[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 30 (Monday, July 31, 2000)]
[Pages 1684-1686]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act

July 26, 2000

    Thank you very much. And thank you, Justin, for all you said, all 
you've done; how you've been a conscience to me and to Hillary and to 
the Vice President and our entire administration and to the country.
    I want to thank all the Members of Congress who are here, 
especially, obviously, Senator Harkin and Senator Hatch. But thank you, 
Senator Kennedy, Senator Specter, Senator Jeffords. Senator Metzenbaum, 
it's good to see you back. I'd like to thank Representative Morella and 
former Representative Bartlett. And Secretary Mineta, former 
Representative Mineta, thank you for what you did on this; and recognize 
that Tony Coehlo--I'm not sure that he's here--but for all he did, along 
with--and I thank all the members of the administration who are here: 
Secretary Herman, Secretary Gober, and Commissioner Apfel, Director 
Lachance, the EEO Chairwoman, Ida Castro, and many others over there.
    But I'd like to especially thank the people that Justin Dart 
recognized, the Americans with disabilities who have made our 
administration the most diverse in America, and I think the best, 
because of their contributions in terms of reflecting America's values. 
Thank you, Paul Miller, Bob Williams, Marca Bristo, Judy Heumann. Thank 
you, Becky Ogle, and all the others who are here for what you did for 
our administration.
    I finally think I've carried this too far. There is an article in 
the Washington Post this morning on Becky Ogle. If you haven't seen it, 
you ought to. I've been here 8 years, and I have never gotten that good 
of press in the Washington Post. [Laughter] It was amazing, so we're 
really making progress.
    I'd also like to thank young Beth Gray from my home State of 
Arkansas for singing the national anthem. Didn't she do a wonderful job? 
[Applause] I thought she was really terrific--and all the other young 
people that are here.
    One of the things that Tom Harkin didn't tell you about his brother, 
Frank, is that when we celebrated the first anniversary of the ADA, that 
I had a chance to celebrate as President in 1993, we made the first--Tom 
and I did--made the first and ever phone call from the White House to 
the nationwide relay service which allows people who are deaf to use the 
phone. We called Frank at home in Cumming, Iowa. And guess what? Here we 
were, the whole national press, we're in the Oval Office, Tom and I--the 
line was busy. [Laughter] Frank couldn't wait for us. He was already 
calling his friends to say hello, because he was so excited to be on the 
phone for the first time. Eventually, Frank found time to take our call, 
and we had a wonderful visit.
    I say that to make this point. A lot of what the Americans with 
Disabilities Act is all about is making sure people can live like 
people, can do things that other folks take for

