[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 122 (Wednesday, July 26, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10742-S10745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______


    ADDRESS BY SENATOR KENNEDY TO THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL 
                  SYMPOSIUM ON INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, it is a privilege for me to bring 
to the attention of Members of Congress and the country the address 
made last month by our friend and colleague, Senator Kennedy, to the 
International Symposium on Intellectual Disability held at the United 
Nations in New York City. Once again, Senator Kennedy has made a 
valuable contribution to international cooperation and progress on the 
wide range of issues relating to mental retardation. His words give us 
hope and move us forward.
  Senator Kennedy has served the people of Massachusetts and the United 
States for more than 30 years in the Senate. During this time, he has 
been a champion of social justice for all Americans and for citizens of 
many other lands, especially for people with disabilities. He is 
committed to the fundamental principle that all individuals deserve 
support in achieving their true potential and living with dignity. 
Senator Kennedy does not just talk about these issues--he acts. And 
when others are tired and demoralized, he perseveres. He is a 
courageous advocate and an effective leader, and I commend him for the 
impressive difference he has made on these vital issues.
  I hope that Members of Congress and many others will take the time to 
read Senator Kennedy's address about the remarkable progress that is 
being made in the world community to improve the lives of people with 
mental retardation, and the even more remarkable progress that is 
likely to be achieved in the years ahead if all of us persevere. We 
have made great strides in recent years, but there is still much more 
to be done. Senator Kennedy's address helps to light the way, and I ask 
that the full text of his address may be printed at this point in the 
Record.
  The text follows:

Address of Senator Edward M. Kennedy: ``From Disability to Capability''

       It is an honor and privilege to be invited here today to 
     speak at this hallowed place that holds the hope of the world 
     for peace, and to participate in this auspicious 
     international symposium on an issue that has been a central 
     focus of my life and my family's life.
       For almost as long as I can remember, my family has had a 
     commitment to people with mental retardation and all people 
     with disabilities. So, I am especially inspired by the many 
     leaders from many nations who have come together here to pool 
     their knowledge and strengthen their dedication to this great 
     cause we share. And I welcome the contribution that this 
     Symposium will make to helping people with mental retardation 
     throughout the world.
       I thank a great friend and great statesman, Lowell Weicker, 
     for his generous introduction. I never know whether to call 
     him Senator or Governor.
       In his Senate years, he was a brilliant colleague in the 
     trenches and on the mountaintops for our cause, and a 
     stalwart champion of equal opportunity and civil rights for 
     all citizens, especially people with disabilities. As a 
     Senator, as the Governor of Connecticut, and most of all as a 
     loving parent, he has been a powerful and compassionate 
     leader on issues of mental retardation. I commend him for his 
     years of tireless achievement, including his remarkable 
     leadership 

[[Page S10743]]
     this year in chairing the 1995 Special Olympics World Games.
       I also thank the several sponsors of the Symposium for 
     making this dream of international cooperation a reality--the 
     National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at 
     the National Institutes of Health, the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. 
     Foundation, the 1995 Special Olympics World Games, and most 
     of all, the United Nations and its Secretary General, Boutros 
     Boutros-Ghali. These organizations and the leaders associated 
     with them have made extraordinary contributions to the field 
     of mental retardation and have helped improve the lives of 
     millions of individuals and families in many different lands.
       I would like to talk for just a moment about one of those 
     organizations which is particularly close to me. My sister 
     Eunice and her husband Sargent Shriver have guided the 
     Special Olympics since its founding in 1968, when they began 
     these very special games in their own backyard for the 
     benefit of 10 children with mental retardation.
       From that modest start, a worldwide enterprise has grown. 
     The 1995 Special Olympics World Games that began this week in 
     New Haven has drawn 7,200 athletes and 2,500 coaches from 140 
     countries. In the United States, 400,000 children and young 
     adults with mental retardation, 100,000 volunteers, and half 
     a million spectators participated in the various local and 
     state games that were held this year leading up to the 
     current world games.
       The Special Olympics stand as a vivid example of the 
     achievements that are possible when we focus not on 
     disability, but on capability. As the games have 
     demonstrated, people with mental retardation can reach their 
     potential, if only they have the chance and the appropriate 
     encouragement and support.
       The remarkable growth of the Special Olympics is a tribute 
     to the vision and dedication of two very special people and 
     the love they have for those with mental retardation 
     everywhere. Eunice and Sarge, we thank you.
