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Records of the Office of the Chief of Staff (Clinton Administration)
Victoria Radd's Files
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FOIA Number: 2007-0143-F
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MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Chief of Staff
Series/Staff Member:
Victoria Radd
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
11022
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Folder Title:
Disabilities
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23
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9
1
Summary of draft Executive Order on Employment of People with Disabilities
Note: This version is DPC's effort to reach a compromise between the appointees with disabilities
and the Department of Labor, but it is much closer to the appointees' preferences.
Preamble
Establishes national agenda for the employment of people with disabilities and directs agencies
to set in place requisite policies to improve the employment rate of people with disabilities.
Effort is consistent with Administration efforts to strengthen economy.
High unemployment rate of people with disabilities and cost to society; and high cost of
government programs (SSDI, SSI, workers' comp, welfare) to support those with disabilities
who are not working; few on the rolls return to work.
Many people with disabilities want to work, but face discrimination and a host of other barriers
-- lack of health insurance, transportation, housing, long-term supports, etc.
The ADA has begun to improve employment picture, but we must ensure our policies conform
to ADA vision that people with disabilities be part of the economic mainstream.
President's 1998 budget included proposals that move in the right direction.
Establishment of National Employment Agenda for Individuals with Disabilities
Establishes goal of moving toward an employment rate for all adult individuals with disabilities
as close as possible to the employment rate of the general adult population.
Establishes National Task Force to oversee and implement agenda, chaired by DOL, with
relevant federal agencies as members. Agencies shall give this a high priority, consistent with
balanced budget. Task Force shall continue through 2002.
Activities of the Task Force on the National Employment Agenda
To increase employment rate of people with disabilities and ameliorate employment barriers for
persons with disabilities, the Task Force shall ensure the coordination of Federal efforts and
identify changes to agency programs and policies; may recommend changes to the President.
Task Force/OPM shall make the federal government a model employer: review federal
personnel policy and recommend change where necessary, within a year. Vague role for EEOC.
Expands Defense Department's Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program to serve all
government agencies, saying "appropriations shall be sought within the Department of
Defense's budget to adequately fund the program." (Cost of $2-5 million.)
Directs Task Force/SSA/Treasury to design and implement programs that "provide economic
and other incentives to both employers and individuals with disabilities to encourage persons
with disabilities to leave the Social Security and other income maintenance rolls or to avoid
enrollment altogether" (the appointees are hoping for a tax credit).
Directs Task Force/Justice/HHS to work with states to ensure that welfare reform is carried out
in compliance with civil rights law (i.e., people with disabilities who are expected to work get
reasonable accommodations if they need them).
Directs Task Force/DOL/Commerce/HHS/SBA to increase small business opportunities for
people with disabilities; and to help people leaving welfare to start micro-enterprises that
provide personal assistance services to people with disabilities.
Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to start reporting monthly unemployment rate of people
with disabilities within one year after the executive order. (This may have a cost.)
Reporting Requirement
Task Force shall report to the President on government-wide plan and steps taken by each
department and agency to advance this agenda in July 1998 and every two years after that.
Executive Order
[number]
[month / day], 1997
Agenda 2002 for the Employment of People with Disabilities: A Renewed and
Reinvigorated Executive Branch Commitment
This Order establishes a National agenda for the employment of people with disabilities and
directs the key executive branch agencies charged herein to set in place the requisite policies and
actions to improve the employment rate of people with disabilities. This order is consistent with
this Administration's efforts to further strengthen our economy by including and preparing all
segments of working age Americans for the emerging workforce of the 21st century. The
continued strength and expansion of our economy depend on our ability to make the most of the
productive potential of all groups.
People with disabilities are at least twice as likely as people without disabilities to be unemployed.
At the end of 1994, 19.5 percent of the population aged 18-64, or 30.7 million people, had a
disability. Of these, 14.5' million had a severe limitation and were employed at the rate of only
24.7 percent. The artificially low employment rate of people with disabilities is estimated to cost
society in excess of $200 billion annually. This is a long standing problem in this country, and was
a motivating factor in the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
In addition, the cost of many government subsidies to those judged unable to work because of
disabilities is growing dramatically, including Social Security disability benefit programs and
workers' compensation insurance programs. The Social Security Administration now pays more
than $36 billion a year in disability insurance benefits to 4.5 million disabled workers, and $25
billion a year in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to more than 5 million low-income people
with disabilities. When Medicare and Medicaid costs are included, total Federal and state
expenditures more than double. Yet less than 1 percent of the over 8 million beneficiaries return
to work to become income earning, tax paying citizens, and an alarming percentage of children on
disability benefits never make the transition off the rolls into work as they become adults.
High percentages of individuals with disabilities, both on these and other income maintenance
rolls as well as others without any supports, can and want to work. Thousands of working adults
with disabilities and their families are affected by welfare reform and should have an equal
opportunity to realize its full promise, including the opportunity to work and keep their families
healthy, safe, and intact. However, to enable them to work, it is essential that government and
industry work together to remove discrimination and the remaining significant barriers to
employment for people with disabilities: lack of appropriate access to health insurance,
transportation, housing, long-term services and supports, telecommunications, assistive
technology, community services, and child care. In addition, people with disabilities must have
access to education, rehabilitation and job training services, job placement services, on-the-job
supports, and fair and adequate wages.
1
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, along with other Federal, State and local civil rights
laws which prohibit discrimination and mandate equal opportunity in the workforce, have set the
framework for people with disabilities to compete effectively and fairly in our labor market.
Recent statistics of the Census Bureau suggest that the ADA has begun to have a positive effect
on the employment rate of people with disabilities. Now we must eliminate policies and practices
that do not encourage or actually deter employment, and that conflict with the purposes of the
ADA and other civil rights laws, and replace them with those which equip more of our people to
work.
For example, research by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services show
that individuals with disabilities who were previously thought incapable of substantial, gainful
employment, including individuals with mental retardation and other serious cognitive, sensory,
psychiatric and physical disabilities, can in fact work full-time with the availability of supports,
medical breakthroughs, school to work programs, better vocational rehabilitation and training,
and technological innovations. The approach of the 21st century is ushering in powerful changes
in technology and telecommunications systems, which are opening up more entrepreneurial and
telecommuting opportunities for individuals with disabilities. These programs must be further
explored and expanded. However, all of this will only work if the severe economic disincentives,
health care barriers, and other barriers to work are replaced with access to jobs and careers.
The Administration's 1998 budget submission included proposals that would begin to reverse the
trend of increasing dependence on government benefits by increasing the availability of health care
insurance and rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities who want to leave the Social
Security rolls to enter the workforce. Enacting this program will be an important first step in
ensuring that our programs consistently support employment of people with disabilities. Millions
of unemployed and underemployed Americans with disabilities can become productive citizens if
government programs and policies encourage their employment [and private sector...?]
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United
States of America, and in order to address the enumerated facts above and to support the goals
articulated in the findings and purpose section of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, it is
ordered as follows:
Section 1.
Establishment of National Employment Agenda for Individuals with Disabilities.
There is hereby established a national agenda for the employment of individuals with disabilities.
It shall be the goal of this effort to move the Nation toward an employment rate for all adult
individuals with disabilities as close as possible to the employment rate of the general adult
population.
(a) To oversee and implement this national agenda, there is established a National Task Force on
the Employment of People with Disabilities. The membership of this Task Force shall include the
Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Health and Human Services,
2
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Secretary of the Treasury, Attorney General,
Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, Secretary of Commerce, Administrator of
the Small Business Administration, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Chair of the Federal
Communications Commission, Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Chair of
the National Council on Disability, Chair of the Committee for Purchase from People who are
Blind or Severely Disabled, Chair of the President's Committee on Mental Retardation, Chair of
the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, and Chair of the President's
Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.
(b) The Chair of the Task Force shall be the Secretary of Labor. [Education suggests it be
cochaired by Labor, Education, and SSA.]
