    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [October 16, 1999]
    [Pages 1804-1805]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    October 16, 1999

        Good morning. Today I want to talk about what we must do to make
    sure people with disabilities who are ready, willing, and able to work
    can be part of our Nation's prosperity.
        Work is an awfully important part of who we are as Americans. It
    connects us with our communities and provides dignity for our families.
    Today, more Americans are working than ever before. Since 1993, in
    January, when I took office, we've had the largest peacetime expansion
    in our history and created more than 19 million new jobs. Unemployment
    is at a 29-year low; welfare rates, a 30-year low; poverty, a 20-year
    low, with the first back-to-back budget surpluses in 42 years.
        But in spite of the good economic news, there are people in places
    still not touched by our prosperity. Among them are almost three out of
    four Americans with severe disabilities who want to work but aren't
    working. This is not just a missed opportunity for them; it's a missed
    opportunity for all the rest of us, too.
        If we want to keep our economy growing with continued low inflation
    and low unemployment, we must draw on the untapped potential of our
    people. That's why I launched our enterprise zone and enterprise
    community initiative 6\1/2\ years ago, under the leadership of Vice
    President Gore, to bring investment and
    jobs to rural and urban areas with high unemployment.
        That's why I'm working now to pass our new markets initiative in
    Congress, to give Americans the same incentive to invest in poor
    communities in America we now give them to invest in poor communities in
    Latin America, Asia, Africa, and central Europe, and that's why I
    established a Presidential task force on the employment of adults with
    disabilities last year, to help remove the barriers that prevent people
    with disabilities from going to work.
        In December Vice President Gore
    received the first set of recommendations by the task force, and I'm
    proud to say we've taken action on every one. The budget I proposed last
    January would invest more than $2 billion in health care, tax credits,
    and new technologies for people with disabilities. I also signed an
    Executive order to eliminate unfair barriers to Federal employment for
    people with psychiatric disabilities.
        Today I announce new steps we're taking to ensure that when it comes
    to the employment of people with disabilities, the Federal Government
    leads by example. And today I'm releasing the first-ever Government plan
    to ensure positive career paths for people with disabilities in our
    Federal work force. I'm directing every Federal agency and department to
    take concrete action to expand opportunities for people with
    disabilities in all levels of the work force, from entry to senior
    ranks.
        And I'm calling on all agencies to recruit and promote people with
    disabilities, to reach out to students with disabilities, to provide
    reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with
    disabilities. I'm also calling on our Federal human resources agency,
    the Office of Personnel Management, to ensure that every agency gets the
    help it needs to fulfill these commitments. We are the Nation's largest
    employer. I want it to be a model for private industry, and this plan
    will help to do just that.
        But there's more to do. One of the biggest barriers facing people
    with disabilities is the fear of losing their health insurance when they
    get a job. Under current law, many people with disabilities cannot keep
    their Medicaid or Medicare coverage if they work. This creates a
    tremendous disincentive to work, because they have to have health care,
    and neither they nor their employer can afford or often even find health
    insurance.
        There's a commonsense, bipartisan bill to change that. It's called
    the work incentives improvement act. It was sponsored by Republican
    Senators Jeffords and Roth and Democratic Senators Kennedy and Moynihan. Simply
    put, it will make sure that people with disabilities don't

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    lose their health care when they gain a job. This bill passed the Senate
    99-0. A bipartisan majority in the House has already cosponsored it. So
    I say to Congress: Don't water the bill down; guarantee its financing;
    and go ahead and send it to me so we can sign it without delay.
        It will make money for America. It will make more taxpayers. And
    we'll be spending the Medicaid money regardless. Americans with
    disabilities who want to work shouldn't have to wait one more day.
        After years of delay, last week the House of Representatives finally
    heard the voice of the American people and passed a strong, enforceable
    Patients' Bill of Rights. By choosing progress over partisanship again,
    we can also pass the work incentives improvement act and keep America
    working and growing.
        I urge the leadership to seize this opportunity. Make this a season
    of progress, not a winter of partisan politics. Let's finish the job the
    American people sent us here to do.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 2:39 p.m. on October 15 in the Oval
    Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on October 16. In
    his address, the President referred to Executive Order 13124 of June 4,
    1999, entitled ``Amending the Civil Service Rules Relating to Federal
    Employees With Psychiatric Disabilities'' (3 CFR, 1999 Comp., p. 192).
    The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary
    on September 15 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.