       For centuries, the institutions of our societies--
     governments, schools, places of worship, professional 
     organizations, social gathering places, and the world of 
     commerce--all these institutions shut their doors to people 
     with mental retardation. Most of society felt that non-
     disabled people had little to learn from people with 
     disabilities, and vice versa.
       Even when the closed doors finally began to open, people 
     with mental retardation were often seen as objects of pity. 
     The new approach of so-called ``enlightened'' society was to 
     protect people with retardation from themselves, protect them 
     from society, protect them from even the most ordinary 
     challenges of daily living. As we know now, that approach may 
     have been somewhat less unenlightened than before, but no one 
     should have called it enlightened.
       Just 30 years ago, over half of the 250,000 public school 
     districts in the United States denied a place for children 
     with severe mental retardation. State-operated institutions, 
     with over 200,000 residents, were the primary housing 
     option--but it was warehousing, not housing.
       Concepts such as employment and self-sufficiency were 
     called ``revolutionary.'' The few laws then in effect to 
     protect citizens with mental retardation, while well-meaning, 
     also ``protected'' them from having a job, from living at 
     home, from choosing their friends, and from sharing in the 
     opportunities and challenges of life.
       We created systems of separate living, separate 
     transportation, separate communication, separate recreation, 
     and separate education--separate and out of sight. Rarely was 
     it even dreamed that less protection and more assistance 
     could enable people with mental retardation to become valued 
     members of society.
       Beginning with President Kennedy's New Frontier in the 
     United States, a peaceful revolution toward independent 
     living and community-based support was launched and continues 
     to this day. Gradually, we moved away from the paternalism 
     and protectionism that characterized public attitudes and 
     government policies toward people with mental retardation. 
     Old approaches such as institutionalization came to be seen 
     as out-dated policies that fail to adequately recognize the 
     true value of human potential. People with mental retardation 
     began to be thought of for what they are--real people with 
     real talents capable of meeting and mastering real 
     challenges.
       As a result of this peaceful revolution, more and more 
     citizens with mental retardation moved out of the back wards 
     of institutions and into group homes and supported living. 
     They moved from sheltered workshops to supported employment. 
     They moved from being treated as perpetual children to 
     becoming citizens who vote. They moved from classrooms in the 
     basement to full inclusion in regular schools. They moved 
     from tax dependency to tax payers. Through participation in 
     education, employment, and may other aspects of community 
     life, people with mental retardation moved into the 
     mainstream--and we are all benefiting.
       Empowerment is one of those words in common use today that 
     means different things to different people. When we talk of 
     empowerment for our fellow citizens with disabilities, 
     including mental retardation, we mean movement toward 
     independence, productivity, and integration. Independence 
     means a level of control and choice over their life. 
     Productivity means active participation in the workforce and 
     genuine contribution to a family or community. Integration 
     means developing real relationships with members of the 
     community, utilizing the same community resources available 
     to everyone else, and living in homes located in the 
     community.
       That sense of empowerment has been the theoretical goal of 
     the world community since the passage of the U.N. Declaration 
     on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons in 1971. That high 
     purpose was re-stated in the Standard Rules on the 
     Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities 
     adopted by the United Nations in 1993. It is time--time now--
     to issue a new call to action, so that in re-affirming that 
     goal and these vital principles, we also re-commit ourselves 
     to moving faster from theory to practice.
       This International Symposium is an essential and rare 
     opportunity not only to share what we know, but also to shape 
     what we do. It is a unique chance for nations, non-
     governmental organizations and public and private leaders 
     throughout the world to come together to discuss the ways and 
     means of imbuing families, schools, workplaces, communities, 
     and whole nations with the energies and talents of people 
     with mental retardation.
       This Symposium is a forum to enable government officials, 
     policy makers, and advocates to compare recent successes, to 
     discuss the role of government and every other institution of 
     society in the empowerment of people with mental retardation, 
     and to develop sensible plans for moving forward.
       By committing ourselves to action, by sharing state-of-the-
     art knowledge about which laws are effective and which 
     program models can be implemented across national borders or 
     even worldwide, we can bring renewed spirit and deeper 
     understanding to the drive for progress in our own countries.
       It is my hope that this Symposium will strive to make 
     empowerment not just a slogan but a reality in the daily 
     lives of people with mental retardation everywhere. Planning 
     takes vision, and action takes courage--may we have both as 
     we participate in this Symposium.