(c) The members of the Task Force shall give the activities and initiatives enumerated in this
Order the highest priority within their respective agencies' programs and budgets. These
activities and initiatives are to be conducted consistent with the Budget Reconciliation Act of
1997 and the balanced budget agreement to balance the budget by Fiscal Year 2002. The Task
Force shall maintain this initiative during each year between the date of this Order and July 26,
2002, the 10th anniversary of the initial implementation of the employment provisions of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
(d) As defined herein, a person with a disability is a person with a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits at least one major life activity. This definition comes from, and is to be
read consistent with, the first prong of the definition of "individual with a disability" that appears
in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Section 2.
Activities of the Task Force on the National Employment Agenda.
The Task Force shall ensure the coordination of Federal government efforts and resources within
and among agencies in order to increase the employment rate of working age people with
disabilities, and to ameliorate employment barriers for persons with disabilities. These include
discrimination; inadequate access to health care; and lack of consumer-driven long-term supports
and services, transportation, accessible and integrated housing, telecommunications, assistive
technology, community services, child care, education [drop?], vocational rehabilitation, training
services, and on-the-job supports. Task Force members shall analyze all of their existing
programs and policies to determine what changes, modifications, and innovations may be
necessary to encourage and provide incentives for the employment of people with disabilities.
The Task Force shall undertake or if necessary recommend to the President additional steps that
can be taken to advance the employment of people with disabilities. Specific activities shall
include the following:
(a) In order to make the federal government a model employer of people with disabilities, by July
26, 1998, members of the Task Force, including the Office of Personnel Management shall review
3
all federal government personnel laws, regulations, and policies and, as appropriate, shall
recommend or implement changes necessary to improve federal employment for people with
disabilities. This review shall include personnel practices and actions including: hiring, promotion,
benefits, retirement, workers' compensation, retention, and layoffs and reductions in force. The
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall maintain and enhance[?] its coordinating
function with respect to the elimination of discrimination in federal hiring and personnel practices.
In addition, the Department of Defense's Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program is
expanded to serve all government agencies, and appropriations shall be sought within the
Department of Defense's budget to adequately fund the program.
(b) Members of the Task. Force, including the Social Security Administration and the Department
of Treasury, in cooperation with the National Council on Disability and the President's Committee
on Employment of People with Disabilities, shall design and implement innovative programs that
provide economic and other incentives to both employers and individuals with disabilities to
encourage persons with disabilities to leave the Social Security and other income maintenance
rolls or to avoid enrollment altogether.
© Members of the Task Force, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Health
and Human Services, shall work with the States and others to ensure the Personal Responsibility
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act is carried out as required by Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, so that
individuals with disabilities and their families can have equal opportunity to realize the full
promise of welfare reform.
(d) Members of the Task Force, including the Departments of Labor, Commerce, Health and
Human Services, and the Small Business Administration, shall work together to develop and
potentially implement small business and entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals with
disabilities; as well as strategies for assisting low income individuals, including those with
disabilities, to create small businesses and micro-enterprises to provide consumer-driven personal
assistance and other work supports, with the goal of achieving the twin vital aims of putting
people on welfare and individuals with disabilities to work.
(e) Members of the Task Force, including the Departments of Transportation and Housing and
Urban Development shall examine their programs for the purpose of creating new work incentives
and removing barriers to work among the individual and organizational recipients of their financial
assistance.
(f) No more than one year after the effective date of this Executive Order, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor and the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, in
cooperation with the Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services,
National Council on Disability, and the President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities, shall design and implement a statistically reliable and accurate method to measure the
employment rate of working age individuals with disabilities on a monthly basis.
4
Section 3.
Cooperation with Federal Partners.
All efforts taken by federal departments and agencies under this Section 2 of this Executive Order
shall further partnerships and cooperation with public and private sector employers, state and
local governments, disability advocacy groups, organized labor, and veteran service organizations
whenever such partnerships and cooperation are possible and would promote the employment and
gainful economic activities of individuals with disabilities. These efforts should consider the full
array of employment opportunities; including benefits, types of jobs, job promotion, part-time and
episodic work, and education and re-training programs.
Section 4.
Reporting Requirement
The Task Force shall report to the President the steps taken by each department and agency to
advance this national agenda on a biannual basis. The first report shall be due on July 26, 1998,
and it shall articulate the government-wide plan to advance this national effort and the statistical
data necessary to measure progress. Subsequent biannual reports shall detail progress and
indicate any adjustments that may be necessary in the overall plan and strategy.
5
06/26/97
16:20
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PCEPD
001
PRESIDENT'S
VICKI RADD
EMPLOYMENT YOU'LL
COMMITTEE
FOR
ON EMPLOYMENT
OF PEOPL
FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION
Vicki
WITH DISABILITIES
NORMAL DELIVERY
URGENT
26 JUNE 1997
DATE: MARCA BRISTON SPEED DAVIS @ NCD, SUSAN DANIELSON MARIE STRAHAN essA, JUDY HERMANN
HOWARD MOSES@OSERS, PAUL MILLERN ANDY IMPARATO @ EEOC, LIZ SAVAGE @ DOJ
TO: MICHAEL WINTER@ DOT. THEA SPIRES@HOD BOB WILLIAMS ADD/HHS ELANA KASGANS
DIAMA FORIUNA@ BEFTER DOMESTIC POLICY Country JUSH Bill WHITE DEFF AF PUALI WASON/ with
Vicki RADD@ OFF sit CHIEF EF STAFFWOTH, ANN / EWIS@NEC/WH SETH HARRIST RAY GHALDI è
FAX NO.
TELEPHONE NO.
DOL
FROM: JOHN LANCASTER
Total number of pages including this page:
10
Please call 202-376-6200 if all pages in this transaction are not received.
Additional comments or messages:
ENCLOSED PLEASE FIND
THE 9th DRAFT OF THE PROPOSED EXECUTIVE ORDER
ow THE EMPLOYMENT OF PEOPLE w/ DISABILITIES, IT
HAS BEEN SUBSTANTIALLY REVISED BASED ON COMMENTS
RECEIVED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. DOL'S
COMMENTS THAT LED TO THE REVISION ARE ALSO ATTACHED.
PLEASE REVIEW IMMEDIATELY AND GET ANY COMMENTS
BACK To ME No LATER THAN COB JULY 1st. IF you HAVE
NOT RUN THIS MP THE FLAG POUS AT YOUR RESPECTIVA AGENCIES,
IT 15 TIME To Do So, AND QUICKLY. DOC is GIVING THIS GREAT
ATTENTIONOSUPPOAT
THANKS
John M. Lancortes
P.S. WHO ELSE DOES THIS NEED TO Go To 3 WHO AT OMD ?
1331 F Street. N.W.
202-376-6200 (Voice)
Washington, DC 20004-1107
202-376-6219 (FAX)
202-376-6205 (TDO)
06/26/97
16:21
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PCEPD
002
DRAFT #9 --- 6/24/97
Memorandum
To:
(List agency heads for the departments and agencies listed in the Order)
From:
President Clinton
Subject:
Executive Order Establishing a National Initiative for the Employment of
People with Disabilities
Date:
(mm/dd/97)
The Order accompanying this Memorandum establishes a national initiative for the employment of
people with disabilities and directs the key executive branch agencies charged therein to set in
place the requisite policies and actions.
Please begin implementation of this Executive Order immediately.
06/26/97
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PCEPD
5
003
DRAFT #9
6/24/97
Executive Order
TAJ.
[number]
[month / day], 1997
Agenda 2006 for the Employment of People with Disabilities: A Renewed and
Reinvigorated Executive Branch Commitment
This Order establishes a National agenda for the employment of people with disabilities and
directs the kcy executive branch agencies charged herein to set in place the requisite policies and
actions. This order is consistent with this Administration's efforts to further strengthen our
economy by including and preparing all segments of working age Americans for the emerging
workforce of the 21st century. The continued strength and expansion of our economy are
dependent on our ability to include all groups that are presently excluded from work. It is
important that this effort encompasses people on welfare and people with disabilities, many of
whom are eager to work and whom federal entitlements and programs currently support.
