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FOIA Number: 2019-0203-F
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administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Counsel Office
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Jonathan Young
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40194
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Digital Divide - Drafts of Letters
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3
THE WHITE HOUSE
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
inter
n
OFFICE OF PUBLIC LIAISON
Jonathan M. Young
Associate Director for Disability Outreach
Phone: 202-456-7032
TTY: 202-456-5128
Fax: 202-456-0362
To:
Tony Coelho
Fax:
703-684-8976
Date:
Phone:
Page one of:
Comments:
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
October 17, 2000
The Honorable Tony Coelho
Chairman
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
1331 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004-1107
Dear Tony,
I am writing to update you on the status of the CEO Employment letter and perhaps seek your
assistance.
As we discussed, we are hoping to release a letter from CEOs about hiring people with
disabilities. We need at least 25 to make the letter viable. Some of the companies are interested
but want to know who will produce the letter. In September we had a problem where people
were interested in signing, but declined to do SO if the Able to Work Consortium coordinated the
letter.
I am now trying to secure a commitment from the Chamber of Commerce to produce the letter.
This would rapidly help us secure CEO signatures and itself be a great symbolic commitment. I
have not spoken directly with Tom Donohue, but I have spoken with his assistant Cindy. I have
also approached the Chief of Staff and Senior VP, Susie Mathews, with the assistance of Leslie
Hortum. Cindy said both Susie and Tom are on travel today, and that she would try to reach me
this afternoon.
We really need to lock down the host organization for the letter by the very latest tomorrow. The
Chamber would be ideal. All it requires from their vantage point is reproducing the letter on
Chamber stationary and then collecting photocopies or digital copies of CEO signatures to add to
the letter. They don't need to play any role in soliciting companies (though they would certainly
be welcome).
Do you think it would be appropriate for you to contact Tom Donohue to get support straight
from the top? Or is it better for me to wait to hear back from Susie Mathews? For your
information, I've provided the text of the letter. Thanks for your assistance. I look forward to
joining you for dinner next week.
Sincerely,
Jonathan M. Young
THE WHITE HOUSE
October 17, 2000
The Honorable Tony Coelho
Chairman
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
1331 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004-1107
Dear Tony,
I am writing to update you on the status of the CEO Employment letter and perhaps seek your
assistance.
As we discussed, we are hoping to release a letter from CEOs about hiring people with
disabilities. We need at least 25 to make the letter viable. Some of the companies are interested
but want to know who will produce the letter. In September we had a problem where people
were interested in signing, but declined to do SO if the Able to Work Consortium coordinated the
letter.
I am now trying to secure a commitment from the Chamber of Commerce to produce the letter.
This would rapidly help us secure CEO signatures and itself be a great symbolic commitment. I
have not spoken directly with Tom Donohue, but I have spoken with his assistant Cindy. I have
also approached the Chief of Staff and Senior VP, Susie Mathews, with the assistance of Leslie
Hortum. Cindy said both Susie and Tom are on travel today, and that she would try to reach me
this afternoon.
We really need to lock down the host organization for the letter by the very latest tomorrow. The
Chamber would be ideal. All it requires from their vantage point is reproducing the letter on
Chamber stationary and then collecting photocopies or digital copies of CEO signatures to add to
the letter. They don't need to play any role in soliciting companies (though they would certainly
be welcome).
Do you think it would be appropriate for you to contact Tom Donohue to get support straight
from the top? Or is it better for me to wait to hear back from Susie Mathews? For your
information, I've provided the text of the letter. Thanks for your assistance. I look forward to
joining you for dinner next week.
Sincerely,
Jonathan M. Young
Dear Mr. President,
As CEOs of leading American businesses, one of our biggest challenges is recruiting and
retaining workers with the skills needed for our firms to compete and win in the global
marketplace. We believe that one of the ways to meet this challenge is to increase
employment opportunities for people with disabilities, especially since new information
and communications technologies will make it even easier for people with disabilities to
participate in the workforce. We are therefore proud to commit ourselves to promoting
the recruitment, hiring, and promotion of candidates and employees with disabilities.