       The kind of real social progress we seek is inspired, 
     initiated, and implemented by three sources: governments, the 
     advocacy community, and individuals. Each of these sources is 
     essential, and their efforts are often linked. The successes 
     of one are made possible by the support and actions of the 
     others.
       In some societies, government leads the way and community-
     based organizations and individuals work to implement the 
     policies it enacts. In other societies, the people lead, and 
     the government struggles to catch up. In all cases, as real 
     partnership emerges, real progress occurs.
       The important point is that governments at all levels, 
     organizations of all kinds, and individuals of all abilities 
     must be actively engaged in bringing about the changes 
     necessary to empower people with mental retardation. As an 
     African proverb holds, ``It takes a village to raise a 
     child.'' A village can be a small town, a large city, a 
     nation, or the entire world. It takes a community to make the 
     promise of empowerment a reality in the daily lives of people 
     with disabilities.
                         the role of government

       I would like to talk now especially about the role of 
     governments, not because it is the most important, but 
     because it is the most familiar to me. As President Kennedy 
     said of government on America's Independence Day, 33 years 
     ago:
       ``The greatest works of our nation's founders lay not in 
     the documents and declarations, but in creative, determined 
     action. Others may confine themselves to debate, discussion 
     and that ultimate luxury, free advice. Our responsibility is 
     one of decision, for to govern is to choose.''
       Government has two basic functions to perform in meeting 
     the needs of people with mental retardation. First, it must 
     protect fundamental rights and freedoms. This means assuring 
     people with mental retardation the right to participate in 
     all aspects of life, free from injustice and invidious 
     discrimination. Ensuring these fundamental rights of 
     citizenship is the unique function of government.
       The second basic role of government is the development and 
     support of programs and services to enable people with mental 
     retardation to become more productive and fulfilled citizens, 
     especially when other avenues fail.
       No society can afford to waste the energy and talent of any 
     of its citizens, whether the waste results from irrational 
     fear, ignorance, or a misguided sense of paternalism.
       The United States and many other countries have passed 
     specific laws in recent decades to advance that goal. Our 
     country passed a landmark Civil Rights Act in 1964, to assure 
     the rights of African Americans and other minorities to 
     participate equally in all aspects of American life. This 
     law, and the rights it guaranteed, were not easily enacted. 
     But they have stood the test of time and have made the United 
     States a stronger and better nation. In a similar way, South 
     Africa is currently building a multi-ethnic state by tearing 
     down the walls of apartheid.
       In 1973, the United States passed a further law to prohibit 
     discrimination against people with disabilities in any 
     activity that receives federal financial assistance. Other 
     U.S. laws were enacted to protect children with disabilities, 
     to protect the rights of the institutionalized, and to 
     protect the right of 

[[Page S10744]]
     people with disabilities to fair treatment in housing. But despite 
     these advances, many people with disabilities remained 
     unprotected from unjust treatment in the workplace, in public 
     accommodations, in transportation, and in many state and 
     local activities and services.
       In 1990, all of that changed with the enactment of the 
     Americans With Disabilities Act, which was truly an 
     emancipation proclamation for our 49 million citizens with 
     disabilities. Through its broad prohibitions on 
     discrimination, that law is already making it possible for 
     people with disabilities, including mental retardation, to 
     lead more fulfilling and productive lives. It is our first 
     nationwide law protecting the fundamental rights of all 
     people with disabilities in all aspects of life.
       Its passage was intended to clearly and unequivocally 
     eliminate the major barriers to their full participation in 
     society, and it has become a catalyst for action in other 
     lands. Australia and New Zealand have already enacted similar 
     legislation. Great Britain and Israel are considering such 
     laws, and Germany, Sweden, Japan, Ireland and the Czech 
     Republic have come to the United States to gather information 
     for action. It
      is just this kind of international cooperation we hoped 
     would occur, and is what motivated us to write to world 
     leaders to encourage them to build on this breakthrough.
       In addition to guarantees of basic civil rights, access to 
     education is a hallmark of a free society. It also is one of 
     the most basic services that government can provide to 
     advance the integration and independence of people with 
     disabilities. In 1975, we in Congress passed legislation 
     called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, now 
     known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, to 
     guarantee a free, appropriate public education to every child 
     with a disability. Children with mental retardation were the 
     principal beneficiaries of this law, because they constituted 
     the largest group of children with disabilities who had 
     previously been shut out of public schools.