People with disabilities are at least twice as likely as people without disabilities to be unemployed
At the end of 1994, 19.5 percent of the population aged 18-64, or 30.7 million people, had a
disability. Of these, 14.5 million had a severe limitation and were employed at the rate of only
24.7 percent. The artificially low employment rate of people with disabilities poses a cost to
society in excess of $200 billion annually. This has been a long standing problem throughout the
history of this country, and was a motivating factor in the enactment of the Americans with
Disabilities Act in 1990. Additionally, the cost of many government subsidies is growing
dramatically with the recent rapid expansion in the disability rolls, such as the Social Security
disability benefit programs and workers' compensation insurance programs. Thousands of
working adults with disabilities and their families also will be affected by Welfare Reform and
should have an equal opportunity to realize its full promise, including the opportunity to work and
keep their families healthy, safe and intact. More importantly, many individuals trapped in these
programs seek to survive on poverty level subsistence and have little opportunity to contribute to
and participate in our economy. We must work to change Federal policies and programs.
The Social Security Administration now pays more than $36 billion a year in disability insurance
benefits to 4.5 million disabled workers, and pays $25 billion a year in Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) to more than 5 million low-income people with disabilities. These costs reflect only
monetary benefits. When the Medicare and Medicaid costs associated with disability-based cash
assistance are factored in, the Federal and State expenditures associated with our income support
programs more than double. We know that less than 1 percent of the over 8 million SSI and
Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries return to work to become income earning, tax
paying citizens, and that an alarming percentage of children on disability benefits never transition
off the rolls into work as they become adults. High percentages of individuals with disabilities,
both on these and other income maintenance rolls as well as others without any supports, can and
want to work. However, to enable them to work, it is essential that government and industry
work together to remove discrimination and the remaining significant barriers to employment for
1
06/26/97
16:22
202 376 6868
PCEPD
004
people with disabilities; including lack of appropriate access to health insurance, transportation,
housing, long-term services and supports, telecommunications, assistive technology, community2
services, and child care. Additionally, sufficient incentives and access to education, rehabilitation
and job training services, job placement services, on-the-job supports, and fair and adequate
wages must be available.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, along with other Federal, State and local civil rights
laws which prohibit discrimination and mandate equal opportunity in the workforce, have set the
framework for people with disabilities to compete effectively and fairly in our labor market.
Recent statistics of the Census Bureau suggest a positive impact of the ADA on the employment
rate of people with disabilities. Now we must eliminate the current policies and practices that do
not encourage employment or actually deter employment and that conflict with the purposes of
the ADA and other civil rights laws, and replace them with those which equip more of our people
to work.
For example, innovative research and demonstration programs of the Department of Education
and the Department of Health and Human Services show that individuals with disabilities who
were previously thought incapable of substantial, gainful employment, including individuals with
mental retardation and other serious cognitive, sensory, psychiatric and physical disabilities, can in
fact work full-time with the availability of natural supports, medical breakthroughs, school to
work programs, better vocational rehabilitation and training, and technological innovations. The
approach of the 21st century is ushering in powerful changes in technology and
telecommunications systems, which are opening up more entrepreneurial and telecommuting
opportunities for individuals with disabilities. These programs must be further explored and
expanded. However, all of this will only work if the severe economic disincentives, health care
barriers, and other barriers to work are replaced with real access to jobs and careers.
The budget recently submitted to Congress contains initiatives that would begin to reverse the
trend of increasing dependence on government benefits by increasing the availability of health care
insurance and rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities who want to leave the Social
Security rolls to enter the workforce. This will be an important first step in the realigning of our
Federal policies and programs to consistently support people with disabilities in working.
Millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans with disabilities can become productive
citizens if government programs and policies are designed to encourage their employment.
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United
States of America, and in order to address the enumerated facts above and to support the goals
articulated in the findings and purpose section of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, it is
ordered as follows:
Section 1.
Establishment of National Employment Agenda for Individuals with Disabilities.
There is hereby established as a national agenda for the employment of individuals with
2
06/26/97
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005
disabilities. It shall be the goal of this effort to move the Nation toward an employment rate for
all adult individuals with disabilities as close as possible to the employment rate of the general
adult population.
(a) To oversee and implement this initiative, there is established a National Task Force on the
Employment of People with Disabilities. The membership of this Task Force shall include the
Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Health and Human Services,
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Secretary of the Treasury, Attorney General,
Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, Secretary of Commerce, Administrator of
the Small Business Administration, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Chair of the Federal
Communications Commission, Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Chair of
the National Council on Disability, Chair of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers
Compliance Board, and Chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities.
(b) The Chair of the Task Force shall be the Secretary of Labor.
(c) The Task Force shall direct and coordinate programs within and between their agencies in a
manner which enhances and increases the employment rate of working age individuals with
disabilities. Additionally, the Task Force shall undertake or if necessary recommend to the
President additional steps that can be taken to advance the employment of people with disabilities.
(d) The members of the Task Force shall give the activities and initiatives enumerated in this
Order the highest priority within their respective agencies' programs and budgets. These
activities and initiatives are to be conducted consistent with the Budget Reconciliation Act of
1997 and government wide effort to balance the budget in Fiscal Year 2002. The Task Force
shall maintain this initiative during each year between the date of this Order and July 26, 2002, the
10th anniversary of the initial implementation of the employment provisions of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
(e) As defined herein, a person with a disability is a person with a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits at least one major life activity. This definition comes from, and is to be
read consistent with, the first prong of the definition of "individual with a disability" that appears
in the Americans with Disabilitics Act of 1990.
Section 2.
Specific Activities of the National Employment Agenda.
(a) The departments and agencies of the Task Force members shall coordinate their efforts and
resources to ameliorate employment barriers for persons with disabilities, such as discrimination,
inadequate access to health care, lack of consumer-driven long-term supports and services,
transportation, accessible and integrated housing, telecommunications, assistive technology,
3
06/26/97
16:23
202 376 6868
PCEPD
006
community services, child care, education, vocational rehabilitation, training services, and on-the-
job supports. The Task Force members shall also analyze all of their existing programs and
policies to determine what changes, modifications and innovations may be necessary to encourage
and provide incentives for the employment of people with disabilities.
(b) In implementing this National employment agenda, the federal government shall be a model
employer of people with disabilities. By July 26, 1998, the Office of Personnel Management and
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall review all federal government personnel
laws, regulations and policies and, as appropriate, shall recommend or implement changes
necessary to improve federal employment for people with disabilities. This review shall include
personnel practices and actions including: hiring, promotion, benefits, retirement, workers'
compensation, retention, and layoffs and reductions in force. The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission shall maintain and enhance it's coordinating function with respect to the
elimination of barriers to employment resulting from discrimination within the federal government
workforce. Additionally, the Department of Defense's Computer/Electronics Accommodations
Program is expanded to serve all government agencies, and appropriations shall be sought within
the Department of Defense's budget to adequately fund the program.
(c) The Social Security Administration and the Department of Treasury, in cooperation with the
National Council on Disability and the President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities, shall design and implement innovative programs that provide economic and other
incentives to both employers and individuals with disabilities to encourage persons with
disabilities to leave the Social Security and other income maintenance rolls or to avoid enrollment
altogether.
(d) The Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services shall work
with the States and others to ensure the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act is carried out as required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended, and the Americans with Disabilities Act so that individuals with disabilities and their
families can have equal opportunity to realize the full promise of Welfare Reform, i.e. the
opportunity to work their way out of poverty while keeping their families healthy, safe and intact.
(e) The Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, as well as the Small
Business Administration, shall develop and carry out strategies for assisting low income
individuals, including people with disabilities, to create small businesses and micro enterprises to
provide consumer driven personal assistance and other work related supports. This effort shall
use the full buying power of the Federal Government to achieve the twin vital aims of putting
people on welfare and individuals with disabilities to work. Additionally, the Department of
Commerce and Small Business Administration shall develop and implement small business and
entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals with disabilities that have a significant effect on the
ability of such individuals to develop and sustain successful small business and entrepreneurial
activities.
4
06/26/97
16:24
202 376 6868
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007
(f) The Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development shall examine their
various programs for the purpose of creating new work incentives and removing barriers to work
among the individual and organizational recipients of their financial assistance.