People with disabilities also represent an untapped resource that can help fill the need for
qualified and highly skilled employees. A 30-year Dupont study, for example, has
indicated that employees with disabilities have above average records in job performance,
dependability, attendance, and safety. Today's information technologies provide an
unprecedented opportunity for people with disabilities to expand the scope of their
contributions -- and for our companies to meet the growing demand for workers. To
make concrete progress toward increasing the employment of people with disabilities,
complementing the Federal government's recent hiring commitment, and to help our
businesses grow, we will work to take the following steps:
Target disability in our diversity recruitment goals as we do for minorities and
women, including, wherever appropriate, specific hiring targets;
Promote the recruitment of youth with disabilities through summer internships,
mentoring programs, "career awareness" activities, and community education
programs that provide employment and leadership training;
Create partnerships with disability organizations to identify barriers to employment
for people with disabilities and to identify job candidates;
Include disability issues as part of our company's diversity training for all employees;
Incorporate images of disability in our company's internal and external promotional
and marketing materials;
Ensure that equal access to all company programs, including social activities, is
incorporated into the early planning of those programs; and
Develop and promote reasonable accommodations policies, including the availability
of assistive technologies.
This is important both to reach the inclusion goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act
and to sustain our national economy. Despite historic economic growth, people with
disabilities remain unemployed at rates unacceptably high -- several times that of the
general population. Becoming gainfully employed gives people the economic means to
become more fully integrated into our society and enhances one's sense of dignity. By
hiring people with disabilities in our companies we can help change the social attitudes
that continue to stand in the way of full inclusion of people with disabilities.
Thank you for your leadership in this area; we look forward to working with you on this
important issue.
THE WHITE HOUSE
///////
I
<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<
I
THE
OFFICE OF PUBLIC LIAISON
Jonathan M. Young
Associate Director for Disability Outreach
Phone: 202-456-7032
TTY: 202-456-5128
Fax: 202-456-0362
To:
Susan Ehringhaus
Fax:
919-962-1647
Date:
9/8/00
Phone:
919-962-1219
Page one of: 2
Comments:
This letter is being Circulated
among leading universities in Conjunction
with President Clirtons Difital Divide top on
September 21. Eileen Goldgeier at N.C. State
suffested I call you to find out the status of UNC.
Draft August 15, 2000
Dear Mr. President:
As the Presidents of a number of America's leading research universities, we are writing to
express our support for your efforts to make information and communications technologies more
accessible for people with disabilities, and to describe what our universities are prepared to do to
support this objective.
This is an important goal. If we design information and communications technologies SO that
they are accessible, people with disabilities will find it much easier to live, learn and work as we
enter the Information Age. If we fail to do this, people with disabilities could become
increasingly isolated from the economic and social mainstream.
As universities with strong programs in engineering and computer science, we believe that we
can make a significant contribution to this national goal. We educate the next generation of IT
professionals and entrepreneurs, and provide continuing education for IT experts that are already
in the workforce. Our faculty conducts the long-term research that often shapes and influences
future developments in the information and communications industry, and which could lead to
breakthroughs in accessibility. Each of our universities has unique assets that we can bring to
bear on this problem, but we are all committed to taking concrete steps in this area. We will
work to:
Make "universal design" and accessibility part of the education that we provide to computer
scientists and engineers at all levels -- undergraduate, graduate and continuing education;
Ensure that our Web sites and on-line resources are accessible to people with disabilities;
Look for ways to increase support for research to improve the state-of-the-art in this area by
seeking federal, state, private sector and foundation funding -- and providing internal "seed
funding" to new or existing faculty that wish to pursue this as a research topic;
Contribute to efforts by the federal government to develop a comprehensive research agenda
in this area;
Help train experts who can serve as a national resource on this issue by participating in
standards-setting efforts that incorporate accessibility, evaluating the accessibility of IT
products and services, and providing technical assistance to companies seeking to enhance
the accessibility of their products and services;
Develop a strategy for increasing participation of people with disabilities in our computer
science and engineering programs; and
Encourage our faculty who are developing cutting-edge applications of IT to consider
accessibility concerns.
Thank you for your leadership in this important area.
Draft August 16, 2000
As the CEOs of a number of America's leading high-tech companies, we strongly support your
efforts to promote the accessibility of information and communications products and services for
people with disabilities.