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granted. The Americans with Disabilities Act--and I thank all these 
Members of Congress from both parties who are here, and those who 
couldn't be here today--is basically a statement by human beings that 
they want: Sympathy, no; self-determination, yes. That they don't want 
excuses. Instead, they want opportunity in terms of jobs and careers.
    The FDR Memorial is a pretty good place for us to be having this 
because, as all of you know, it is more than a monument to one of our 
Nation's leaders. It's a symbol of who we are as a nation and what we 
can overcome.
    Tom told me before I came up here, Senator Harkin said, ``You know, 
my father used to say that Roosevelt became President at the darkest 
time of our country's history. It took a disabled man to lead a disabled 
nation. They both forgot they had a disability by making it go away in 
their common endeavors.'' If we could just remember a few basic things: 
that everybody counts, everybody deserves a chance, everybody has a role 
to play, we all do better when we help each other. That's what this 
Memorial represents; that's what the ADA represents; that's America at 
its best.
    You know, the ADA has changed America in ways we have, I think, 
forgotten to be conscious of: curb cuts, braille signs, closed 
captioning. These things are part of everyday life now. It's also 
changing the way, I think, many Americans see one another, and dropping 
a lot of those invisible barriers to progress.
    I was proud last year to come here to sign the Jeffords-Kennedy Work 
Incentive Improvement Act, last December. It was the last bill signing 
of the 20th century. But on this 10th anniversary, as others have said, 
I want us to look ahead. In the midst of the longest economic expansion 
in history, more Americans with disabilities are working than ever 
before. But far too many who want to work are still not working. So on 
this anniversary, we're looking forward.
    Yesterday Vice President Gore announced a number of new steps we're 
taking to promote real choices in home- and community-based services and 
supports, especially with technology.
    Today I thank Hillary for what she said and for her commitment. I'm 
the first person that ever heard that story about her going from door to 
door finding out why kids weren't in school 27 years ago. I've heard it 
several times over the last 27 years, and I never get tired of it, 
because the things that happen to us along life's way--sometimes 
something simple and unexpected that make a searing impression are the 
things that really enable us, sometimes many years later, to make a real 
difference.
    Here's what we want to do today to help more Americans lead 
productive, self-sufficient lives. First, we must do more to remove 
barriers to work. Last year we raised the limits people can earn while 
still keeping Social Security disability benefits. From now on, the 
earnings limit will be automatically adjusted every year, based on the 
national average wage index. Now, this will reward work and help as many 
as 400,000 Americans with disabilities.
    Second, the Federal Government must lead by example. Our Federal 
work force is the smallest in 40 years. But as we make new hires, we 
need to ensure that we're tapping the deepest pool of talent. Today I 
will sign an Executive order calling on the Federal Government to hire 
100,000 people with disabilities by the 15th anniversary of the ADA. 
Now, one of the people on stage today is Mark Moore. He's a law student 
who helped to draft that Executive order. I want to thank him, all of 
the people at the Office of Personnel Management. Give Mark Moore a big 
hand. Thank you. [Applause]
    Third, Members of the Senate and the House have introduced the first 
bipartisan ``Family Opportunity Act,'' to ensure that children with 
disabilities can keep their Medicaid coverage even when their parents 
return to work. I plan to work with Congress to enact legislation to 
achieve those goals this year. We can do it this year. I thank the 
Members who are here who have done that.
    Fourth, we're going to have a new website to be a one-stop 
electronic resource link for people with disabilities to log on and get 
the latest information on tax credits and deductions, the nearest 
employment and training center, to learn more about civil rights and

[[Page 1686]]

protections guaranteed by the ADA. It's called Access America, 
www.disAbility.gov.
    And finally, I ask Congress again to act on important pending 
legislation to improve the lives of people with disabilities. We must be 
vigilant in defending the rights we have already secured, and our budget 
increases funds for ADA enforcement.
    I also asked Congress to pass our $1,000 tax credit to help workers 
with disabilities pay for support services and technologies needed to 
stay on the job, and our $3,000 tax credit for Americans of all ages 
with long-term care needs. I also say the disability community in 
America needs a strong hate crimes bill that protects people with 
disabilities and a real Patients' Bill of Rights that covers Americans, 
all of them, in all health plans.
    More than 60 years ago, President Roosevelt marked the anniversary 
of the Emancipation Proclamation. He said it was an occasion for 
recalling great progress and a time for remembering that in the truest 
sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. Because of all 
you have done, America has achieved greater freedom. We have liberated 
not only Americans with disabilities, but as Martin Luther King said of 
the civil rights movement so long ago, when people find their own 
freedom, those who have denied it to them for too long are, themselves, 
made more free. We are all a freer, better country because of the ADA 
and what you have done.
    When you look at the young people on this stage, you know that you 
have given them a better today. When we leave here, we should leave 
committed to giving them a much better tomorrow.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

 Note:  The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. at the Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt Memorial. In his remarks, he referred to Justin Dart, Jr., 
chairman and founder, Justice For All; former Representative Steve 
Bartlett; former Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum; Rebecca Ogle, Executive 
Director, Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with 
Disabilities; Marco Bristo, chair, National Council on Disability; and 
Tony Coehlo, Chairman, President's Committee on Employment of People 
with Disabilities. The transcript released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary also included the remarks of the First Lady.