(g) All efforts taken by federal departments and agencies under this Section 2 of this Executive
Order shall further partnerships and cooperation with public and private sector cmployers,
disability advocacy groups, organized labor, veteran service organizations, and state and local
governments whenever such partnerships and cooperation are possible and would promote the
employment and gainful economic activities of individuals with disabilities. These efforts should
also concentrate on the full array of employment opportunities; including benefits, types of jobs.
job promotion, part-time and episodic work, and education and re-training programs.
(h) No more than one year after the effective date of this Executive Order, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor and the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, in
cooperation with the Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services,
National Council on Disability, and the President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities, shall design and implement a statistically reliable and accurate method to measure the
employment rate of working age individuals with disabilities on a monthly basis.
(i) The Task Force shall report to the President the steps taken by each department and agency to
advance this national agenda on a biannual basis. The first report shall be due on July 26, 1998,
and it shall articulate the government-wide plan to advance this national effort and the statistical
data necessary to measure progress. Subsequent biannual reports shall detail progress and
indicate any adjustments that may be necessary in the overall plan and strategy.
5
06/26/97
16:24
202 376 6868
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008
06/17/97
14:57
6202 219 6523
SKUNKWORKS
1001
U.S. Department of Labor
Office of the Assistant
OF LABOR
Secretary for Policy
Washington, D.C. 20210
OF STATES AMERICA GASENO
Refaxed at 3:00 for
regulate
DATE: 6/17/97
TO: John Jancaster
FAX NO: 376-6219
COMPANY: PCEPD
PHONE NO: 376-6200
FROM: Gasy BRand
PHONE NO: 219-6026 X134
FAX NO: (202) 219-6523
NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER: 3
MESSAGE: and
attached is a Greef Description
of the revisions to the E.O. That
would suggest Please
let me know what you The
Gary Rood
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June 17, 1997
Note for:
John Lancaster
From:
Gary Reed
Stephanie Powers
Subject:
Proposed Changes to Draft Executive Order
Seth Harris has charged us with working through some minor revisions of your draft E.O.
that will preserve the basic corc of requiring Federal Agencies to promote employment
opportunities for persons with disabilities, but place it in a broader context and make it less
directive in terms of setting goals and mandating specific agency actions. Our overall goal with
revisions of the E.O. is to ensure that it will establish a highly visible process that will focus
attention on the need to expand access to employment opportunities for persons with disabilities
and will lead to the implementation of programs and policies that will significantly advance this
goal.
As indicated in our meeting last week, the White House is very keen to develop an overall
initiative related to the theme that the future of the workforce, and therefore the economy,
depends significantly on our ability to include groups (e.g. the disabled and those on welfare) that
are presently excluded from work. The draft E.O. needs to be cast in this broader context.
Further, we would suggest "tweaking" the E.O. so it does not appear to place one
Cabinet Secretary in charge of the programs of other Departments. There has to be one Cabiner
Secretary in charge of the Task Force in order to make it work and the logical choice for this role
is the Secretary of Labor given the basic objective of promoting employment opportunities. At
the same time, the Secretary of Labor cannot assume the role of monitoring and being in charge
of the actions undertaken by other Departments
Finally, we need to ensure that the Task Force focuses on the process of building political
consensus around the most effective ways of promoting employment opportunities for persons
with disabilities. This implies that a primary mission of the Task Force should be to explore
alternative ways of integrating disabled persons into the workforce, either through the integration
and assessment of existing research or through the undertaking of new research (e.g. evaluation of
the Ticket to Independence demonstration).
In order to achieve these goals, we would recommend some specific changes in the draft
E.O., as follows:
First, we would propose revising Section 1 in the current draft to transform it into
a policy section. The revised Section 1 would incorporate parts of the discussion
presently-in the memorandum accompanying the draft E.O. relating to the
need to integrate persons with disabilities into the workforce and placing that
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discussion in the broader context discussed above.
Second, we propose adding a section establishing the Task Force with the
Secretary of Labor as the Chair and specifying the membership of the Commission,
the length of the Task Force life (c.g. 4 years with possible extensions), and
reporting requirements (taken from current Section 3).
Third. we propose combining Sections 2 and 3 of the current draft into one section
that lays out the primary functions of the Task Force. with a major focus on review
of current programs and integration of research and development efforts testing
ncw approaches. The functions would include all of the ones laid out in Sections 2
and 3 but would not identify specific agencies responsible for the different actions.
The assignment of specific responsibilities would be worked out within the Task
Force.
Please let us know what you think of these proposed changes. If you would like us to take a
crack at making the revisions in the draft E.O., WC would be happy to do so.
Briefing Materials for Chief of Staff
Erskine B. Bowles
EVENT:
Disabilities Meeting with Coehlo, et al.
DATE:
Thursday 3/6/97
TIME:
4:00 5:00
LOCATION:
Roosevelt Room
STAFF CONTACT:
Victoria Radd
ATTACHED:
Briefing memos from Angus King.
BACKGROUND:
This meeting is with representatives of the President's Committee on
Employment of People with Disabilities, the National Council on Disability,
and a number of Administration appointees with disabilities.
The purpose is for you to listen to their concerns, and introduce them to the
White House staff who will interact with them on a regular basis.
Disability Meeting briefing materials
-
Proposed agenda
-
General talking points
-
Protocol paper "Information about the appointees"
-
Answer to executive order request
-
Executive order request
Other Background:
-
Budget info "Removing barriers to work for people with disabilities"
-
Answer to criticisms (Welfare reform, Children's SSI, Medicaid, Special education
/ Individuals with Disabilities Education Act", Immigration, employment, housing,
transportation)
-
Demographics and groups of disabled
-
Clinton Administration accomplishments on disabilities
-
FDR memorial background
-
FDR memorial talking points
-
List of attendees
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MEETING AGENDA
I. Erskine opens
WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS
I. Introductions
(3 min)
Tony Coelho
II. Background
(5 min)
Achieving Independence Report
Advancing the President's Agenda
Widespread Support (Tony)
Marca Bristo
III. Concerns
(5 min)
Integrating Disability Policy into Broader Agenda
State of the Union Address
Budget/Implementation Issues
-Special Education
-Welfare Reform and SSI
-Children's SSI Benefits
-Immigrant's SSI Benefits
-Health Care - Medicaid and Medicare
-Housing
-Transportation
Judy Heumann
IV. Top Priorities
White House Policy Appointment
Employment Initiatives/Executive Order
Key Appointments in the Administration
(SSA, ED, HHS, DOT, DOL, HUD, etc.)
Follow-Up on Current Policy Concerns
Marca Bristo, John Lancaster, Tony Coelho
V. Discussion
VI Erskine closes
DISABILITY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
TALKING POINTS
Welcome to the White House. Before we begin, I want to introduce two members of my
staff who will play key roles on disability issues. The first is Maria Echaveste, the new
Assistant to the President for Public Liaison, and Elena Kagan, the new Deputy Assistant
to the President for Domestic Policy.
The Clinton Administration is very proud of our record of accomplishment on disability
issues during the last four years, and we look forward to working with you to develop and
implement an agenda during the next four years.
We have worked hard to vigorously enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act, and we
are particularly pleased that our FY 98 budget requests a 5% increase in ADA
enforcement at the Department of Justice. We have also worked successfully to protect
the ADA from Congressional efforts to weaken the law.
One of the accomplishments that the President is most proud is his stand to protect
Medicare and Medicaid last year, which is so important to people with disabilities.
The President's efforts to enact the Family and Medical Leave Act is making the
workplace more accommodating to families with adults or children with disabilities.
The Kennedy-Kassebaum legislation that the President signed last year now prohibits
insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, which
greatly benefits people with disabilities.
We are proud that President Clinton has appointed more people with disabilities than any
President in history. And we are not just talking numbers, but high-level policy making
positions in which all of you in this room serve.
But although we recognize our past accomplishments, we both know that much remains
to be done. We look forward to working together as we develop and implement disability
policy.
Information about the Appointees:
As the Chief of Staff knows, the appointees with disabilities have a number of sensitivities about
language and behavior pertaining to people with disabilities. They are leaders in the emerging
civil rights movement for this community, and see this movement as being perhaps 20 years
behind African Americans or women in terms of the degree of understanding and sensitivity of
the non-disabled community. They believe that denigrating language and behavior is still widely
tolerated in our society. In their view, disability is a natural part of life and people with disabilities
should be viewed positively, rather than as victims, courageous, or pitied.