We believe that there are two compelling reasons to do so. First, accessible information
technology can be a powerful tool for expanding opportunity in the emerging information
society. If our products and services are designed to be accessible, people with disabilities will
find it easier to work, access a growing universe of electronic information and services, and lead
more independent lives. If we fail to do this, people with disabilities could be further isolated
from the mainstream of our economy and our society. Second, there are sound economic and
commercial incentives to make our products more accessible. Globally, there are over 750
million people with disabilities, and there are 55 million in the United States alone. Making our
products accessible will also make it easier for us to serve the rapidly growing population of
seniors. Moreover, increasing the accessibility of our products can often improve their
functionality for everyone, not just for people with disabilities. Designing products and services
that can give customers a choice of input and output mechanisms will help people with
disabilities, but it will also help the mobile professional trying to access the Web on a handheld
wireless device.
This issue requires private sector leadership. The federal government can help create the right
policy environment, but it is ultimately companies that must design, develop and market
accessible products and services. To make concrete progress on this issue, and to elevate its
importance within our companies, all of us are committed to developing a corporate-wide policy
on accessibility within the next six months. The specifics of our policies will vary because of the
different markets that we serve, but all of us will seek to include the following private sector
"best practices" as appropriate:
Raise the level of awareness of accessibility issues within our company, and provide our
employees with the training they need to design accessible products and services;
Develop accessibility guidelines for products and services, and hold product development
groups accountable for implementing these guidelines where technically and economically
feasible;
Involve people with disabilities in the design and testing of our products and services;
Devote sufficient product development and engineering resources to identify and rapidly
address known accessibility problems, particularly as we develop new versions of our
products;
drabily organizations
" unnessal desgn kyraye"
1
Leter from disability organizations
Make it easier for our developer community to create accessible products and services
through training, guidelines, and technology solutions such as authoring tools;
Document the accessibility features of our products and services;
Support internal and external (e.g. university-based) research and development that will
improve the state-of-the-art of accessible technology that is relevant to our products and
services; and
Implement standards that advance accessibility, such as the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) guidelines on accessible browsers, Web content and authoring tools.
As an industry, we will also commit to establishing a Web site that will collect private sector
policies on accessibility as a way of encouraging the rapid dissemination and adoption of best
practices. Thank you for your leadership on this important issue.
Sincerely,
2
Draft August 15, 2000
Dear Mr. President:
As the Presidents of a number of America's leading research universities, we are writing to
express our support for your efforts to make information and communications technologies more
accessible for people with disabilities, and to describe what our universities are prepared to do to
support this objective.
This is an important goal. If we design information and communications technologies SO that
they are accessible, people with disabilities will find it much easier to live, learn and work as we
enter the Information Age. If we fail to do this, people with disabilities could become
increasingly isolated from the economic and social mainstream.
As universities with strong programs in engineering and computer science, we believe that we
can make a significant contribution to this national goal. We educate the next generation of IT
professionals and entrepreneurs, and provide continuing education for IT experts that are already
in the workforce. Our faculty conducts the long-term research that often shapes and influences
future developments in the information and communications industry, and which could lead to
breakthroughs in accessibility. Each of our universities has unique assets that we can bring to
bear on this problem, but we are all committed to taking concrete steps in this area. We will
work to:
carees services others
working with faculty ?
Make "universal design" and accessibility part of the education that we provide to computer
scientists and engineers at all levels -- undergraduate, graduate and continuing education;
Ensure that our Web sites and on-line resources are accessible to people with disabilities;
Look for ways to increase support for research to improve the state-of-the-art in this area by
seeking federal, state, private sector and foundation funding -- and providing internal "seed
funding" to new or existing faculty that wish to pursue this as a research topic;
Contribute to efforts by the federal government to develop a comprehensive research agenda
in this area;
Help train experts who can serve as a national resource on this issue by participating in
standards-setting efforts that incorporate accessibility, evaluating the accessibility of IT
products and services, and providing technical assistance to companies seeking to enhance
the accessibility of their products and services;
Develop a strategy for increasing participation of people with disabilities in our computer
science and engineering programs; and
Encourage our faculty who are developing cutting-edge applications of IT to consider
intrasonature
on
habs
accessibility concerns.
Thank you for your leadership in this important area.
It Fissue of emputer purchases
Natural Commite for Internation Terming Shouts
organizations
distance learning
Gon-
University Letter Draft August 15, 2000
Dear Mr. President:
As the Presidents of a number of America's leading research universities, we are writing to
express our support for your efforts to make information and communications technologies more
accessible for people with disabilities, and to describe what our universities are prepared to do to
support this objective.
