Wesley K. Clark Remarks To Disability Policy Town Hall Meeting

From the Wes Clark campaign:
Bedford, NH

January 16, 2004- Thank you Jonathan [Young], for that very kind introduction. As most of you know, Jonathan was President Clinton's liaison to the disability community. And I was thrilled when he joined my campaign and became the Chair of my Disability Advisory Council. Jonathan, you've done an outstanding job - and if you keep it up, hopefully, you'll be back in the White House before you know it.

I'd also like to thank Clyde Terry and the Granite State Independent Living Center; Enable America; and the Governor's Task Force on Employment and Economic Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities for hosting this forum - and for all your outstanding work.

Finally, I want to acknowledge all of you in this room for your commitment to advancing the cause of civil rights in America. Because of you, we've got IDEA. Because of you, we've got Ticket to Work. And because of you - because people like you stood up, spoke out, and refused to take no for an answer - thirteen years ago, we passed one of the most revolutionary civil rights laws in American history: the Americans with Disabilities Act.

As the great civil rights leader, A. Philip Randolph, once said: "Freedom is never granted, it is won." Well, you've fought long and hard for your freedom, and you should be proud.

But for all the progress we've made, the sad fact is that today, we're no longer moving forward. We're standing still. And we're falling behind.

Today, we have a President who simply has not made disability rights a top priority. You see, when it comes to the Bush family's record on disability issues, it's not "like father, like son." It's just the opposite.

The father, George H.W. Bush, supported the ADA and signed it into law. The son, George W. Bush, has tried to dismantle it. He's appointed anti-ADA judges. He's tried to turn Medicaid into block grants for states. He's under- funded IDEA by $10.6 billion, and tried to cut benefits for 1.5 million disabled veterans.

That's not compassionate. That's not conservative. It's heartless, it's reckless, and it's wrong.

And I'm running for president because I want to put it right.

Because we need a higher standard of leadership in the White House. Because these issues aren't just disability issues. They're family issues. They're American issues. And as long as one person in this country can't get a job, or live in their community, and access our public facilities - we all lose out.

Because if there's one thing I know about America, it's this: the wider we open our doors, the more people we include, the stronger we are.

And that's what I'm here to talk to you about today - about how we can fulfill the promise of the ADA, and open the doors of opportunity to every single American who wants to go through them.

For many people, the ADA starts at home - and that's where I want to start today, with the future of long-term care in America.

Many people with disabilities need long-term assistance with their daily activities. But the Medicaid system that serves them was conceived more than thirty years ago, and it's showing its age. It's a system that devalues choice and says that government knows best for people with disabilities. Under this system, about 75% of funding goes toward institutional care - and only 25% for community- based services.

Well, I think we've got the balance all wrong. I think that people who need long-term care should be able to choose when and where they get it, and who provides it.

Because all of us know that unnecessary institutionalization is discrimination, plain and simple. That tearing families apart is just plain wrong. And that taking people out of their communities is un-American, because inclusion is our greatest strength, and when we undermine that, we undermine America.

That's why I'm going to stand up for MiCASSA - because I think it's time we empowered individuals, not institutions.

That's why I'm going to fight for the Family Opportunity Act - because parents shouldn't have to turn down good jobs because they're scared to lose their kids' Medicaid coverage.

And that's why I will never, ever let the federal government make Medicaid into block grants to states. And why my first major policy initiative - my Job Creation Plan - includes $40 billion for states and local governments to help pay for important Medicaid programs.

I know that right here in New Hampshire, for example, one of these programs - the Katie Beckett Program - might be cut. That is absolutely unacceptable. Katie Beckett and programs like it are crucial - and as president, I'm going to protect them.

But good care is only one part of independence. Another aspect that's just as important is the right to work. That's the second issue I want to discuss today.

The unemployment rate in the disability community is nothing short of a crisis. Around 70% of people with disabilities are unemployed. But more than 78% of people with disabilities say they want to work. No one wants pity - they want opportunity. No one wants a hand-out - they want a job.