The term "people with disabilities" is preferred to "handicapped" or even "the disabled." They
often say that, in the spirit of "putting people first," you should look first at the person rather than
the disability. People "use" a wheelchair rather than "are in" a wheelchair -- or worse yet, "are
confined to" a wheelchair. In general, you should not offer assistance with a basic task such as
opening a door or getting seated unless the person appears unable to do so on his or her own.
The Administration's most prominent appointee with a disability is probably Judy Heumann,
who is Assistant Secretary at Education in charge of special education and vocational
rehabilitation. She played a major role in the development of the independent living movement,
which champions people with disabilities living in the community and with their families, and has
helped many people leave nursing homes. (The community is very much opposed to nursing
homes, viewing them as rarely or never appropriate for people with disabilities.) She is a very
constructive internal advocate.
Bob Williams, who is Commissioner of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities
(ADD), part of HHS, speaks with a voice machine. When he wishes to speak, he often makes a
noise and begins punching into the machine. The etiquette is that other conversations should
continue until the artificial voice begins to speak, and then wait until the thought is expressed.
Bob is a very thoughtful individual who has also been a leader in the disability movment.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA, which governs special education) are viewed as virtually sacred by the community. The
Administration has been extremely strong in supporting these laws. In 1994, the community was
very fearful that the Republican takeover of Congress would lead to attempts to weaken these
laws. The threat never materialized into proposed legislation, but the community believes it must
be ever-vigilant in defending these laws.
Comments on Draft Executive Order on Employment of People with Disabilities
Would establish a goal of parity in the employment rate between people with and without
people with disabilities by the year 2006, including an interim goal of "a 3 percent annual
increase in the employment rate" of people with disabilities.
It is not clear whether parity is an achievable goal. And the annual improvement expected
appears quite ambitious. We should discuss with the NEC.
Calls on federal agencies to "eliminate employment barriers to persons with disabilities,
such as discrimination and inadequate access to health care...."
It is not clear that federal agencies are in a position to accomplish this without vastly
increased resources.
Sets a target that 11% of the federal workforce shall be persons with disabilities.
This must be considered in light of existing policies on targets for federal hiring.
Would extend the Department of Defense's Computer/Electronics Accommodations
Program ("CAP") to the civilian agencies, with funding for the expansion to be "sought
within" DOD budget.
CAP is an excellent program that provides Defense employees with disabilities with the
latest in computer equipment to allow them to do their jobs. The program has a
showroom for equipment and serves as a central purchasing point so that federal
purchasing power is maximized. Since funding for the program is centralized, individual
departments do not have to bear the costs of a very expensive piece of computer
equipment for an employee. Last year, the DPC recommended to OMB that we expand
CAP to all federal agencies, but the change was not funded in the budget.
In an otherwise innocuous section on encouraging small business and micro-enterprise
among people with disabilities, the draft refers to using "the full buying power of the
Federal government" to put people to work.
We would have toconsider this in the context of current policy on federal purchases.
Gives a one-year deadline for Labor and Commerce to develop a monthly measurement
of the unemployment rate of people with disabilities.
We would have to investigate how achievable this suggestion is, and budget implications.
Suggested Talking Point: Thank you for all the hard work you have put into this package.
While the whole executive order may be difficult to complete all at once, there are a number of
points in your recommendation to which we will give immediate and very serious
consideration, such as the DoD CAP program and the monthly measurement of unemployment
rates. Others will be more difficult to accomplish because of their potential budgetary impact,
and will require careful examination of their viability.
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John,
This is the
latest draft
DRAFT #6 -- 2/28/97
Speed is the
only other
person wh
Memorandum
has a
To:
(List agency heads for the departments and agencies listed in Section 2 of
copy
the Order)
EL
From:
President Clinton
Subject:
Executive Order Establishing a Goal for the Employment of People with
Disabilities
Date:
(mm/dd/97)
The Order accompanying this Memorandum establishes a national goal for the employment of
people with disabilities and directs the kcy executive branch agencies charged therein to set in
place the requisite policies and actions to achieve this goal.
People with disabilities are at least twice as likely as people without disabilities to be unemployed.
At the end of 1994, 19.5 percent of the population aged 18-64, or 30.7 million people, had a
disability. Of these, 14.5 million had a severe limitation and were employed at the rate of only
24.7 percent. The artificially low employment rate of people with disabilities poses a cost to
society in excess of $200 billion annually. This unacceptably low employment rate has been a
long standing problem throughout the history of this country, and was a motivating factor in the
enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. Additionally, the cost of many
government subsidies is growing dramatically with the recent rapid expansion in the disability
rolls, such as the Social Security disability benefit programs and workers' compensation insurance
programs. More importantly, many individuals trapped in these programs seek to survive on
poverty level subsistence and have little opportunity to contribute to and participate in our
economy. We must work 10 change Federal policies and programs.
The Social Security Administration now pays more than $36 billion a year in disability insurance
benefits to 4.5 million disabled workers, and pays $25 billion a year in Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) to more than 5 million low-income people with disabilities. These costs reflect only
monetary benefits. When the Medicare and Medicaid costs associated with disability-based cash
assistance are factored in, the Federal and State expenditures associated with our income support
programs more than double. We know that less than 1 percent of the over 8 million SSI and
Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries return to work to become income earning, tax
paying citizens, and that an alarming percentage of children on disability benefits never transition
off the rolls into work as they bccome adults. High percentages of individuals with disabilities,
both on these and other income maintenance rolls as well as others without any supports, can and
want to work. However, to enable them to work, it is essential that government and industry
work together to remove the remaining significant barriers to employment for people with
disabilities, including lack of appropriate health insurance, transportation, long-term scrvices and
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supports, and child care. Additionally, sufficient incentives and access to education, rehabilitation
and job training services, job placement services, and fair and adequate wages must be available.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, along with other Federal, State and local civil rights
laws which prohibit discrimination and mandate equal opportunity in the workforce, have set the
framework for people with disabilities to compete effectively and fairly in our labor market.
Recent statistics of the Census Bureau suggest a positive impact of the ADA on the employment
rate of people with disabilities. Now we must eliminate the current policies and practices that do
not encourage employment or actually deter employment and that conflict with the purposes of
the ADA and other civil rights laws, and replace them with those which equip more of our people
to work.
For example, innovative research and demonstration programs of the Department of Education
and the Department of Health and Human Services show that individuals with disabilities who
were previously thought incapable of substantial, gainful employment, including individuals with
mental retardation and other serious cognitive, sensory, psychiatric and physical disabilities, can in
fact work full-time with the availability of natural supports, medical breakthroughs, school to
work programs, better vocational rehabilitation and training, and technological innovations. The
approach of the 21st century is ushering in powerful changes in technology and
telecommunications systems, which are opening up more entrepreneurial and telecommuting
opportunities for individuals with disabilities. These programs must be further explored and
expanded. However, all of this will only work if the severe economic disincentives, health care
barriers, and other barriers to work are replaced with real access to jobs and careers.
The budget recently submitted to Congress contains initiatives that would begin to reverse the
trend of increasing dependence on government benefits by increasing the availability of health care
insurance and rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities who want to leave the Social
Security rolls to enter the workforce. This will be an important first step in the realigning of our
Federal policies and programs to consistently support people with disabilities in working.
Millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans with disabilities can become productive
citizens if government programs and policies are designed to encourage their employment.
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Executive Order
[number]
[month / day], 1997
Goals 2006 for the Employment of People with Disabilities: A Renewed and Reinvigorated
Executive Branch Commitment
This Order establishes a National goal for the employment of people with disabilities and directs
the key executive branch agencies charged herein to set in place the requisite policies and actions
to achieve this goal.
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United
States of America, and in order to address the enumerated facts in the accompanying
Memorandum and to support the goals articulated in the findings and purpose section of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, it is ordered as follows:
Section 1.
Establishment of National Employment Goal for Individuals with Disabilities.
