[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 50 (Monday, December 20, 1999)]
[Pages 2629-2632]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement 
Act of 1999

December 17, 1999

    Thank you. Senator Kennedy, Senator Jeffords, we thank you for your 
leadership and your remarks today. And Senator Roth, we thank you very 
much. We know this couldn't have happened without you. And Senator 
Moynihan, Representative Lazio, thank you, sir. And Representative 
Waxman and Representative Brown who are here, and Representative Dingell 
who isn't here--I want to thank all of you for your leadership in the 
House. Give them all a hand. [Applause]
    I also want to thank the members of the administration who were 
particularly active in supporting this bill: Secretary Herman, the 
cochair of my task force on the employment of adults with disabilities; 
Secretary Shalala; Secretary Summers; Social Security Commissioner 
Apfel. I'd like to thank, in the White House, my Chief of Staff John 
Podesta, Chris Jennings, and Jeanne Lambrew, who had a lot to do with 
this bill, as all of you know.
    I want to thank Senator Dole, especially, and through him all the 
citizens who came forward and made it possible for this to be a 
genuinely American bill. I want to welcome the members of the Roosevelt 
family who are here today, particularly Jim and Ann
Roosevelt, my longtime friends. And now Jim is a member of this 
administration, something I'm very proud of.
    I want to thank you, Justin Dart, and the members of the disability 
community who are here, for this and every other issue that

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we've worked on for over 7 years now. And I want to acknowledge--James 
Sullivan really spoke for three others who are here--Donna McNamee, Paul 
Marshall, and
Wesley Vinner. I thank them for being up here, because every one of them 
represents a different, slightly different story of someone who will 
benefit from this bill. and I thank them for sharing their stories with 
us.
    I think it's kind of interesting, don't you, that Mr. Sullivan, from 
New Hampshire and Senator Jeffords, from Vermont, are the only two 
people up here without coats on? [Laughter] This is a warm December day 
in New England. [Laughter]
    Senator Jeffords, you made that remark that President Roosevelt 
never carried Vermont. You know, my family communes with the Roosevelts 
on a regular basis--[laughter]--you may remember that. And Eleanor told 
Hillary last night you're forgiven, all is forgiven now. [Laughter] This 
wipes the slate clean--this bill does. [Laughter]
    John Sweeney, we thank you for being here. And we thank the labor 
community for their support of this legislation, as well.
    I think it is wonderfully fitting that this is the last piece of 
legislation a President of the United States will sign in the entire 
20th century. We do it at this magnificent memorial to Franklin 
Roosevelt, who from his wheelchair lifted our Nation out of depression 
and led the free world to victory in World War II, who laid the building 
blocks for world peace and security that we enjoy today, and 
accomplished it all as an American with a disability.
    In his time, as we all know--and we've had a lot of debates about 
that in this memorial context--Roosevelt felt he needed to keep his 
wheelchair from public view. Most people believed being disabled meant 
being unable, though he proved them very wrong every day. Today, in the 
spirit of his leadership and the wake of his accomplishments, we move 
further along on our Nation's marvelous journey of equal opportunity for 
all.
    This is a good time for our country. We're ending the century on a 
high note, with 20 million new jobs since 1993, the lowest unemployment 
rate in 30 years, the lowest welfare rolls in 32 years, the lowest 
poverty rate in 20 years, in February, the longest economic expansion in 
our entire history. But in spite of this good economic news, we know 
that three out of four people with significant disabilities are not 
working. They're ready to work, they're willing to work, and they are 
very able to work. But as we have heard, they face the daunting barrier 
of losing their Medicare or Medicaid coverage if they get a job.
    For many Americans with disabilities, medical bills, as you just 
heard from our previous speaker, may cost thousands more than what is 
typically covered by an employer's private health insurance. For some, 
including some on this stage, those medical bills, because of the 
attendant care services, may add up to more than any reasonable salary a 
person with disabilities could ever hope to earn.
    And yet, quite beyond the human cost of denying people the dignity 
of work, this defies common sense and economic logic. It doesn't make 
sense for people to be denied the dignity of work and for the taxpayers 
to pay the bills, whether they're working or not, and therefore, losing 
the benefit of the productivity, the contributions to our economy and 
society, and as you just heard, the tax receipt of working Americans.
    Secretary Summers is here. You wouldn't believe how much time we 
spend arguing over how much longer this economic expansion can go on. 
How can we keep it going without inflation? How many expansions in the 
past have been broken because inflation finally burst through and had to 
be taken down and that led to a recession?
    Well, one way we can keep this economic expansion going is to take 
it to people and places who aren't part of it. That's what our new 
markets initiative to poor areas of America is all about. And make no 
mistake about it, that will be one big objective of this bill. This is 
an inflation-free way to keep America's economy growing. You are helping 
every single American--not just Americans with disabilities--every 
single American will be helped by this legislation today.
    But of course, even more compelling than the economic argument is 
the human one. Today, we say with a simple but clear voice, no one 
should have to choose between taking a job and having health care.