       In the United States, this law made it increasingly 
     possible for children with and without disabilities to 
     interact with one another and learn from one another on a 
     daily basis. Our work has only just begun. Even today, only 
     seven in every hundred students with mental retardation in 
     the United States spend their entire school day in classrooms 
     with other children from their neighborhoods. Eleven out of 
     every hundred have no access at all to their community 
     schools, and attend special schools instead. Nevertheless, 
     educating all children, regardless of disability, in the 
     least restrictive environment is now an accepted standard 
     throughout the United States.
       Enabling children and young adults with mental retardation 
     to participate in regular, public education is not just a 
     priority in the United States. Italy was the first country to 
     work toward mainstreaming students with special needs. Over 
     the past decade, Alvaro Marchasi, the Minister of State for 
     Education in Spain, has led an effort to make all schools in 
     Spain accessible to all children, including those with 
     disabilities and mental retardation.
       This effort inspired last year's UNESCO conference on 
     inclusive education, which provided a framework for 
     integrating children with special needs into education 
     systems worldwide.
       These examples are not limited to large wealthy nations. 
     The small country of Lesotho has launched a pilot project to 
     integrate every child with a disability into regular schools 
     in all towns and villages.
       I hope that we can agree here that every country has an 
     obligation to do all it can to educate all its children, 
     including those with mental retardation and other 
     disabilities, in a manner that enables them to learn and grow 
     from each other, regardless of ability or disability. It is 
     possible. It is practical. It is essential. And it is also 
     cost-effective.
       Governments everywhere must take concerted action to ensure 
     access to education, employment, and housing opportunities, 
     and to provide the supportive services that enable people 
     with mental retardation to reach their full potential.
       We know, for example, that assuring basic necessities can 
     reduce the incidence of mental retardation by 50 percent. We 
     know that fetal malnutrition causes brain damage. Yet 
     millions of pregnant women go hungry every day. How long will 
     the world community pay the price?
       We know that immunization works. Yet vast numbers of 
     children around the world are at high risk for diseases that 
     cause mental retardation. How long will the world community 
     pay the price?
       We know that environmental toxins--from industry, from 
     pesticides, from lead, from lack of sanitation--are all
      creating birth defects and learning disabilities. How long 
     will the world community pay the price? Governments can 
     make the difference. Governments must act.


          the role of organizations, families and individuals

       But even if government action establishes the legal 
     foundation for such progress--for independence and 
     integration--government action alone will never be enough. 
     The passage of wise laws does not guarantee effective 
     implementation or vigorous enforcement. To achieve real and 
     lasting progress, myths must be fought and attitudes must be 
     changed. It is the role of committed, persistent and 
     unwavering advocacy organizations, families, and individuals 
     with and without disabilities to keep the pressure on, and 
     ensure that the words of the law become a reality in people's 
     lives.
       With the worldwide revolution of community-based services 
     and community-based support for people with developmental 
     disabilities, communication between service organizations has 
     never been easier or more important. The same can be said for 
     organizations which represent researchers, families, and 
     people with mental retardation.
       Non-governmental organizations are increasingly working 
     together to improve service, support and research. We must 
     continue to involve all of these organizations to develop 
     better worldwide strategies. The United Nations is the 
     logical place to come together, and I hope that our coming 
     together here and now will lead to more and better 
     collaboration in the future.
       We know the valuable contribution made by professionals, 
     from biomedical researchers discovering new miracles of 
     science, to teachers developing new methods of educating and 
     training, to community leaders providing new generations of 
     services.
       The International Association for the Scientific Study of 
     Mental Deficiency has brought together professionals from a 
     wide range of disciplines to examine the most promising 
     research to improve the lives of persons with mental 
     retardation and their families.
       We know the brilliant achievement that the past generation 
     made possible through mass screening and an alternative diet 
     for those with PKU. It is one of the great stories of medical 
     history, and it was achieved through international research 
     and cooperation. Today, a simple three-cent test can prevent 
     PKU retardation at birth, and save hundreds of thousands of 
     dollars in later costs for care and treatment.
       Through international cooperation, a research team has 
     demonstrated a simple and cost effective way to prevent 
     another well-known cause of mental retardation, spina bifida. 
     By discovering the protective role of folic acid in early 
     stages of pregnancy, a joint team from the United States and 
     Ireland worked together to bring this amazing research to 
     fruition.