There is hereby established as a national goal the reaching of parity in the employment rate for all
adult individuals with disabilities as compared to the employment rate of the general adult
population. Consistent with this goal, and in accordance with Section 3 of this Order, there is
hereby established an interim goal of a 3 percent annual increase in the employment rate of people
with disabilities ages 18 to 64, between the date of this Order and July 26, 2006, the 16th
anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As defined herein, a person
with a disability is a person with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits at least
one major life activity. This definition comes from, and is to be read consistent with, the first
prong of the definition of "individual with a disability" that appears in the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990.
Section 2.
Achievement of National Employment Goal.
(a) The U.S. Department of Labor, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human
Services, Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of
Commerce, Department of Treasury, Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, Department of Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Department of Defense, Federal Communications Commission, Office of Personnel Management,
National Council on Disability, and President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities shall put policies and programs into place which achieve the national employment goal
described in Section 1 of this Executive Order. Furthermore, under the direction of the Secretary
of Labor, with the assistance of the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services and
the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, the above named departments and
agencies shall coordinate their efforts and resources to eliminate employment barriers for persons
with disabilities, such as discrimination and inadequate access to health care, transportation,
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housing, education, vocational rehabilitation and training services. The above named departments
and agencies shall also analyze all of their existing programs and policies to determine if changes,
modifications and innovations of said programs and policies would encourage and provide
incentives for the employment of people with disabilities.
(b) In achieving this National employment goal, the federal government shall become a model
employer of people with disabilities. By July 26, 2006, 11 percent of the civilian workforce of
each federal agency shall be people with disabilities as defined in this Order. The Office of
Personnel Management and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall review all
federal government personnel laws, regulations and policies and, as appropriate, shall recommend
or implement changes necessary to achieve this federal government goal. This review shall
include personnel practices and actions including: hiring, promotion, benefits, retirement,
workers' compensation, retention, and layoffs and reductions in force. Additionally, the
Department of Defense's Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program is expanded to serve
all government agencies, and appropriations shall be sought within the Department of Defense's
budget to adequately fund the program.
(c)The Social Security Administration and the Department of Treasury, in cooperation with the
National Council on Disability and the President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities, shall design and implement innovative programs that provide economic and other
incentives to both employers and individuals with disabilities to encourage persons with
disabilities to leave the Social Security and other income maintenance rolls or to avoid enrollment
in those rolls altogether.
(d) The Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, as well as the Small
Business Administration, shall develop and carry out strategies for assisting low income
individuals, including people with disabilities, to create small businesses and micro enterprises to
provide consumer driven personal assistance and other work related supports. This effort shall
use the full buying power of the Federal Government to achieve the twin vital aims of putting
people on welfare and individuals with disabilities to work.
(e) The Department of Commerce and Small Business Administration shall develop and
implement small business and entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals with disabilities that
have a significant effect on the ability of such individuals to develop and sustain successful small
business and entrepreneurial activities.
(f) All efforts taken by federal departments and agencies under this Section 2 of this Executive
Order shall further partnerships and cooperation with public and private sector employers,
disability advocacy groups, organized labor, veteran service organizations, and state and local
governments whenever such partnerships and cooperation are possible and would promote the
employment and gainful economic activities of individuals with disabilities. These efforts should
also concentrate on the full array of employment opportunities; including benefits, types of jobs,
job promotion, part-time and episodic work, and education and re-training programs.
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Section 3.
Measurement of Results.
(a) No more than onc year after the effective date of this Executive Order, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor and the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, in
cooperation with the Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services,
National Council on Disability, and the President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities, shall design and implement a statistically reliable and accurate method to measure the
employment rate of working age individuals with disabilities on a monthly basis.
(b) By January 1 of each year this Executive Order is in effect, the Secretary of Labor shall report
to the President the steps taken by each department and agency listed in Section 2 to achieve this
national goal on a biannual basis. The first report shall be due on July 26, 1998, and it shall
articulate the government-wide plan to achieve the goal and the statistical data necessary to
measure progress towards the goal. Subsequent biannual reports shall detail progress towards the
goal and indicate any adjustments that may be necessary in the overall plan and strategy to achieve
the goal by July 26, 2006.
REMOVING BARRIERS TO WORK FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
The President's budget includes important steps to make it possible for more people with
disabilities to work. A large and growing number of people with disabilities can work, and want
to work. With the ADA, changes in societal attitudes, and advances in technology, it is clearer
than ever that being disabled does not mean that you can't contribute to our nation's economy.
However, people with disabilities face a variety of complex barriers to work.
Therefore, the President's budget addresses this critical problem with the following three
initiatives designed to assist people with disabilities who are eligible for Social Security Disability
Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI):
New State Option on Medicaid: The budget proposes to help people with disabilities
work without losing their health care coverage. Today, people on Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) who go to work lose Medicaid if their earnings exceed caps that vary by
state. Yet, it is often especially difficult for people with disabilities to get private
insurance, especially coverage for any preexisting conditions. As a result, many people
who are eligible for SSI "manage" their income to ensure that they keep Medicaid -- by
stopping work when they hit the caps, or even turning down promotions. The President's
proposal would create a new state option that would allow SSI beneficiaries with
disabilities who earn more than these caps to keep Medicaid by contributing to the cost of
their coverage as their income rises.
Medicare: The President's budget authorizes a four-year demonstration to encourage
Social Security Disability Inusrance (SSDI) beneficiaries to return to work. Under the
demonstration, certain SSDI beneficiaries who have exhausted their coverage would be
eligible for up to four additional years of premium-free Part A coverage.
Pay for Results for Rehabilitation Services: The Administration is proposing a new
strategy to encourage more SSDI and SSI beneficiaries to return to work. Currently, the
Social Security Administration refers some SSDI and SSI beneficiaries to state vocational
rehabilitation agencies. Under this pilot proposal, SSDI and SSI beneficiaries could
choose their own public or private rehabilitation providers. Providers who successfully
assist beneficiaries in leaving the rolls and returning to work would be paid a percentage
of the disability benefits saved. These payments would continue only as long as the
person remained off the rolls, up to a maximum of five years. Because providers would
be rewarded for results rather than for their costs, this should encourage more providers
to have a continuing interest in their clients' long term success, which in turn may lead to
more beneficiaries returning to work.
This plan creates new ways to help people find work and achieve their goals. The Administration
looks forward to working with the Hill to enact these proposals. Since there are members of
Congress from both sides of the aisle who are also working to solve this problem, we are hopeful
that we will have a constructive dialogue that will lead to the enactment of legislation.
Criticisms that Disability Appointees May Raise:
Welfare Reform -- The group would have preferred that the President not sign the welfare
bill. They are concerned that disabled recipients are not exempt from or given special
assistance in meeting the work requirements. People with severe disabilities are not
subject to welfare reform because they are eligible for SSI. Therefore, the group is more
concerned about those with mild or moderate disabilities. Some estimate that a very high
proportion of AFDC recipients have some form of disability. Also, the group is also
concerned about parents of children with disabilities being forced to work even though
they can't afford child care.
The Administration is working with states on these issues, and encouraging them to
provide the more expensive child care disabled children often require. Also, the law
prohibits states from cutting off assistance to parents of children under 6 who can't find
appropriate child care.
Children's SSI -- Because of tremendous growth in the children's SSI program and media
reports that children were faking mental problems to get benefits, Congress proposed
block granting and sweeping cuts to this program. The Administration successfully
fought off these cuts, but eventually agreed to significant cuts. The Social Security
Administration just issued regulations that will cut 135,000 children from the program.
The appointees are disappointed in two things: that we did not fight these cuts harder, and
that our regulations did not take a more liberal approach in issuing the regulations.
We can take credit for defeating Republican plans to block grant children's SSI. As to
SSA's recent regulation, SSA did not believe that a more liberal interpretation was legally
possible.
Medicaid -- The appointees are concerned that our per capita cap proposal could
disadvantage people with disabilities, especially people with severe developmental
disabilities, because their costs are far higher than average. Our proposal does address
this problem by including a separate cap for the disabled. However, it is possible that a
per capita cap would lead states to be reluctant to add services for very expensive long
term care needs.