This is an important goal. If we design information and communications technologies so that
they are accessible, people with disabilities will find it much easier to live, learn and work as we
enter the Information Age. If we fail to do this, people with disabilities could become
increasingly isolated from the economic and social mainstream.
As universities with strong programs in engineering and computer science, we believe that we
can make a significant contribution to this national goal. We educate the next generation of IT
professionals and entrepreneurs, and provide continuing education for IT experts that are already
in the workforce. Our faculty conducts the long-term research that often shapes and influences
future developments in the information and communications industry, and which could lead to
breakthroughs in accessibility. Each of our universities has unique assets that we can bring to
bear on this problem, but we are all committed to taking concrete steps in this area. We will
work to:
Make "universal design" and accessibility part of the education that we provide to computer
scientists and engineers at all levels -- undergraduate, graduate and continuing education;
Ensure that our Web sites and on-line resources are accessible to people with disabilities;
Look for ways to increase support for research to improve the state-of-the-art in this area by
seeking federal, state, private sector and foundation funding -- and providing internal "seed
funding" to new or existing faculty that wish to pursue this as a research topic;
Contribute to efforts by the federal government to develop a comprehensive research agenda
in this area;
Help train experts who can serve as a national resource on this issue by participating in
standards-setting efforts that incorporate accessibility, evaluating the accessibility of IT
products and services, and providing technical assistance to companies seeking to enhance
the accessibility of their products and services;
Develop a strategy for increasing participation of people with disabilities in our computer
science and engineering programs; and
Encourage our faculty who are developing cutting-edge applications of IT to consider
accessibility concerns.
Thank you for your leadership in this important area.
Tech Letter Draft August 16, 2000
As the CEOs of a number of America's leading high-tech companies, we strongly support your
efforts to promote the accessibility of information and communications products and services for
people with disabilities.
We believe that there are two compelling reasons to do SO. First, accessible information
technology can be a powerful tool for expanding opportunity in the emerging information
society. If our products and services are designed to be accessible, people with disabilities will
find it easier to work, access a growing universe of electronic information and services, and lead
more independent lives. If we fail to do this, people with disabilities could be further isolated
from the mainstream of our economy and our society. Second, there are sound economic and
commercial incentives to make our products more accessible. Globally, there are over 750
million people with disabilities, and there are 55 million in the United States alone. Making our
products accessible will also make it easier for us to serve the rapidly growing population of
seniors. Moreover, increasing the accessibility of our products can often improve their
functionality for everyone, not just for people with disabilities. Designing products and services
that can give customers a choice of input and output mechanisms will help people with
disabilities, but it will also help the mobile professional trying to access the Web on a handheld
wireless device.
This issue requires private sector leadership. The federal government can help create the right
policy environment, but it is ultimately companies that must deign, develop and market
accessible products and services. To make concrete progress on this issue, and to elevate its
importance within our companies, all of us are committed to developing a corporate-wide policy
on accessibility within the next six months. The specifics of our policies will vary because of the
different markets that we serve, but all of us will seek to include the following private sector
"best practices" as appropriate:
Raise the level of awareness of accessibility issues within our company, and provide our
employees with the training they need to design accessible products and services;
Develop accessibility guidelines for products and services, and hold product development
groups accountable for implementing these guidelines where technically and economically
feasible;
Involve people with disabilities in the design and testing of our products and services;
Devote sufficient product development and engineering resources to identify and rapidly
address known accessibility problems, particularly as we develop new versions of our
products;
Make it easier for our developer community to create accessible products and services
through training, guidelines, and technology solutions such as authoring tools;
Document the accessibility features of our products and services;
Support internal and external (e.g. university-based) research and development that will
improve the state-of-the-art of accessible technology that is relevant to our products and
services; and
Implement standards that advance accessibility, such as the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) guidelines on accessible browsers, Web content and authoring tools.
As industry, we will also commit to establishing a Web site that will collect private sector
policies on accessibility as a way of encouraging the rapid dissemination and adoption of best
practices. Thank you for your leadership on this important issue.
