[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 5, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 54195-54196]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26130]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 192 / Tuesday, October 5, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 54195]]


                Proclamation 7229 of September 30, 1999

                
National Disability Employment Awareness Month, 
                1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                As Americans, we define ourselves in many ways--not 
                only by our families and communities, but also by our 
                work; not only by who we are, but also by what we do 
                for a living. Millions of Americans with disabilities, 
                however, do not share that experience because their 
                path to the world of work has been strewn with 
                barriers. At a time when the unemployment rate in our 
                Nation is at the lowest level in a generation--4.2 
                percent--a staggering 75 percent of Americans with 
                disabilities remain unemployed, even though the vast 
                majority of them want to work.

                One of the greatest barriers to employment for people 
                with disabilities is that, under current law, they 
                often become ineligible for Medicaid or Medicare if 
                they work. That is why I have challenged the Congress 
                to pass the bipartisan Work Incentives Improvement Act. 
                This proposed legislation would extend Medicare 
                coverage for people with disabilities who return to 
                work and improve access to health care through 
                Medicaid. No American should ever be forced to choose 
                between health care coverage and employment, and this 
                legislation will help ensure that no one has to make 
                that choice.

                In addition to fully funding the Work Incentives 
                Improvement Act, my Administration's proposed budget 
                includes a $1,000 tax credit to help people with 
                disabilities offset the cost of special transportation 
                and other work-related expenses. We are also seeking to 
                double our investment in such assistive technology as 
                braille translators, mobile phones, and voice 
                recognition software that give disabled citizens the 
                tools they need to make the transition to work. And in 
                June of this year, I signed an Executive order to 
                expand employment opportunities for people with 
                psychiatric disabilities and set an example for the 
                private sector by ensuring that the Federal 
                Government's hiring and promotion standards are the 
                same for these workers as they are for people with 
                mental retardation or severe physical disabilities.

                Next year our Nation will celebrate the 10th 
                anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and 
                the 25th anniversary of the Individuals with 
                Disabilities Education Act--the two landmark pieces of 
                legislation that transformed our country's disability 
                policy and set a standard for other nations around the 
                world. However, putting an end to negative attitudes 
                and shattering destructive stereotypes will require the 
                concerted efforts of all sectors of society. Until we 
                integrate Americans with disabilities as full 
                participants in our social fabric, we will never reach 
                our employment goals.

                This year, in addition to rededicating ourselves to 
                breaking down employment barriers, we will highlight 
                the achievements of people with disabilities in areas 
                such as journalism, entertainment, and the arts. People 
                like journalist John Hockenberry prove that a 
                wheelchair need not be an obstacle to traveling the 
                world to report breaking news. Artists like blind 
                sculptor Michael Naranjo and deaf painter Alex Wilhite 
                illustrate that having a disability can be the vehicle 
                for advancing the arts in novel ways. Performers like 
                Laurie Rubin, a classically trained vocalist, show us 
                that blindness need not prevent one from taking the 
                great stage of the opera.

[[Page 54196]]

                To recognize the enormous potential of individuals with 
                disabilities and to encourage all Americans to work 
                toward their full integration into the workforce, the 
                Congress, by joint resolution approved August 11, 1945, 
                as amended (36 U.S.C. 121), has designated October of 
                each year as ``National Disability Employment Awareness 
                Month.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 
                1999 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month. 
                I call upon Government officials, educators, labor 
                leaders, employers, and the people of the United States 
                to observe this month with appropriate programs and 
                activities that reaffirm our determination to fulfill 
                both the letter and spirit of the Americans with 
                Disabilities Act.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-fourth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-26130
Filed 10-4-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P