       In most of the world, parents of people with mental 
     retardation are the driving force for supporting such 
     research, creating beneficial programs, and moving government 
     policies ahead for the benefit of their affected sons and 
     daughters. Through Inclusion International, parent 
     organizations around the world have come together to learn 
     from one another, and learn how governments can provide the 
     services and supports they need. They have shared ideas and 
     information and made strong cases for basic rights and 
     effective services.
       These efforts will lead to improved lives for people with 
     mental retardation--but only if we, as public policy makers, 
     hear what they are saying, and turn their ideas and 
     information into meaningful action and assistance. Too often, 
     we fail by default or inaction. Our challenge is to take 
     their powerful and persistent words and ideas and turn them 
     into a reality for those with mental retardation.
       Among the newest type of organizations addressing 
     disability issues are the international self-advocacy 
     organizations. They have many different names, but they are 
     generally known as ``People First'' in much of the world, and 
     as ``Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered'' in the United 
     States.
       Like so many others before them, persons with mental 
     retardation have begun to join together in these 
     organizations to speak out for their rights and needs. For 
     the first time, these formerly left-out citizens are taking 
     their place at the conference tables of organizations 
     planning their future. International bodies and national and 
     local governments need to listen and communicate with these 
     self-advocate organizations in ways which recognize their 
     need for direct, clear discussion and involvement in the 
     issues.
       Today, as never before, people with mental retardation are 
     redefining and reshaping their own interests. Who better can 
     articulate what it feels like to be senselessly defined only 
     by a disability, and not as a total human being? Who better 
     can condemn the effects of misguided private attitudes and 
     public policies? Who better can demonstrate the remarkable 
     potential of programs that empower, rather than entrap?
       Sweden is the country which has advanced the concept of 
     self-advocacy the most in recent years. It has over 1,200 
     associations of people with disabilities, and approximately 
     400,000 members. The Swedish movement consists to a high 
     degree of organizations of, and not for, people with 
     disabilities. They are led to a large extent by people with 
     disabilities themselves. In the last few years they have come 
     to function as successful pressure groups in many 
     communities. Self-advocates have much to teach us about 
     effective legislation, policy and programs. We must do more 
     to listen and learn from them.
       People with mental retardation should be included in all 
     decisions that affect them--no ifs, ands, or buts. The board 
     of every organization should have substantial representatives 
     of the people to be served. Every government commission, 
     whether advisory or executive, should include people who are 
     directly affected by policy decisions.
       The work of these organizations has brought a surge of 
     progress throughout the world in the movement from isolation 
     and exclusion to integration and inclusion. In 

[[Page S10745]]
     the Czech Republic, there is growing use of community residences for 
     people with mental retardation, and equally growing use of 
     supported employment. The supports which exist there to help 
     all workers in acquiring and keeping a job are now also being 
     used to help people with intellectual disabilities enter the 
     workforce. There are now more than eight community 
     residential programs in the greater Prague area, thanks to 
     the growing parent movement there.
       In Poland, a pilot project in Lublin is testing a 
     decentralized system for supporting people with mental 
     retardation, relying on local government and individual 
     citizens to develop needed services and support.
       As in so many other movements for social change, 
     individuals are often the most effective catalysts for 
     change. As Margaret Mead said, ``Never doubt that a small 
     group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; 
     indeed, it's the only thing that ever does.'' We all benefit 
     when everyone can
      contribute to their communities. In this effort, we all have 
     a vital individual role to play.
       We must work more closely with other institutions--
     especially schools, places of worship, and neighborhood 
     associations--to welcome persons with disabilities as 
     partners, including people with mental retardation. They have 
     much to give. As we move from seeing them as objects of 
     charity to people with gifts and talents to share, we will 
     open our hearts and minds as well to the extraordinary 
     diversity they bring to our common humanity.
       Over the past two decades, there has also been an 
     increasing trend toward the use of less specialized and less 
     technical people in the networks of support for people with 
     disabilities. The real strength of these less specialized 
     people lies not in their expertise, but in their ability to 
     relate to, communicate with, and motivate people with mental 
     retardation and other disabilities.
       Kindergarten students can be ideal companions. Elderly 
     volunteers can be mentors and friends. Religious leaders, 
     social service providers, employers, co-workers, teachers, 
     neighbors, friends--all can find effective roles, if only 
     they have the will to try.