Sincerely,
CEO Employment Letter 08-24-00 DRAFT
Dear Mr. President,
As CEOs of leading American businesses, one of our biggest challenges is recruiting and
retaining workers with the skills needed for our firms to compete and win in the global
marketplace. We believe that one of the ways to meet this challenge is to increase
employment opportunities for people with disabilities, especially since new information
and communications technologies will make it even easier for people with disabilities to
participate in the workforce. We are therefore proud to commit ourselves to promoting
the recruitment, hiring, and promotion of candidates and employees with disabilities.
This is important both to reach the inclusion goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act
and to sustain our national economy. Despite historic economic growth, people with
disabilities remain unemployed at rates unacceptably high -- several times that of the
general population. Becoming gainfully employed gives people the economic means to
become more fully integrated into our society and enhances one's sense of dignity. By
hiring people with disabilities in our companies we can help change the social attitudes
that continue to stand in the way of full inclusion of people with disabilities.
People with disabilities also represent an untapped resource that can help fill the need for
qualified and highly skilled employees. A 30-year Dupont study, for example, has
indicated that employees with disabilities have above average records in job performance,
dependability, attendance, and safety. Today's information technologies provide an
unprecedented opportunity for people with disabilities to expand the scope of their
contributions -- and for our companies to meet the growing demand for workers. To
make concrete progress toward increasing the employment of people with disabilities,
complimenting the Federal government's recent hiring commitment, we are committed to
taking the following steps:
Target disability in our diversity recruitment goals as we do for minorities and
women, including, wherever appropriate, specific hiring targets;
Include disability issues as part of our company's diversity training for all employees;
Incorporate images of disability in our company's internal and external promotional
and marketing materials;
Ensure that equal access to all company programs, including social activities, is
incorporated into the early planning of those programs;
Develop and promote reasonable accommodations policies, including the availability
of assistive technologies;
Promote the recruitment of youth with disabilities through summer internships,
mentoring programs, "career awareness" activities, and community education
programs that provide employment and leadership training; and,
Create partnerships with disability organizations to identify barriers to employment
for people with disabilities and to identify job candidates.
Thank you for your leadership in this area; we look forward to working with you on this
important issue.
September 20, 2000
The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
As the Presidents of a number of America's leading research universities, we are writing to
express our support for your efforts to make information and communications technologies more
accessible for people with disabilities, and to describe what our universities are prepared to do to
support this objective.
This is an important goal. If we design information and communications technologies SO that
they are accessible, people with disabilities will find it much easier to live, learn and work as we
enter the Information Age. If we fail to do this, people with disabilities could become
increasingly isolated from the economic and social mainstream.
As universities with strong programs in engineering and computer science, we believe that we
can make a significant contribution to this national goal. We educate the next generation of IT
professionals and entrepreneurs, and provide continuing education for IT experts that are already
in the workforce. Our faculty conducts the long-term research that often shapes and influences
future developments in the information and communications industry, and which could lead to
breakthroughs in accessibility. Each of our universities has unique assets that we can bring to
bear on this problem, but we are all committed to taking concrete steps in this area. We will
work to:
Make "universal design" and accessibility part of the education that we provide to computer
scientists and engineers at all levels -- undergraduate, graduate and continuing education;
Ensure that our Web sites and on-line resources are accessible to people with disabilities;
Look for ways to increase support for research to improve the state-of-the-art in this area by
seeking federal, state, private sector and foundation funding -- and providing internal "seed
funding" to new or existing faculty that wish to pursue this as a research topic;
Contribute to efforts by the federal government to develop a comprehensive research agenda
in this area;
Help train experts who can serve as a national resource on this issue by participating in
standards-setting efforts that incorporate accessibility, evaluating the accessibility of IT
products and services, and providing technical assistance to companies seeking to enhance
the accessibility of their products and services;
Develop a strategy for increasing participation of people with disabilities in our computer
science and engineering programs; and
Encourage our faculty who are developing cutting-edge applications of IT to consider
accessibility concerns.
Thank you for your leadership in this important area.