But our government continues to make it darn near impossible to get one. Under the current SSDI system, many who want to work are forced to give up their benefits. They're given an impossible choice: work and go broke paying for your health care - or keep your benefits and stay at home. This is no choice at all. And I'm going to fix it.

I think it's high time we gave people with disabilities a real choice so that they can work and get their benefits.

First, we're going to stop punishing people who want to work. That means overhauling our SSDI system so that it protects the right to work, instead of undermining it.

Second, we're going to make the federal government a model for the rest of America in putting people with disabilities to work. That means making sure that federal contracts go to people with disabilities. It means ensuring that government contractors don't discriminate in their hiring. And it means fulfilling the Executive Order to hire 100,000 people with disabilities. Today, four years after it was signed, we're not even close.

When I'm president, I'm going to hire an Administration that looks like America. And I'm going to start by reinstating the full-time disabilities liaison - Jonathan's old job - a position President Bush eliminated. Because, unlike our President, I think that fighting for disability rights is a full time job.

Third, I'm going to abolish the Disabled Veterans Tax which penalizes disabled veterans who are forced to choose between the retirement benefits they earned and the disability benefits they deserve. This is an issue that I take personally. I served for 34 years in the United States military, and I fought in Vietnam. A lot of the men I served with were wounded, myself included. And many of them became disabled. The same thing is happening today in Iraq.

These people have risked their lives for our country. So it's high time they got the support of our country. That means giving them the benefits they earned.

And finally, if we truly want to solve the unemployment crisis in the long run, we have got to ensure that every single child gets the best education money can buy. That means working to fully fund IDEA so that all our children can learn.

But I've got to tell you, we're not going to be able to do any of this unless we strengthen and protect the piece of legislation that's made it all possible: the Americans with Disabilities Act. That's the third and final issue I want to discuss.

Today, the ADA is under siege. For the past few years, our federal courts have handed down decision after decision striking at the heart of the ADA. And our President has shown that he's ready and willing to appoint judges who will continue the assault. Just look at Jeffrey Sutton, one of Bush's appointees to the Sixth Circuit. This is a judge who has actually argued that the ADA, and I quote, "was not needed." That's a direct quote.

And this is just the beginning. If George W. Bush gets to spend another four years in the White House, he may get to appoint one, two, even three Supreme Court justices.

Do we want Judges like Jeffrey Sutton on the highest court in our land? Do we want judges like Jeffrey Sutton deciding cases like Tennessee v. Lane - a case that will literally determine whether people with disabilities can get through the courtroom doors?

Well, I've got a five word answer for you: Not in my White House.

When I'm in the White House, no one's going to have to get down on their knees and crawl to get their day in court.

Because we're not going to let a handful of judges overrule what 91 senators and 377 representatives passed into law. We're not going to let a right-wing Supreme Court rewrite 13 years of civil rights history with one stroke of the pen.

Because we've come too far, we've gained too much, to ever let that happen.

When I'm president of the United States, we're going to strengthen the ADA. We're going to write up and work to pass an ADA Restoration Act to reinstate the definitions of disability and reasonable accommodation that the Supreme Court has whittled away. And as President, I will only appoint judges who respect and uphold the law. And I'm going to appoint an Attorney General and an EEOC that will work overtime to enforce it.

Today, more than two hundred years after we signed the Declaration of Independence and ratified the Constitution - 13 years after we passed the Americans with Disabilities Act - we are still engaged in a great struggle for values they embody: freedom and independence, equality and inclusion. This community has never taken those things for granted - you've always had to fight a little harder, to speak up a little louder, to make your voices heard.

Well today, I think it's high time that people with disabilities got to take their rights, their freedoms, and their liberties for granted. It's not going to be easy. It's going to take a higher standard of leadership. One that puts America's interests above the special interests. One that promotes open, honest government, and holds its leaders accountable, with real, measurable goals. Not just for the next election, but for the next generation.

I'm running for president to bring that higher standard of leadership back to the White House. And I hope all of you will support me. Together, we can take back the White House and get this country moving forward again.

| Benefits | Info | Join | Other Sites | News | Feedback | Calendar | Home |