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United Cerebral Palsy Challenges Presidential Candidates to Address Disability Issues in Debates
UCP Press Release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2004
Contact: Jim Baker
(202) 973-7114Supporters can also TAKE ACTION by sending a free letter to the campaigns by logging on to UCP website.
(Washington, DC) – United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), a national leader in disability issues, has purchased full-page advertisements in the Washington University Student Life and the Arizona State University State Press to call on the candidates for President of the United States to address the urgent issues facing Americans with disabilities and their families. Washington University and Arizona State University will host the final two debates.
One in five Americans has a disability, making up the largest minority group in the United States.
Yet more than 40 million eligible voters with disabilities have heard little from the candidates on matters of education, employment, health care, and accessibility for people with disabilities.
“The final Presidential debates present an opportunity for the candidates to lay out an inclusive vision for the future,” said Stephen Bennett, President and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy. “And forty million voters with disabilities have waited long enough to hear it.”
To urge the candidates to speak directly to Americans with disabilities, United Cerebral Palsy is calling on supporters to write the campaigns through the UCP website.
Activists can send a free letter urging candidates to publicly clarify their position on key disability issues in the final weeks of the campaign:
What will you do to make sure all children, including those with disabilities, receive the best education America can offer?
What will you do to decrease the 65% unemployment rate of people with disabilities?
What will you do to reform Medicaid so people with disabilities of all ages can live in their own homes, not nursing homes or other institutional settings?
What will you do to ensure that voters with disabilities have truly equal access to the voting booth?
What will you do to support more effective enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act?
UCP Calls on Presidential Candidates to Address Disability Issues in Debates
A National Organization on Disability / Harris survey released in September found that 48% of voters with disabilities support President Bush, 46% support Senator Kerry, and 3% support Ralph Nader. However, the National Organization on Disability found that the disability community’s support is still fluid.
“By taking just a few moments during the debates to speak clearly to Americans with disabilities, the candidates can make great gains with the disability community in Missouri, Arizona, and around the country,” added Richard Forkosh, Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater St. Louis.
United Cerebral Palsy Contacts “On-the-Ground” For the Debates
St. Louis: Richard Forkosh
Executive Director
UCP of Greater St. Louis
(314) 994-1600Phoenix: Guy Collison
Executive Director
UCP of Central Arizona
(602) 943-5472
About United Cerebral PalsyUnited Cerebral Palsy is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan health charity and one of the nation’s leading organizations serving and advocating for the more than 54 million Americans with disabilities. Most UCP consumers are people with disabilities other than cerebral palsy. Through its nationwide affiliate network, United Cerebral Palsy offers services to individuals, families and communities, such as job training and placement, physical therapy, individual and family support, early intervention, social and recreation programs, community living, state and local referrals, and instruction on how to use technology to perform everyday tasks. For more information, visit UCP website or call (800) 872-5827.
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