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    This legislation reorients our policy by saying health care ought to 
be a tool to getting a job, earning a salary, paying taxes, and living 
up to one's God-given potential. You don't have to worry about losing 
Medicare or Medicaid anymore.
    This landmark measure will also make a real difference to people who 
are facing the early onset of diseases like AIDS, muscular dystrophy, 
Parkinson's, or diabetes. Right now, they may be able to work, but their 
work conditions are not deemed severe enough to qualify for Medicare. In 
other words, they may only become eligible for health care when they're 
no longer able to work. Now the problem is they're uninsurable because 
of the condition they have, even though they're not disabled. So they're 
also in a different kind of double-bind.
    With this bill--thanks again to bipartisan support in Congress and 
to the fact that the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and 
Means Committee found a way to fund it--we are going to have a $250 
million demonstration program that will allow these Americans to buy 
into the Medicare program, so they can stay on the job and don't have to 
give it up to get health care when they're perfectly capable of working. 
This is also a very important feature of this bill.
    And finally, both Senator Kennedy and Senator Jeffords mentioned the 
Ticket to Work legislation that's a part of this bill. This creates 
long-overdue reforms of the job-training program, so people with 
disabilities can make their own choices about vocational rehabilitation 
services, the ones that are best for them.
    Taken together, clearly, this is the most significant advancement 
for people with disabilities since the Americans with Disabilities Act 
almost a decade ago. It continues our administration's efforts to 
replace barriers to opportunity with policies based on inclusion, 
empowerment, and independence.
    That's why we reformed welfare, to reward the dignity of work, why 
we doubled the earned-income tax credit for low-income working people, 
particularly those with children, raised the minimum wage, enacted the 
family and medical leave law. This bill takes us another huge step in 
the right direction of both liberating and rewarding the creative 
energies of all Americans. But our task isn't done.
    I often think it's ironic that, when we have these bill signings, 
the Presidents get to make the speeches and sign the bills, but the 
Members of Congress must be sitting out there thinking they did all the 
work. [Laughter] And in truth, they did the lion's share, and I was 
proud to support them.
    But now it's our turn. We have to make it work in the lives of real 
people. I have instructed Secretary Shalala, Secretary
Herman, and Commissioner Apfel to take immediate action to implement 
this legislation, to team up with the States advocates, businesses, and 
others who are crucial to make this bill work.
    Now, all of you here who had a hand in this know that the way it's 
set up, States have a vital role to play. We want to take every 
opportunity to help every single State in America take maximum advantage 
of the new options provided under this legislation. We want to encourage 
employees to reach out and tap the talented pool of potential workers 
that are now available. We want to work with all of you to ensure that 
we effectively get the word out to people who have disabilities so they 
actually know about the benefits of this legislation.
    This is about more than jobs or paychecks--I'll say it again--it's 
about more than keeping our recovery going. It's fundamentally about the 
dignity of each human being, about the realization of a quality of 
opportunity, about recognizing that work is at the heart of the American 
dream.
    In the end, the counsel of Franklin Roosevelt that's etched in the 
walls of this memorial guides us still. He said, ``No country, however 
rich, can afford the waste of its human resources.'' That is ever more 
true as we cross the threshold into the new millennium.
    I think Mr. Roosevelt would be proud of all of you today. I think we 
have honored his life and his legacy. In the new century, America will 
realize even more of it's promise because we have unleashed the promise 
of more Americans.
    Congratulations, and God bless you all.

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    I'd like to ask the Members of Congress and the administration to 
come up for the bill signing now.

Note: The President spoke at 9:55 a.m. at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt 
Memorial. In his remarks, he referred to James Sullivan, Hudson, NH, who 
introduced the President, Donna McNamee, Cleveland, OH, Paul Marshall, 
Wheaton, MD, and Wesley Vinner, Riverdale, MD, citizens who will benefit 
from the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act; 
Representative Sherrod Brown; former Senator Bob Dole; Justin Dart, Jr., 
chairman and founder, Justice For All; Jeanne Lambrew, Senior Health 
Policy Analyst, National Economic Council; and John J. Sweeney, 
president, AFL-CIO. H.R. 1180, approved December 17, was assigned Public 
Law No. 106-170. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of these remarks.