring me.  Please continue advocating for great ideas to help make society better.

Sincerely,

Matthew B. Winick

Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker also wrote an apology note for her handwriting