Sincerely,
President Richard Atkinson
University of California System
President David Baltimore
California Institute of Technology
President Henry S. Bienen
Northwestern University
President Sheila E. Blumstein
Brown University
President Lee C. Bollinger
University of Michigan
President William R. Brody
The Johns Hopkins University
President Carol A. Cartwright
Kent State University
President G. Wayne Clough
Georgia Institute of Technology
President Jared L. Cohon
Carnegie Mellon University
President Scott S. Cowen
Tulane University
President Larry R. Faulkner
The University of Texas at Austin
Chancellor Robert Hemenway
The University of Kansas
President Martin C. Jischke
Purdue University
President William E. Kirwan
The Ohio State University
President Donald N. Langenberg
University of Maryland System
President Francis L. Lawrence
Rutgers, The State of University of New Jersey
President Katharine C. Lyall
University of Wisconsin System
President Peter McPherson
Michigan State University
Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg
University of Pittsburgh
President Charles W. Steger
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
President James J. Stukel
University of Illinois
President Charles M. Vest
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Chancellor David Ward
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Chancellor James H. Woodward
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton
Washington University in St. Louis
PCEPD
Fax :202-376-6868
Sep 15 2000 17:39
P.01
PRESIDENT'S
EMPLOYMENT
COMMITTEE
FACSII.ILE TRANSMISSION
NEW :
ON EMPLOYMENT
NORMAL DELIVERY
Disney
OF PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITIES
URGENT
DATE: 9/15/00
TO: Jonathan young
FAX NO.
TELEPHONE NO.
FROM: Maggie Roffee
Total number of pages including this page: 3
Please call 202-376-6200 if all pages in this transaction are not received.
Additional comments or messages:
They foxed it to me
1331 F Street, N.W.
202-376-6200 (Voice)
Washington, DC 20004-1107
202-376-6219 (FAX)
202-376-6205 (TDD)
x
PCEPD
Fax 202-376-6868
Sep 15 2000 17:39
P.02
09/15/00 16:31 FAX 5167472046
NBDC
02/000
ATW
Letterked
September 1, 2000
«M» «Name»
«Title»
«Company»
«Address»
Dear «Salutation»:
The results of the 2000 SHRM/BNA survey of HR priorities indicate that 64% of
respondents consider recruitment to be a top issue due to the current tight labor market.
Another survey released in December, 1999 by a Pittsburgh based HR consulting firm
stated that companies now dedicate about 17% of their HR budget on recruitment and an
additional 10% on selection. However, over the next two years, 75% of all organizations
will increase their recruitment budget and 68% will allocate additional monies to the
selection process. According to Hegland and Associates, experts estimate that hiring and
training a new employee costs approximately $7,500.00.
As the labor pool continues to shrink, HR practitioners will be called upon to develop
innovative solutions to recruitment and selection. As NBDC and/or Able to Work
Consortium members, you are all aware of the untapped resource that exists among
people with disabilities. We are offering your company an opportunity to take advantage
of a national program designed to assist you in the recruitment and selection of qualified
college graduates with disabilities.
With support from the Presidential Taskforce on Employment of Adults with Disabilities,
Abilities, Inc, at the National Center for Disability Services is ready to launch a corporate
internship program that will provide you with college graduates with disabilities who are
qualified for positions within your company. Your colleagues at the following
companies have already indicated their intent to host intern(s) and/or hire qualified
workers through this effort.
Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Caterpillar Inc.
Dell Computer
The Ford Motor Company
IBM
Lucent Technologies, Inc.
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Royal Bank of Canada
- continued -
PCEPD
Fax 202-376-6868
Sep 15 2000 17:40
P. 03
09/15/00 16:32 FAX 5167472046
NBDC
E 003/000
Page 2
This initiative is consistent with a major White House announcement, scheduled for
September, and directed towards CEO's of leading American businesses to address issues
related to the employment of persons with disabilities. As an expression of your
company's response to the President's call for action by private industry, we are
enclosing a letter drafted by White House staff to be signed by your President/Chief
Executive Officer and mailed directly to President Clinton.
In addition, we are developing a public relations plan to announce the internship program
at events that will take place during October (National Disability Employment Awareness
Month). Some events include: NBDC National Conference; a press conference in
conjunction with government officials, etc. All announcements and activities will be
coordinated with your public relations contact and will include your company's
participation.
An outline of our plan is enclosed for your review and response as well as information
forms to indicate your intent to participate. October is just around the corner and we
must be advised of your interest by September 15th. If you would like more information
please contact Francine M. Tishman at (516) 465-1480 or Judy Young (516) 465-1491.
Sincerely,
Edmund L. Cortez
Francine M. Tishman
President and Chief Executive Officer
Executive Director
FMT:hh
Enc.