In addition, the appointees are disappointed that we have not been able to move forward
on a proposal for Medicaid "personal assistance" services. Many people with disabilities
need assistance with activities of daily living, such as getting bathed and dressed, in order
to work or live in the community, but health plans do not tend to pay for this service
because it is not considered medical. (Many states have Medicaid "waiver" programs that
provide these services, but the number of participants is capped.) The Administration's
health care reform proposal (which was strongly supported by the disability community)
would have partially addressed this issue by creating a new block grant. The appointees
feel that it is time to move ahead on this issue again. However, OMB has major concerns
about the cost implications. The President has made very sympathetic statements about
the need for this program in public forums.
A radical advocacy group called ADAPT is pushing this issue. The Administration has
agreed to a meeting on this issue and others with the President and a range of external
disability advocates, including ADAPT.
Special Education/Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" -- Budget: The
appointees are disappointed that our FY1998 budget includes "only" a 4% increase for
special education spending. However, IDEA funding increased by an astounding 25% in
the FY1997 budget, so we felt that a 4% increase was appropriate for this year. (Members
of Congress pushed through the 25% increase, not the Administration, but we can take
credit for signing it.)
Reauthorization: IDEA is also up for reauthorization, and Senator Lott is leading an
collaborative process that the Administration is participating in to come to an agreement
on a bill. IDEA is extremely important to this community, especially to parents of
children of disabilities. IDEA includes civil rights protections that ensure that children
with disabilities have the right to attend school -- something they did not have before
IDEA was passed 20 years ago. In fact, Judy Heumann, the Administration's most
prominent political appointee with a disability, was excluded from public schools for
many years, prior to IDEA.
The Administration has been extremely supportive of the disability community's position
on IDEA. School boards and the unions view IDEA as an "unfunded mandate" that is a
major drain on school budgets. They point out that federal funds support only 7-8% of
the costs of special education, even though the original legislation foresaw federal
payments covering 40% of costs. We have fought the "unfunded mandate" interpretation
in a number of settings, instead stressing that IDEA is a civil rights law that shouldn't be
weakened or tampered with.
Discipline: The most contentious current IDEA issue is when and how schools can
discipline students with disabilities. Critics charge that IDEA allows a double standard for
students with disabilities by making it almost impossible for schools to remove them from
the classroom or school, even if they are disruptive or violent. Parents respond that
schools have long used the discipline issue as a smokescreen to try to remove these
children just because they are different or harder to educate.
The Administration supports modest and sensible measures to ensure that schools can
maintain order, but we have totally supported the disability community on this issue --
even to the point of allowing Secretary Riley to oppose a measure to expel disabled
students who bring guns to school.
Immigrants -- Disabled legal immigrants lose SSI benefits under welfare reform. We have
proposed to ameliorate this, as part of our welfare "fix" package, by allowing legal
immigrants who become disabled after entering the country to continue to receive SSI.
The appointees are concerned about whether we are committed to this proposal. They
may also be concerned that we left out those who were disabled upon entry to the U.S.
Appointees may also be concerned about a regulation that the INS will issue shortly to
waive the English and civics testing requirements of the naturalization process for legal
immigrants with certain severe disabilities. They are concerned both that it has taken the
INS over two years to issue these regulations, and that the final regs will not waive the
oath of citizenship. An advocacy group is suing us over this regulation.
We can point out that our proposed welfare fix package would address much of this
problem by exempting legal immigrants disabled after entering the U.S. from the SSI cuts.
However, the INS says the law does not allow them to waive the oath of citizenship. (We
have not commented on whether we would waive it if we could.)
Employment -- Estimates are that half to two-thirds of people with disabilities are
unemployed. The community argues that many unemployed people with disabilities
want to work, but they face many barriers. The ADA is starting to improve this picture
marginally, but there is a long way to go.
The appointees have two concerns. First, as reflected in their draft executive order, they
believe this problem is not viewed as a national priority by the Administration. They
point to the fact that the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects this unemployment statistic on
a very occasional basis. Second, they believe that the current federal Social Security
system often acts as a disincentive to work. People on SSI or SSDI benefits who want to
work face the loss of Medicaid or Medicare, as well as cash benefits.
We should point to our new initiative in the President's 1998 budget that addresses the
second issue (see attached description). We can also agree to consider the draft executive
order. However, potential solutions to the "disincentives" of the current Social Security
system could be very expensive. (Note this week's GAO report and House hearing
alleging that the SSI program is out of control because, among other concerns, SSA fails
to drop people from the program quickly enough when they go back to work.)
Housing -- The appointees may be concerned that the Administration has not been more
proactive in enforcing housing civil rights laws. Also, they oppose past HUD efforts to
segregate people with disabilities or require them to accept services as a condition for
housing assistance (i.e., residential programs for the mentally ill or drug addicted). An
advocacy group is suing HUD on all these issues.
Secretary Cisneros reached out to groups very extensively on these issues and recently
established an Office of Disability Policy in the Secretary's office that is staffed by a
trusted appointee with a disability. He gets a lot of credit for this, but Secretary Cuomo is
more of an unknown quantity to them.
Transportation -- The concern here is probably that we should not weaken or delay the
requirements of the ADA for accessible transit systems, and that we should make funds
available to assist transit systems with compliance. We have been pretty strong on this
issue. State and local governments tend to view these requirements as unfunded
mandates, but we have argued that as a civil rights law the ADA can't be defined as an
unfunded mandate. The appointees give us credit for eliminating problematic "unfunded
mandate" language in a report by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental
Relations last year.
THE DISABILITY CONSTITUENCY
DESCRIPTION
The 1994 Census estimates that there are 49 million Americans with disabilities. The
community is even larger when including families, friends, and providers that are affected
by disability policies. According to Lou Harris polls, during the last two Presidential
elections, the disability vote was as follows:
1996 Clinton - 69%, Dole - 23%, Perot - 8%
1992 Clinton - 50%, Bush - 26%, Perot - 18%.
KEY GROUPS
Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities
Justice For All
The Arc (Mental Retardation)
National Council on Independent Living
United Cerebral Palsy
National Easter Seals Society
Disability Rights Education Defense Fund
Family Voices (Parents of children with disabilities)
National Federation of the Blind
National Association of the Deaf
National Mental Heath Association
Bazelon Center (Mental Health)
MAJOR ISSUES
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the landmark civil rights law for people with
disabilities, is the 3rd rail of disability politics; and is as central to the disability
community as Social Security is to seniors. The other key issues for the community
include: Medicare, Medicaid, Special Education (IDEA), home and community based
services; and employment, housing, and transportation issues for people with disabilities.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES
"Opportunity is critical to what we have to do as a nation to meet the great
challenges we face and to move forward into the next century. We will not allow
Americans with disabilities to be kept from realizing their dreams by closed
doors or narrow minds."
President Bill Clinton
July 26, 1995
President Clinton came to Washington with a plan to put people first by making the government
more accountable and accessible to all Americans, including those with disabilities. From the
White House to every federal agency, this Administration has demonstrated an unprecedented
commitment to address the concerns of Americans with disabilities. The President is committed
to supporting the 49 million Americans with disabilities in their efforts to exercise their full rights
and responsibilities, to live as independently as possible and to be productive throughout their
lives.
A RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Fighting Discrimination: Under President Clinton, federal agencies have vigorously
enforced the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act and other critical civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination against
people with disabilities in schools, workplaces and public areas across the nation.
President Clinton strongly opposes attempts to weaken these laws.
Protecting Health Care: The Clinton Administration refuses to go backwards on
health care coverage for Americans with disabilities and has rejected proposals to end
the Medicaid guarantee to meaningful health benefits for people with disabilities.
President Clinton has preserved Medicaid coverage for 6 million persons with
disabilities, including 1 million children. Without Medicaid, many families would have
to impoverish themselves to pay for a child's medical care, give up their jobs to stay
home to care for a child or seek placement in an institution. Medicaid is often the only
form of health care available to people with disabilities and allows many children and
adults to receive services at home rather than in institutions.
The President also pushed for and signed the Kennedy-Kassebaum legislation, to
prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing
conditions, as well as legislation giving parity to mental health services.
