[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]
Presidential Documents
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