[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 39 (Monday, October 4, 1999)]
[Pages 1871-1872]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7229--National Disability Employment Awareness Month, 1999

September 30, 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 extent 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

[[Page 1872]]

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.
    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.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 5, 
1999]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on October 
4.