WASHINGTON,
D.C. -- The United Cerebral Palsy Association awarded U.S. Representative
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) the 2001 Public Service Award. Schakowsky is
a fighter on behalf of the disability community and is the author of H.R.
1763, legislation to increase the Personal Needs Allowance
Below
is Schakowsky’s speech before members of UCP:
I
am so honored to receive this award from the United Cerebral Palsy Association
(UCP) and to receive it from Alan Goldberg. Alan is a passionate
and tireless advocate for the interests of persons with cerebral palsy,
persons with disabilities, and all of us who are concerned about protecting
rights and enhancing opportunities for all. Last year, I worked with
Alan to win funding for an Assistive Technology Center demonstration site
in Chicago, which will provide enormous opportunities for students
and others.
I
also want to thank UCP and all of you for your own efforts. In Illinois
and across the nation, you are fighting to help persons with disabilities
achieve their full potential and be productive members of their communities,
through improved access to education and assistive technology, quality
health care, and expanded employment opportunities.
Your
mission statement is centered on putting people first; promoting independence,
inclusion and self-determination; and working for progressive change.
For decades, you have worked to fulfill those goals. Through public education
and advocacy and organizing, UCP is demonstrating the power of people not
just to change policies but to change the public’s perception of persons
with disabilities. You should be proud of the successes that you
have achieved.
Accomplishments:
Before
we talk about the need for new policies and activism, it is important to
think for a moment about some of the successes won by UCP and the disability
community.
We
won passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, one of the most important
civil rights laws of our generation.
We
enacted the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, recognizing that
every child deserves full and equal access to educational opportunities.
We
passed Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, requiring that all federal
agencies provide information systems that are accessible to everyone.
President Bush announced last week that today, June 25, is the effective
date for federal implementation of Section 508, a move that will improve
accessibility for 120,000 federal workers and the public. And, because
the federal government spends $39 billion each year on technology, it will
have a big impact on future developments.
The
Clinton Administration created the President’s Task Force on the Employment
of Adults with Disabilities. That Task Force brought a new awareness
of the importance of persons with disabilities to the federal workforce
and to our society, helped pass the Work Incentive Improvement Act and
resulted in creation of the Office of Disability Policy within the Department
of Labor.
The
U.S. Supreme Court reach a landmark decision in the Olmstead case, telling
states that they should provide services for persons with disabilities
in the most appropriate setting. The Bush Administration last week
issued an executive order designed to help implement that decision and
to provide $70 million to help get state implementation started.
Challenges:
These
are major accomplishments but, as you know, there is much more to be done.
We
are living in the 21st century. It is time – it is long past time
– that we guarantee full and equal rights to every single person in our
country.
Employment
It
is time to close the door on policies that deny people with disabilities
the right to employment. Almost three-quarters of working age people
with disabilities are unemployed, despite the fact that many are willing
and able to work. Last Congress, we passed the Ticket to Work and
the Work Incentive Improvement Act. Now we have to implement meaningful
work opportunities in every state. We cannot afford to lose a single productive
member of our society because we refuse to tear down the barriers that
lock people out of the workplace. We all lose if we refuse to make
the accommodations necessary to get people with disabilities into the workplace.
The
Bush Administration has put forward a New Freedom Initiative so that “Americans
with disabilities should have every freedom to pursue careers, integrate
into the workforce, and participate as full members in the economic marketplace.”
Now we have to make the Administration make good on that commitment.
Appropriate
Care
It
is time to close the door on policies that force people with disabilities
into institutions, instead of helping them to live at home and in the community.
We must expand Medicaid to include personal assistance services. We must
not only eliminate policy biases toward institutionalization, we must provide
all the resources necessary to make comprehensive home and community-based
services available and affordable. The Olmstead decision was a fabulous
victory – but it is not enough. Changing policy makes deinstitutionalization
possible, providing the money makes it happen.
It
is also time that we make the commitment and provide the resources to ensure
the quality of facility-based care. I will shortly reintroduce legislation
to require minimum staffing ratios for nursing homes, so there are adequate
numbers of well-trained staff to care for residents.
I
am pleased to have UCP’s support on another bill, H.R. 1763, to increase
the personal needs allowance for Medicaid beneficiaries living in institutions.
While states have discretion, current federal law requires only $30 for
an individual, $100 for a couple. My bill would raise that to $50
and $100. Persons in institutions should be treated with respect
and dignity, and that includes having the right to personal funds to meet
personal needs.
Health
Care
We
need to improve access to health care and improve health care. Congress
finally gets the need for a patients’ bill of rights, but it is still far
from sure that the legislation passed will be adequate. This is not
just about holding managed care plans accountable, although eliminating
the liability shield from HMOs that deny or limit care is long overdue.
There are key differences between the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act
(sponsored by Representatives Ganske and Dingell and Senators Kennedy and
McCain), and the Republican leadership proposals. As the Consortium
of Citizens with Disabilities recently pointed out, our bill authorizes
standing referrals, critical to people with disabilities who need to see
specialists on a regular basis. Their bill does not. Our bill
provides specialty care protection to persons with potentially disabling
or congenital conditions or diseases. Their bill does not.
Our bill requires that specialists must be ADA-accessible. Their
bill does not. Our bill provides continuity of care to persons with
potentially disabled or congenital conditions. Their bill does not.