CALL SHEET: CEO EMPLOYMENT LETTER
On September 21, President Clinton will take another trip as part of his Digital Divide Tour,
this one focusing on the accessibility and usability of information technology, and the
educational and employment opportunities IT can offer for people with disabilities.
We want to use this trip not only as an opportunity to focus on the technologies themselves,
but as a mechanism to help meet pressing needs of our national economy: the need to recruit
and retain skilled workers that can sustain economic growth and help us to win in the global
marketplace.
[Five themes: 1) promoting the accessibility -- from the design stage -- of IT products and
services; 2) ensuring the accessibility of current digital divide initiatives; 3) improving
the state-of-the-art of assistive technologies; 4) increasing the employment of people with
disabilities through the assistance of IT and in high-tech jobs; 5) addressing the inequities
that make many technologies unaffordable for low or moderate-income households.]
With the opportunities offered by information technologies, people with disabilities represent
an untapped resource that can help fill the need for qualified and skilled employees.
We have been working with a number of CEOs about their interest in identifying company
actions and policies that can promote the recruitment, hiring, and promotion of candidates
and employees with disabilities.
We have a draft of a letter that documents some of these steps, and are now approaching
additional CEOs about signing on to this letter.
We'd like you to consider joining these initiative.
In addition to signing on to this letter, we also welcome you to consider any company-
specific initiatives that might be announced in conjunction with this trip. We have a
summary of previous announcements made in conjunction with the Digital Divide initiative
we can share with you.
Thank you for your consideration. You can follow-up with me at 202-456-2930, or
Jonathan Young of my staff, at 202-456-7032.
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September 21, 2000
MEMORANDUM FOR: THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
THE SECRETARY OF LABOR
THE SECRETARY OF VETERAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT:
Interagency Task Force to Examine the Role of Medicare and
Medicaid Coverage of Assistive Technologies in Encouraging
the Employment of Individuals with Disabilities.
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, the last legislation
that I signed during the 20th Century, was a breakthrough in helping the disabled to work.
Individuals with disabilities can return to work and retain their Medicare and Medicaid
coverage -- no longer will the disabled be forced to make an unfair choice between work
and essential health care coverage. The Work Incentives legislation affirms that people
with disabilities can and do make valuable contributions to society through participation
in the American workforce.
In ensuring that the disabled have the same opportunities to work as all Americans, our
next step is to take advantage of the remarkable advances in so-called assistive
technologies - innovative devices that facilitate independent living and meaningful
employment for the disabled. I recognized the importance of assistive technology
devices in signing the Assistive Technology Act of 1998 which funds State-based
programs supporting their use. This year, I have also included in my budget $100 million
for disability and technology research at the National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research, a $14 million increase over FY 2000. The National Center for
Medical Rehabilitation Research overseen by the National Institutes of Health and the
Department of Veteran Affairs also provide $30 million each in grants for assistive
technology research. Together, these funds will support comprehensive research and
education on the use of assistive technologies to further community integration and labor
force participation for individuals with disabilities.
While the Work Incentives legislation extended Medicare and Medicaid to disabled
workers, I believe the federal government must make a comprehensive effort to
determine how best to make such programs more meaningful to individuals with
disabilities, including improved coverage of assistive technologies. It is especially
important to examine how medically necessary assistive technologies may facilitate
independent living but also support individuals with disabilities in working.
Today, I am holding an event on the digital divide highlighting the importance and
potential of assistive technology in providing access to the Internet for the disabled. I am
also directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take responsibility for
convening an interagency Task Force on Health Care Coverage of Assistive
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Technologies that includes the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education,
Labor and Veterans Affairs. The Task Force shall study the role that Medicare and
Medicaid does and should play in the provision of assistive technology devices. The
work of the Task Force is intended to provide a framework for future Medicare and
Medicaid coverage decisions that compliment the Administration's overall efforts to
promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Therefore, I hereby direct this Task Force to conduct a study on the role of Medicare and
Medicaid in covering assistive technologies that encourage employment of individuals
with disabilities. The study should:
Examine current Medicare and Medicaid coverage of assistive technology devices.
Assess the current coverage criteria under Medicare and Medicaid with comparisons
to the private insurance market. Review and evaluate other past and on-going
research on Medicare and Medicaid coverage of assistive technologies.
Seek input from the disability community in identifying the types of medically
necessary assistive technologies that facilitate independent living generally but also
support disabled individuals in employment. Develop criteria for identifying such
devices.
