[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 21 (Monday, May 27, 1996)]
[Pages 925-927]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the President's Committee on Employment of People With 
Disabilities Conference

May 23, 1996

    Thank you very much, Tony, for your remarks, your support, your 
friendship and your leadership of the committee. I want to say hello to 
the others who are there--to John Sweeney and to Al Checchi. I want to 
say a special word of thanks to my good friend, Justin Dart who I know 
had to leave, but who has been a real champion for Americans with 
disabilities; indeed, for the rights and interests of all Americans.
    I want to say a special word of greeting to the cochairs of the 
committee, the vice chairs: Norm Miller, I. King Jordan, Karen Meyer, 
Neil Jacobson, Dr. Sylvia Walker, and Ron Drach.
    Thank you, all of you who are there for your very warm welcome. I'm 
sorry I couldn't join you in person today, I have to be in Milwaukee 
with the German Chancellor. But I didn't want to miss this opportunity 
to talk with you about what we must do together to ensure the full 
participation of the 49 million Americans with disabilities in the 
vibrant life and economy of our great country.
    Three and a half years ago, when I took the Oath of Office, I had a 
very clear vision of what I hoped our country could be like as we move 
into the 21st century. I wanted us to be a country that offers great 
opportunities for all who are willing to work for them. I wanted us to 
remain the world's strongest force for peace and freedom. And I wanted 
us to rebuild our sense of unity and community around the shared ethic 
of responsibility and a respect for diversity.
    Together we've made great progress toward achieving those goals. Our 
economic strategy to reduce the deficit, expand trade, and invest in our 
people is paying off. The deficit is now less than half of what it was 4 
years ago. We have 8\1/2\ million more jobs, the lowest combined rates 
of inflation, mortgage rates, and employment in 27 years. Homeownership 
is at a 15-year high, and we have all-time highs in exports and new 
business formations for each of the last 3 years.
    We've also worked hard to increase educational opportunities for all 
Americans, from more positions for children in Head Start to more 
affordable college loans to the national service program. We've done our 
part to fight to lower the crime rate by passing a crime bill which is 
putting 100,000 police officers on the street, banning assault weapons, 
and passing the Brady bill which has kept 60,000 people with criminal 
records or other disturbing histories from getting handguns. And we have 
maintained our commitment to a clean, safe environment for all 
Americans.
    Compared to 4 years ago, the world is also a safer and more peaceful 
place. The nuclear threat is diminished. No weapons are pointed at the 
people of the United States. Peace and

[[Page 926]]

freedom are taking hold from Haiti to South Africa, to Northern Ireland, 
to Bosnia, to the Middle East. We have moved a long way in 3\1/2\ years.
    But today I want to talk to you about our country's future, 
especially in terms of that first objective, expanding opportunities for 
every American who is willing to take responsibility for making the most 
of his or her God-given abilities. The theme of your conference is 
investing in abilities. That's been something we've tried very hard to 
do and something I intend to keep on doing.
    In 1992 I issued a challenge to our Nation. I said we must not rest 
until America has a national disability policy based on three simple 
creeds: inclusion, not exclusion: independence, not dependence; and 
empowerment, not paternalism. I remain committed to that vision, and I 
want to thank all of you for working so hard with us to make it a 
reality. More than ever before in our history, America's greatness in 
the next century will depend upon the ability of all our citizens to 
make the most of their own lives. Americans with disabilities are an 
enormous, largely untapped reservoir of that potential.
    Employment is the key to economic security for Americans, including 
people with disabilities. Even though we have created 8\1/2\ million new 
jobs, it remains a tragedy today that two-thirds of the people with 
disabilities are unemployed. And it's up to all of us--employers, labor, 
people with disabilities, and government--to work together to change 
this picture.
    In the past 4 years, we have made progress. We're fighting to make 
sure that people with disabilities have health care and the living wages 
they need to live independently. Our strong commitment to the Americans 
With Disabilities Act has opened up town halls, schools, transportation 
systems, workplaces, grocery stores, restaurants, and movie theaters to 
millions of people with disabilities. Our 1997 budget calls for an 
increase in funding for ADA enforcement at the Department of Justice.
    The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act is preparing 
students with disabilities to get their share of the high-wage jobs that 
are opening up in this new economy. I know how much the IDEA means to 
millions of students with disabilities and to their parents. I strongly 
support it.
    High school graduates with disabilities who went to school under 
IDEA have an employment rate twice that of the overall population of 
individuals with disabilities. We're building on this achievement by 
supporting efforts like your high school high-tech program that is 
guiding promising students to college and careers in science and 
technology. We're making sure people with disabilities are included in 
our school-to-work efforts.
    No one--no one--should have to go through what Judy Heumann went 
through to get an education in our country. She's been a pioneer in the 
struggle for the rights of people with disabilities. She developed polio 
when she was 18 months old and she was denied the right to attend public 
school until the 4th grade. She had to sue to get a teaching job that 
was denied her because she uses a wheelchair. And during the seventies, 
she participated in a sit-in that resulted in the creation of the 
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. As my Assistant Secretary 
for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the Department of 
Education, she now runs IDEA. That is a remarkable story, and we need 
more of them.
    But you and I know the ADA and the IDEA alone will not achieve our 
vision of inclusion, independence, and empowerment for people with 
disabilities. That's why I fought so hard for measures like the Family 
and Medical Leave Act. And today I'm announcing that as a result of your 
work, Federal agencies are now developing a better system for tracking 
the unemployment rate of people with disabilities.
    This new system will strengthen our ability to include people with 
disabilities in all our employment policies and programs. In addition, 
I've asked the Secretary of Commerce to work with your committee and 
relevant Federal agencies to recommend to me ways that we can ensure 
that people with disabilities are included in all our efforts to assist 
entrepreneurs and small businesses. So we are making progress.
    But let me say there is more to do. First, we must preserve the 
guarantee of Medicaid coverage for people with disabilities. For

