|
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 1, 2000
SPIRIT OF THE ADA MONTH, 2000
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
The enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 10 years ago
this month signaled a transformation in our Nation's public policies toward
people with disabilities. America is now a dramatically different -- and
better -- country because of the ADA.
In the last 10 years, we have worked hard to eliminate harmful
stereotypes and have grown to understand disability as a natural part of
the human experience. We are taking steps, such as renovating and
constructing public accommodations to make them fully accessible, to ensure
that people with disabilities are fully integrated into our communities and
workplaces. And we have come to appreciate that people with disabilities
are a key element -- and an untapped resource -- in sustaining our Nation's
historic economic growth.
Throughout our Administration, Vice President Gore and I have worked
hard to achieve the ADA's core goals -- equality of opportunity, full
participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. Our
Administration has vigorously defended the ADA in court cases across the
Nation; we are collaborating with State Medicaid directors to implement the
Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead decision, which prohibits unjustified
isolation of institutionalized persons with disabilities; we helped ensure
that 80 percent of America's public transit buses are now accessible; we
are implementing the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act,
which I proudly signed into law last December; we have worked closely with
schools and colleges to improve the enrollment, retention, and graduation
of students with disabilities; and my Task Force on Employment of Adults
with Disabilities is developing far-reaching policies for a comprehensive,
coordinated employment agenda.
We still have much to accomplish. Because the many barriers confronting
people with disabilities took generations to develop, breaking them down
requires consistent, coordinated, and farsighted effort. We must work
aggressively to increase the employment rates of people with disabilities
by attacking a range of work disincentives, including barriers to
education, health care, technology, housing, and transportation. We must
provide real choices for people with disabilities to live and work in their
communities with the necessary services and supports. And we must be
vigilant in protecting the rights we have secured through decades of legal
activism. I am encouraged that the first 10 years of the ADA's life have
provided us with a solid foundation for meeting these challenges.
To mark the ADA's 10th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the American
Association of People with Disabilities has organized a nationwide
"Spirit of ADA" Torch Relay. Twenty-four cities from coast to coast
are hosting official relay events, and hundreds of communities are
organizing additional local events as part of this national celebration.
The Spirit of ADA's organizing theme is "Renew the Pledge" to
encourage individuals, organizations, and government entities to reaffirm
their commitment to the principles of the ADA and IDEA. Vice President Gore
and I are proud to join in the celebration and to renew our own pledge to
help advance the cause of disability rights.
Promoting disability rights not only improves the lives of the 54
million Americans with disabilities, it improves all of our lives. As
President Franklin Roosevelt recognized more than 60 years ago, in words
that are now inscribed on the FDR Memorial in our Nation's capital:
"No Country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human
resources."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 2000 as Spirit of the
ADA Month, 2000. I urge government officials, business people, community
leaders, educators, and all the people of the United States, to celebrate
the contributions people with disabilities have made, and continue to make,
to the progress and prosperity of our Nation, and to renew our commitment
to upholding the nondiscrimination principles of the ADA and IDEA.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of July,
in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
|