       In the United States, a government-funded program supports 
     people with disabilities in finding jobs. The Vocational 
     Rehabilitation Act provides hands-on support directly on the 
     job. Usually, this support is provided by outside personnel, 
     but it can also be performed by a co-worker. The idea that a 
     worker in a factory or an office can provide the necessary 
     support for a person with a disability was once dismissed as 
     impossible. It reminds me of a familiar saying a century 
     ago--``It is as impossible as flying.''
       But it is happening today. The true visionaries--the 
     parents and families of people with disabilities--knew that 
     it was possible. The result is that tens of thousands of 
     people with disabilities are now gainfully employed, earning 
     pay checks and paying taxes. ``The difficult we do 
     immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.''
       More and more communities are coming to accept and include 
     people with mental retardation as a result of all these 
     inspiring efforts. The late Rosemary Dybwad often told a 
     story from the International Congress in 1983 in Kenya. A 
     group of people with mental retardation, some of whom had 
     been confined to state institutions for thirty years, had 
     told the participants in that Congress about their own ideas 
     and recommendations for the future. In a challenge to all of 
     us, Rosemary asked eloquently:
       ``If that can be done in a multi-national, multi-language, 
     multi-racial international meeting, why is it not done in 
     your community? And if it isn't, what can you, your friends, 
     your organization, do to help persons with severe 
     disabilities to represent themselves adequately, and to 
     participate in community affairs? What will we do to 
     translate this into action? Faith and works, I believe, are 
     the words to remember.''
       In closing, I would leave you with five thoughts as a call 
     to action. First and most important, the essence of reform in 
     the field of mental retardation is an abiding respect for the 
     person. We are talking about citizens rather than recipients. 
     Let us never lose sight of the person in the policy.
       Second, we must seize the moment and learn to move ideas 
     more rapidly into practice. We live in an information age, 
     and the information revolution can be a powerful source of 
     positive
      social change. No one has to reinvent the wheel in any 
     nation. At the speed of light and the click of a mouse, a 
     practical idea being implemented in the morning in New 
     York can be tested in the afternoon in New Delhi.
       Third, governments should pledge to play more of a 
     leadership role by moving at all levels to commit themselves 
     to the three empowerment principles--independence, 
     productivity, and inclusion. No longer can people with mental 
     retardation be treated as second class citizens. The global 
     community can no longer afford the cost of such prejudice and 
     exclusion.
       Fourth, individuals everywhere must play a part in ensuring 
     that people with mental retardation have a fair chance to 
     participate in all aspects of life. I ask all of you at this 
     symposium--legislators, government officials, experts in 
     research, practitioners, teachers, family members, persons 
     with mental retardation, friends and media--to join in a new 
     commitment to action.
       Finally, above all, individuals with mental retardation and 
     their families must be intimately involved as active 
     participants in designing policies and implementing programs 
     to meet their needs.
       To open the White House Conference on Mental Retardation in 
     1963, President Kennedy spoke words that are equally 
     applicable today:
       ``We have left behind prejudice, superstition and ignorance 
     which since the dawn of time distorted our thinking. We have 
     entered a new era of understanding, hope, and enlightenment. 
     We are on the threshold of an exciting and great achievement 
     which is a tribute to the skills and devotions of thousands 
     of dedicated scientists, professional persons, and public and 
     private citizens.''
       My brother made an enormous difference on these issues in 
     the United States when, as head of state, he personally gave 
     voice and leadership to this cause. May each of your own 
     heads of state be encouraged by this symposium to make that 
     kind of difference too.
       Achieving true and lasting social change is never easy. It 
     requires strength and persistence, courage and vision. We 
     have come far in our journey to empower people with 
     disabilities in our own countries and around the world. My 
     wish is this--may this Symposium be a bright milestone on 
     that journey. May what is imparted here accelerate all our 
     efforts, so that years from now, when we look back, we can 
     truly say, this is where it all began anew.
       A story from India that I came across not long ago makes my 
     concluding point most vividly. An old man walking along the 
     beach at dawn saw a young woman picking up starfish and 
     throwing them out to sea. ``Why are you doing that,'' the old 
     man inquired. The young woman explained that the starfish had 
     been stranded by the tide on the beach, and would soon die in 
     the morning sun. ``But the beach goes on for miles,'' the old 
     man said, ``and there are so many starfish. How can your 
     effort make any difference?'' The young woman looked at the 
     starfish in her hand, and then threw it to safety into the 
     sea. ``It makes a difference to this one,'' she said.
       Thank you for inviting me here, and thank you for the 
     difference that all of you are making.
     

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