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three decades Americans have stood on common ground about the need for 
guaranteed Medicaid coverage for older Americans, pregnant women, low-
income children, and people with disabilities. But last year Congress 
sent me legislation to repeal that guarantee, legislation that would 
have taken away health care coverage from millions of Americans who need 
it most. I vetoed that legislation, and if they send it to me again and 
they want to repeal the guarantee again, I will veto it again.
    Let me be clear. We can balance this budget without repealing 
guaranteed Medicaid coverage for the 6 million Americans with 
disabilities who depend upon it, including one million children. 
Medicaid is a family issue, as people with disabilities know, making it 
possible for more people to get care at home and their communities. 
Without the guarantee, a middle class family with a child with a severe 
disability could be forced into poverty to pay for the child's medical 
care. Parents could be forced to give up jobs to stay home to care for a 
child. Children and adults who live independently today might be forced 
into institutions. I will not let that happen.
    The second thing we have to do is to strengthen the health security 
of people with disabilities and, indeed, for all Americans, with the 
passage of the Kassebaum-Kennedy health insurance reform bill. This 
legislation would not allow insurance companies to deny coverage for 
anybody with a preexisting condition and will allow people to keep their 
health insurance if they change jobs or if someone in the family gets 
sick. So I urge Congress to stop stalling and pass the bill now, as an 
important step forward.
    Finally, let me say I've called on Congress to increase the minimum 
wage, which will benefit millions of Americans with disabilities who 
face extra costs for accessible housing and personal assistance. We need 
that.
    All of you know that America is in the best position to be a winner 
in the global economy of the 21st century because of the depths of our 
values, the strength of our diversity, the power of our economy. But we 
don't have a person to waste. We have to continue to expand opportunity, 
demand responsibility from all of our citizens. And that does mean 
inclusion, not exclusion.
    Again, let me thank you, all of you, for everything you've done and 
for everything you will do. Thank you for the progress we've made and 
the progress we still will make.
    Just last week I had a very moving visit with Christopher Reeve in 
the Oval Office, and I mentioned to Christopher that in 1933 the Oval 
Office was the first Government office designed specifically to be 
accessible to accommodate President Roosevelt. He said to me that it was 
too bad that at the time he had to hide his disability.
    I hope with Christopher Reeve that as the Roosevelt Memorial becomes 
a reality, with your efforts to remove the stigma of disability, they'll 
find a way to make sure that the American people know that this great, 
great President was great with his disability.
    Thank you all, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke by satellite at 9:35 a.m. from Milwaukee, WI, 
to the conference meeting in Detroit, MI. In his remarks, he referred to 
Tony Coehlo, chairman, Justin Dart, former chairman, President's 
Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities; John Sweeney, 
president, AFL-CIO, and Al Checchi, cochairman, Northwest Airlines.