Determine whether provision of assistive technologies may substitute for other
Medicare and Medicaid health care services such as personal care services and
supports which are covered by Medicaid.
Analyze Medicare and Medicaid medical necessity guidelines to determine whether
they can complement employment while continuing to meet the health care focus of
the Medicare and Medicaid programs. As we move towards a concept of disability
that includes employment, there is a need to study the intersection of the concepts of
disability, medical necessity, and employment.
Determine an appropriate delineation of responsibility for coverage of assistive
technologies between publicly financed health care and employers by evaluating
employers' responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act and the Assistive Technology Act. Explore how individuals
with disabilities, employers, public and private health insurance, and other public
programs should share in the cost of financing assistive technologies.
Make recommendations for administrative and legislative changes to the Medicare
and Medicaid programs to encourage coverage of medically necessary assistive
technologies that also support employment of individuals with disabilities.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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ABILITIES, INC.
201 I.U. WILLETS ROAD
ALBERTSON, NY 11507
(516) 465-1491
facsimile transmittal
To:
Jonathan Young
Fax: (202) 456-0362
From: Judy Young
Date: September 6, 2000
Re:
List of Organizations
Pages: 4
CC:
Urgent
For Review
Please Comment
Please Reply
Please Recycle
Jonathan:
The CEO letter was sent to the attached list of organizations. I am
sending it to you as you requested.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to call me.
Judy Young
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ABILITIES, INC.
COMPANY NAME
Abbott Laboratories
Adecco Incorporated
Aetna Inc.
Alabama Power Company
Aluminum Company of America
Amerada Hess Corporation
American Electric Power Service Corporation
American Express Financial Advisors
American Family Insurance
Ameritech
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
APL, Ltd.
Arrow Electronics
Astoria Federal Savings
AT&T/AT&T Wireless
Avis Rent-A-Car System, Inc.
AXA Financial Incorporated
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
BASF Corporation
Bestfoods
Booz
Allen & Hamilton Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Caterpillar Inc.
CBS Inc.
Chase Manhattan Bank
Chubb Group of Insurance Companies
CIGNA
Cisco Systems
Citibank, N.A.
Coca-Cola Company
Computer Associates International, Inc.
ConAgra Incorporated
Crate & Barrel
DaimlerChrysler
Darden Restaurants Incorporated
Deere & Company
Dell Computer Corporation
Delta Airlines
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Dime Savings Bank of New York
El Paso Energy Corporation
EMC Corporation
Enron Corporation
European American Bank
Federated Department Stores Incorporated
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Fleet Bank
Ford Motor Company
General Motors Corporation
Greyhound Lines, Inc.
GTE
H. J. Heinz Company
HirePotential Incorporated
Home Depot
HomeRuns.com
Humana Incorporated
Hunter Douglas, Inc.
IBM
J.P. Morgan
John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson Controls
Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc.
Keebler Company
KeySpan Energy
Lehman Brothers
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Lotus Development Corporation
Louis Dreyfus Holding Company Inc.
LTV Steel Company
Lucent Technologies, Inc.
Marriott Corporation
Matsushita Electric Corporation of America
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.
Merck & Co., Inc.
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Microsoft Corporation
Mobil Corporation
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Mutual of America Life Insurance Company
NCR
New York Life Insurance Company
Newsday
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Northern Telecom Inc.
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Office Depot
Pall Corporation
Pennzoil-Quaker State Company
Perkin-Elmer Corporation
Pharmacia & UpJohn Incorporated
Philip Morris, Inc.
Pitney Bowes, Inc.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Procter & Gamble
Prudential Insurance Company of America
Reliance Federal Savings Bank
Royal Bank of Canada
SAFECO
SBC Communications, Inc.
Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Shell Oil Company
Sony Electronics
Sprint
Standard Insurance Company
State Farm Insurance Companies
State Street Corporation
Symbol Technologies
Texaco Inc.
The Dow Chemical Company
The Ford Motor Company
The Principal Financial Group
Trans World Airlines, Inc.
TransScape
United Airlines, Inc.
United Parcel Service
Unocal Corporation
UnumProvident Corporation
US Airways, Inc.
US West Communications
Verizon
W.W. Grainger Incorporated
Warner-Lambert Company
Washington Mutual
WESCO Distribution Inc.
World Bank
Xerox Corporation