    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [January 13, 1999]
    [Pages 36-38]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Announcing an Initiative To Improve Economic Opportunities for
    Americans With Disabilities
    January 13, 1999

        Wow! Wasn't she great? Let's give her
    another hand. She was great. [Applause] Thank you.
        On behalf of all of us in our administration, many of whom are here,
    I want to thank all the advocates for persons with disabilities in our
    audience. I thank especially Tony Coelho, Becky
    Ogle, Paul Marchand,
    my great friend Justin Dart, Paul
    Miller, and others. I want to thank all
    the people in the administration, those in the Cabinet who are here with
    me and the agency heads and the others in the White House who have done
    so much to help to sensitize me and the Vice President and others to the
    challenges and our obligations.
        I say a special word of thanks to Tom Harkin,
    who has personally taught me a lot about the issues we discuss today, to
    Senator Ted Kennedy, and to Senator
    Jeffords. I knew if I listened long
    enough, that Republican rhetoric would finally sound good around one
    issue. [Laughter] And you did it today, and I thank you. You were just
    great. It was great.
        I'd also like to thank two great friends of this cause who are in
    the audience, Senator Jack Reed from Rhode Island,
    Congressman Ben Cardin from Maryland. We
    thank them for being here.
        You know, a lot of things have already been said, and I would like
    to say something not in my notes. I hope nobody will take this the wrong
    way, because everybody knows what a great enthusiast I am of athletics.
    Most of the cameras at this hour are somewhere else, and I want to say,
    on behalf of my wife from Chicago and myself, that we wish Michael
    Jordan well. We admire him. We like him very
    much, and we thank him for years of thrilling exploits. In my life, I
    don't know that I ever saw another athlete with such a remarkable set of
    qualities of mind, body, and spirit, not only somebody who had a body
    that would do things no one else's would do but who always expected to
    do whatever it was he tried to do. And I
    think it's appropriate that the sports fans around America take a day or
    two to ooh and aah and hold their breath again and be glad again.
        But the courage of Karen Moore, and all the
    people like her, is greater still, by far.
        I remember once, many years ago, after I lost an election and became
    the youngest former Governor in American history--[laughter]--with

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    very dim future prospects, a wise old country lawyer wrote me a letter.
    And he said, ``Bill, you know, it takes a little bit of strength to
    sustain a terrible setback, but the real courage in life is living
    through the grind of day-to-day existence with dignity and nobility and
    charity.'' How much more true is that for people with disabilities, for
    whom daily existence can be a greater grind, for whom charity is harder
    to muster of the spirit, because so many of the rest of us have been so
    blindly insensitive to things which would enable all of us to get
    through that daily life better.
        A lot of good things have happened since the seventies--Senator
    Kennedy talked about it--since these gentlemen and others passed the
    Americans with Disabilities Act. We did have a great renewal of the IDEA
    a year or so ago. But 75 percent of Americans with disabilities are
    still unemployed. You just heard why. Millions are forced to make the
    impossible choice between going to work and keeping their health
    insurance. Millions more lack the tools and services that could make the
    difference between dependence and independence.
        We all know working is a fundamental part of what we say is the
    American dream. Maya Angelou once said that work is ``something made
    greater by ourselves, and in turn, that makes us greater.'' You heard
    Karen; you heard what she said: ``I'm working; how I love being at work.
    Oh, by the way, my family life is better, and I don't get sick as
    much.'' That is not an accident. Every single one of us, we want to be
    fully engaged in life. And we ought to have the chance to do so.
        I like what Senator Jeffords said about how the Congressional Budget
    Office might or might not estimate this initiative, and I had that
    argument before and lost it, so I'm not going to get into that. But let
    me ask you this: When we've got the largest surplus in our history, the
    longest peacetime expansion in our history, perhaps the strongest
    economy we've ever had, if we cannot address this issue now, then when
    will we ever address it? Now is the time.
        So, here is what we propose to do. First, you've already heard about
    the landmark legislation by Senators Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth, and
    Moynihan to assist millions of Americans with disabilities who want to
    work. Today I am pleased to announce that the balanced budget I will
    present to Congress fully funds this vitally important initiative.
    Americans should never have to choose between the dignity of work and
    the health care they need. With this legislation, they'll have a ticket
    to work, not an impossible choice.
        I will also continue to work with Congress to pass legislation I
    know is very important to the disability community, a strong enforceable
    Patients' Bill of Rights and to strengthen Social Security for the 21st
    century, not just for retirees but also for people with disabilities.
    And we ought to do it this year, with no excuses.
        Second, we must make it easier for people with disabilities to get
    to work. As anyone with a disability can tell you, it takes more than a
    job to enter the work force. Often, it takes accessible transportation,
    specialized technology, or personal assistance. And the cost can be
    prohibitively high. Today I am pleased to announce a new $1,000 tax
    credit so hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities will be
    helped to meet these critically important expenses.
        Finally, we have to give people with disabilities the tools they
    need to succeed; we all need that. I hope all of you had a chance to
    experience and see the amazing displays out there in the Grand Foyer,
    from a portable computer kiosk that helps people with disabilities vote
    or find a job, to the latest voice recognition software that lets you
    use a computer without touching a keyboard, to a new generation of
    mobile telephones that connect directly to hearing aids, to a device to
    immediately translate music into braille. This kind of ``assistive
    technology,'' as it is called, will empower people as never before.
    Today I am pleased to announce that my budget will double our investment
    in this sort of technology, to make it more available to people with
    disabilities. We also will help States to expand low-income loan
    programs to help more people afford these promising products. The
    Federal Government will become a model user of assistive technology. We
    will increase our commitment to research and development to continue our
    progress.
        Increased access to health care, more assistance at home and in the
    workplace, remarkable new technologies made more available--this is how
    we can make sure that all Americans can take their rightful place in our
    21st century workplaces.
        Last summer the Vice President
    announced our plan to build at the FDR Memorial a new statue of
    President Roosevelt in the wheelchair from which he led our Nation, the
    wheelchair

    [[Page 38]]

    he then felt compelled to hide because of the negative attitudes of his
    time. Well, we've come a long way since those days. And even though we
    in public life get to make the speeches, I think it's clear to all of us
    that you deserve the credit--all of the work you have done.
        People with disabilities are increasingly a powerful presence in
    America, from our schools to our businesses to the halls of government--
    but maybe equally important, increasingly a welcome, comfortable, normal
    presence. President Roosevelt said, ``No country, no matter how rich,
    can afford to waste its human resources.'' This is really all about
    living up to that objective.
        Thank you, Karen. Thank you, ladies and
    gentlemen. Let's go out and pass this legislation. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:58 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to polio survivor and transit system
    dispatcher Karen Moore, who introduced the President: Tony Coelho,
    Chairman, President's Committee on Employment of People with
    Disabilities; Rebecca Ogle, Executive Director, National Task Force on
    Employment of Adults With Disabilities; Justin Dart, Jr., chairman and
    founder, Justice For All; Paul Marchand, chairman, Consortium for
    Citizens With Disabilities; Paul Steven Miller, Commissioner, Equal
    Employment Opportunity Commission; five-time National Basketball
    Association MVP Michael Jordan, who announced his retirement; and poet
    Maya Angelou. The President also referred to the Individuals with
    Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997, Public Law 105-17.