Improving Education for Children with Disabilities: President Clinton opposes
weakening the guarantee of a right to education for children with disabilities. The
Administration is increasing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's focus on
educational results for children and cutting unnecessary paperwork so that more time
can be spent on teaching and learning. The President signed legislation increasing
funding for IDEA by 25% in the FY1997 budget.
2
Employment of People with Disabilities: The President's 1998 budget proposes to
remove barriers to employment for people with disabilities by making it possible for
people to retain health care coverage when they go to work, and creating incentives for
rehabilitation services.
Increasing Home and Community-Based Programs: The Clinton Administration's
flexibility in granting state waivers has spurred an increase in home and community-
based services. As a result, the number of people with developmental or cognitive
disabilities served in home and community waiver programs more than doubled to
149,000 in 1995.
Support for Families: President Clinton fought for and enacted the Family and
Medical Leave Act making workplaces more accommodating for many families that
include a child or adult with a disability.
Increasing Access: By enacting the National Voter Registration Act and the
Telecommunications Reform Act, President Clinton has made voting easier and
communications technology more accessible for Americans with disabilities.
Transportation and Housing: The Clinton Administration is helping to connect
people with disabilities to employment, educational opportunities and a full range of
public activities by implementing requirements for accessible bus and rail transit
systems, paratransit services and housing.
Appointees with Disabilities: The President has appointed an impressive group of
people with disabilities to high-level policy-making positions, including many people
prominent in the disability community. Many of these appointments are to key
positions that are not directly related to disability issues.
THE CHALLENGES AHEAD:
Under President Clinton, federal agencies will continue to vigorously enforce the
Americans with Disabilities Act with a balanced approach that emphasizes voluntary
compliance wherever possible.
The President has proposed a balanced budget that maintains meaningful health
benefits for people with disabilities.
President Clinton is committed to expanding employment options for people with
disabilities and challenging all Americans to understand that people with disabilities
can contribute to this country when given access to the workplace, health care,
community services and technology.
The Clinton Administration will work to maintain a strong Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act for children with disabilities and to improve educational results for
students with disabilities.
THE FDR MEMORIAL CONTROVERSY
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A decision memo is pending on whether the President should speak out on the FDR Memorial
controversy and recommend to the FDR Commission that another statute be commissioned depicting
FDR in his wheelchair.
The President serves as Honorary Chair of the FDR Memorial Commission, which was authorized by
Congress in 1955 to oversee the design of the FDR Memorial. During the past two years, the
Commission has been criticized because the design does not depict FDR as a man with a disability.
The Commission, chaired by Sen. Inouye (D-HI), has invited the President to speak at the FDR
Memorial dedication on May 2, 1997. The disability community, which is dismayed that the statutes at
the Memorial fail to depict FDR in his wheelchair, is planning a protest at the ceremony.
The Roosevelt grandchildren are split on the subject. Curtis Roosevelt, in a letter to the Commission
said, "Let me say quite emphatically that FDR would have been very disturbed. He was a very
private person. But Anne Roosevelt, on behalf of herself and seven other grandchildren wrote,
"Were he alive today we are convinced that he would wish to have the people of this country and the
world understand his disability. He would be comfortable, possibly eager, in light of current
increased understanding of disability issues, to share awareness While we wish no delay in the
construction of the proposed memorial we urge adequate inclusion of all facets of the man as he was,
not as some think he ought to have been."
Senator Inouye, a disabled veteran from WWII, member of the Commission for the past 25 years,
and current Chair of the Commission, has strongly opposed including a sculpture of FDR in a
wheelchair. He stated, "I for one would not want to redo history. FDR was Commander-in-Chief of
the greatest fighting force in the world and he wanted to be viewed as a strong leader. I would hate
to see the man exploited after he was dead." But national opinion leaders, including President Bush,
President Ford, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Hugh Sidey, George Will, and Maureen Dowd have voiced
strong support for including FDR's disability in the Memorial. A Harris poll indicates that 73% of
Americans said the Memorial should include "visible recognition of FDR's disability."
In response to a weekly report from Interior on February 21 alerting him to the controversy, the
President wrote, "They should have one in a wheelchair. Should 1 speak out on it." During the
spring of 1996, in response to a memo from Carol Rasco on the subject, the President stated, "I
agree FDR was for continuous forward movement. In today's world, I think he would insist on
being shown in his wheelchair." In May 1996, the President spoke out publicly on this issue in a
speech to the President's Committee on Employment For People With Disabilities by stating, "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."
The draft decision memo recommends that the President participates in the Memorial Dedication
Ceremony on May 2, but calls upon the FDR Commission to design and incorporate into the
Memorial a fourth statute of FDR in his wheelchair by a specific date.
FDR TALKING POINTS
Last May, in a speech to the President's Committee on Employment for People with
Disabilities (I know many of you were in attendance), the President spoke out on this subject,
saying that he hoped the Memorial would show the American people, "that this great, great
President was great with his disability."
The FDR Memorial Commission has taken some steps to highlight FDR's disability in the
Memorial including; displaying a replica of FDR's wheelchair, displaying two photographs
of FDR in his wheelchair in the entry building, and including discussion of FDR's
disability in the National Park Service handout literature.
But the President is aware of the continued concern both within the disability community and
beyond that the Memorial fails to depict FDR in his wheelchair. We look forward to working
with you to find a solution to this issue.
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PRESIDENTS
EMPLOYMENT A
COMMITTEE
WESHITTS - X7A034 COMMITTEE
ON EMPLOYMENT
OF PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITIES
To:
Vicki Radd
Sclednler:
From:
Tony Coelho, Chairman, PCEPD Ben - 434.1050
Subject:
Meeting with Erskine Bowles
Date:
February 25, 1997
Pursuant to our earlier conversation, this memorandum contains a list of individuals who Marca
Bristo and I would like included in the meeting you are helping to organize with the Chief of
Staff Marca Bristo, and the other key appointees with disabilities who have been meeting on
disability issues, feel very strongly that all of the individuals on the list should be invited to the
meeting with the Chief of Staff. The individuals on this list would greatly contribute to the
success and productivity of the meeting though, of course, not everyone needs to speak at the
meeting and not everyone will be available to attend because of scheduling conflicts. Obviously, it
is particularly important that Marca Bristo, Susan Daniels, Judy Heumann, Paul Steven Miller,
Bob Williams and I are in attendance.
I have consulted with Marca, and we are both available to meet with you and the Chief of Staff
on Thursday, March 6, 1997. We would like the meeting to begin at 4:00 p.m. but are available
at 3:00 p.m. if that would be more convenient for you. Please let me know if either of
those times are possible, or if we need to select alternative dates and times.
Thank you for all of your assistance in this matter. I look forward to our meeting.
List of Suggested Meeting Participants
Marca Bristo, Chair, National Council on Disability
Speed Davis, Special Assistant to the Chairperson, National Council on Disability
Tony Coelho, Chairman, President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
John Lancaster, Executive Director, President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities
Susan Daniels, Associate Commissioner, Office of Disability, Social Security Administration
Diev Dee Davis Dep. Acct. Sec. of state
1331 F Street, N.W.
202-376-6200 (Voice)
Washington, DC 20004-1107
202-376-6219 (FAX)
to. EEO + (...) Kights
202-376-6205 (TDD)
M
R
N
D
M
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Marie Strahan, Office of Disability, Social Security Administration
Judith Heumann, Assistant Secretary, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
U.S. Department of Education
Howard Moses, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services, U.S. Department of Education
Thomas Hehir, Director, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education
Fred Schroeder, Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, U.S. Department of
Education
Kate Seelman, Director, National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research,
U.S. Department of Education
Paul Steven Miller, Commissioner, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Andy Imparato, Special Assistant to Commissioner Paul Steven Miller, U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Bob Williams, Commissioner, Administration on Developmental Disabilities
Liz Savage, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of
Justice
Thea Spires, Office of Disability Policy, Office of the Secretary, Department of Housing and
Urban Development
Michael Winter, Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Department of
Transportation
Jack Catlin, Access Board
Small vs by necting
Beg meeting, but doesn't include
people in administration