[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17583-17585]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL GAMEL-McCORMICK

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, as I approach the end of my Senate career, 
I cannot help but reflect on the role that my tremendous staff members 
have played in advancing my policy goals and, indeed, advancing the 
important work the American people over the years. I have been blessed 
to have worked with truly remarkable individuals who have worked 
tirelessly to promote initiatives that will improve the lives of 
ordinary Americans.
  Among my own legislative and policy priorities over the years, none 
has been greater for me than advancing the rights of persons with 
disabilities. I am proud and honored to have been the chief Senate 
sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the last of the great 
civil rights laws of the 20th century--one that has correctly been 
called the Emancipation Proclamation for persons with disabilities. 
That legislation sought, once and for all, to fully enfranchise people 
with disabilities and to fully integrate them into the fabric of 
American life, guided by

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four great principles--equal opportunity, full participation, 
independent living, and economic sufficiency. Over the last quarter 
century, that legislation has resulted in a quantum leap forward in the 
civil rights and daily quality of life of millions of Americans with 
disabilities.
  However, even with that quantum leap forward, much work remains to be 
done to advance the rights of people with disabilities both in the 
United States and around the world. And over the last several years, no 
one has worked harder to advance this unfinished agenda of disabilities 
rights than Michael Gamel-McCormick, who served on the Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee as my lead K-12 staffer 
through the markup of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and 
subsequently as a team leader on disability policy.
  Throughout his career, Michael has worked to improve the lives of 
children and other people with disabilities. He came to the HELP 
Committee from the University of Delaware, where he was dean of the 
College of Education and Human Development and where he had previously 
served as a departmental chair and director of the Center for 
Disability Studies. Prior to that, Michael served, variously, as 
director of an early intervention program in West Virginia, director of 
children's services at an urban community services agency, and as a 
preschool and kindergarten teacher. Michael also consulted worldwide in 
helping other countries to establish their own systems to support 
persons with disabilities and to expand early learning opportunities.
  Michael's deep experience and knowledge was evident as soon as he 
arrived at the HELP Committee. Immediately, Michael became an integral 
and trusted member of my staff. His initial work on the committee was 
as an education policy advisor, lead staffer on K-12 education, and an 
expert on the intersection of education and inequality. His expertise 
and leadership were critical in crafting and passing in committee the 
Strengthening America's Schools Act. As an education policy adviser, 
Michael was also deeply involved in shaping policies to strengthen the 
education of children with disabilities.
  After serving as a senior education advisor, Michael assumed the role 
of my chief disability policy advisor, spearheading a number of 
important initiatives, including two important committee reports on 
persons with disabilities. The first report, on the continued use of 
seclusions and restraints in our schools, exposed the inappropriate and 
often dangerous use of physical restraints on and unsupervised 
exclusion of many children, especially children with disabilities, in 
U.S. schools. That report was accompanied by important legislation to 
finally prohibit these outdated and ineffective measures. The second 
report, ``Fulfilling the Promise: Overcoming Persistent Barriers to 
Economic Self-Sufficiency for People with Disabilities,'' investigated 
the barriers that people with disabilities face as they seek to rise 
out of poverty and enter the middle class. This report found that 
living with a disability is both economically and socially costly, and 
that significant barriers--especially logistical barriers and 
discrimination--continue to stand in the way of the economic security 
of people with disabilities. Specifically, the report said this:

       Twenty-four years ago, Congress passed the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act. We have been successful at meeting many of 
     the goals of the ADA. We have increased the accessibility of 
     our buildings, our streets, even our parks, beaches and 
     recreation areas. And we've made our books and TVs, 
     telephones and computers more accessible as well. And for 
     many Americans with disabilities, our workplaces have become 
     more accessible as well.
       But far too few people with disabilities are in the 
     workforce! The unemployment rate for people with disabilities 
     is 12.8 percent, more than double the six percent 
     unemployment rate for people without disabilities. Of the 
     almost 29 million people with disabilities over 16 years of 
     age, less than 20 percent participate in the workforce 
     compared with nearly 70 percent of those without a 
     disability.

  Not content to identify a problem, Michael also seeks to solve them. 
His most enduring legacy as my disability policy director will be his 
work to promote the employment of persons with disabilities through the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which was signed into law 
earlier this year. That law will ensure that young people with 
disabilities get the experiences they need to succeed in work settings. 
To obtain those experiences, the bill requires State vocational 
rehabilitation programs to work hand-in-hand with local secondary 
schools. The bill also ensures that employers will have the information 
necessary to recruit, hire, and retain people with disabilities.
  These efforts will directly address the high unemployment rate among 
people with disabilities, smooth the transition of young people with 
disabilities into the competitive integrated workforce, and help 
employers to support their employees with disabilities. I am especially 
proud of these provisions. And I am very grateful to Michael, who 
successfully endeavored to enact them in the face of long odds.
  I had the good fortune to travel with Michael to China earlier this 
year, where we sought to identify opportunities for international 
cooperation on disability policy and to work with the Chinese 
Government to strengthen its own policies and programs to assist and 
empower the millions persons with disabilities in that country. On the 
trip, not only was Michael incredibly helpful and knowledgeable, but he 
also proved to be a good humored and indefatigable travel partner.
  Last and certainly not least, I want to salute Michael's heroic 
efforts over the past year to advance the Convention on the Rights of 
Persons with Disabilities. The CRPD, as it is known in shorthand, is a 
United Nation's treaty modeled after our own Americans with 
Disabilities Act, with a goal of exporting the same advances enjoyed by 
persons with disabilities in the United States to countries around the 
world. The United States has always been a city on a hill when it comes 
to disability policy, and the CRPD offers an opportunity for us to play 
a more robust leadership role in advancing disability rights across the 
globe. Unfortunately, despite broad support for the CRPD among business 
leaders, faith leaders, and in the disability policy community, the 
CRPD ran up against significant and, I might add, spurious opposition 
here in the Senate. In fact, after failing to be ratified in the 112th 
Congress, the treaty was all but declared dead.
  However, at my urging and direction, Michael worked tirelessly to 
revive the moribund treaty, reaching out to Republicans, enlisting the 
assistance of business interests and activating grassroots networks 
around the country in support of the treaty. At the end of the day, the 
Senate was still not able to overcome the misinformed objections of a 
number of Senators who blocked consideration of the treaty. But 
Michael's efforts to resurrect and advance the treaty in the face of 
daunting odds were remarkable. Thanks to Michael's work, we came closer 
than ever before to passing the CRPD. I certainly haven't given up the 
fight to pass the CRPD, and I am grateful to Michael for all that he 
did to advance the cause of global disability rights.
  It is no exaggeration to say that Michael has enriched the lives of 
countless individuals. Because of his work, young children have been 
exposed to the rich environments that they need for early learning. 
Because of his work, young people with disabilities will receive the 
supports and experiences they need to secure gainful employment. 
Because of his work, school-aged children will receive developmentally 
appropriate discipline and direction rather than the cruelty of 
seclusion and physical restraints. And because of his work, countless 
individuals with disabilities will work, live, laugh, and flourish in 
their communities alongside friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
  This is a living legacy that Michael Gamel-McCormick deserves to be 
very proud of. I am deeply grateful for his service to the committee, 
to the American people, and to me personally. And I wish him great 
success in his future endeavors on behalf of people with disabilities 
here in America and across the globe.

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