Our bill provides coverage for individuals in approved clinical trials.
Their bill does not. UCP understands the importance of these differences
and is working to win the best protections possible.
I’m
proud to be a cosponsor of the Family Opportunity Act, which would give
state discretion for parents of child with disabilities to buy into Medicaid.
But, ultimately, what we really need is universal health care. I
completely agree with UCP’s policy, which calls for universal and affordable
access to comprehensive benefits with patient choice. Providing limited
tax credits that, at most, allow the purchase of bare-bones insurance policies
is just not the answer. Again, we need to fight for policies that
meet the need of children and adults with disabilities, not just the healthy
whose medical needs are limited.
I
am a vice chair of the House Task Force on Universal Health Care.
I am anxious to work with UCP in designing the strategy and policies to
get us to that goal.
Housing
It
is time that we guarantee every person a decent place to live. Last
January, a HUD report found that there are 1.3 million adults with disabilities
who have worst case housing needs, 25 percent of all households with worst
case needs. People with disabilities are the only group eligible
for federal housing assistance whose housing needs have actually increased
during this period of economic prosperity. There are over 4 million
people with disabilities whose primary source of income is their federal
Supplemental Security Income benefit. The CCD report, Priced Out in 2000:
The Crisis Continues, found that there is not a single housing market in
the United States where an SSI-only household can rent an efficiency or
one-bedroom market for 30 percent or less of their income.
Last
year, we won a $9 million increase in funds to build housing for persons
with disabilities, but the $217 million appropriated is just not enough.
Adults
with disabilities face an enormous challenge even finding accessible housing.
When they do, it is likely to be unaffordable. If we can put people
on the moon and uncover the secrets of the human genome, we can design
and build housing that is accessible and affordable.
Social
Security
You
all know that Social Security is more than a retirement program.
Roughly 7 million people receive Social Security benefits because they
or a family member are disabled.
Proposals
to privatize Social Security are a particular threat to persons who receive
Social Security because of disability or survivor status for 2 reasons.
First,
proposals to divert 2 percentage points of the current 12.4 percent payroll
tax into individual accounts would reduce funds into Social Security by
$1.1 trillion over the next 10 years. This could force a cut in existing
benefits of up to 54%.
Second,
survivors and individuals whose working years are cut short by disability
would have much shorter periods of time to accumulate money in individual
accounts, significantly lowering their Social Security benefits.
The General Accounting Office reported in January that “the income from
(workers’ individual accounts) was not sufficient to compensate for the
decline in the insurance benefits that disabled beneficiaries would receive.”
ADA
Protection and the Courts
It
is time that we guarantee the civil rights of every person not just in
theory but in practice. Last year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary the
ADA. This year, we continue to face assaults, whether from inadequate
resources for enforcement or bills like the ADA Notification Act.
I’m sorry that Clint Eastwood didn’t know enough to make his restaurant
accessible. But we can be just as tough as Dirty Harry himself –
the law is on the books, it’s been there for 11 years now, it must be obeyed.
Those who violate other people’s civil rights don’t deserve a free pass
– they deserve to be penalized for ignoring the law of the land.
The
Olmstead and Garrett decisions point out the absolute importance of the
courts in implementing and interpreting laws like the ADA.
We
must fight the nomination of people of like Jeffrey Sutton. This is a man
who, in arguing the Garrett case for Alabama, said that the ADA is “NOT
NEEDED.” He argued that we should just rely on state laws.
But it is the state of Alabama that discriminated in the Garrett case.
Jeffrey
Sutton is not just an enemy of the ADA. He successfully argued against
the Age Discrimination Act before the Supreme Court. He also just
won a case that, unless overturned by the Supreme Court, will prevent people
from using the federal courts to sue states that refuse to provide Medicaid
benefit.
Jeffrey
Sutton is not a friend of people with disabilities, older Americans, children,
women or anyone else. It is a disgrace that he has been nominated
and, together, we will prevent him from ever sitting on a federal bench.
Voting
Rights
As
a member of the House Democratic Task Force on Election Reform, I am working
with my colleagues to make sure that every person is able to vote and that
every vote cast is actually counted. During the last election, some
people were kept away from the polls because of roadblocks, intimidation
or election officials who refused to honor voting cards. People with
disabilities are routinely kept away because of physical obstacles, the
lack of accessible transportation to the poll, outdated voting machines,
and failure to guarantee privacy in voting. If we tear down the barriers
to voter participation, it will go a long way to tearing down the other
barriers that face us.
I
am proud to be a cosponsor of the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act,
H.R. 1170/S. 565, introduced by Representative Conyers and Senator Dodd.
That bill requires that voting “shall be accessible for individuals with
disabilities and other individuals with special needs…which provides the
same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence)
as for other voters.”
Show
Me the Money
As
you recognized, there is an underlying concern in so many of the issues
I’ve talked about – that policy wins without adequate funding do not work.
Congress
just passed a budget resolution that does not include the money for MiCASSA
or more housing, for expanded employment assistance or full funding of
IDEA. It does not provide money to install 21st century voting machines
in every polling place or to provide real ADA enforcement. In fact,
the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found the budget and tax bills
just passed will require $45 billion in cuts for domestic discretionary
programs below current levels over the next 10 years. Unless we change
policies, funding existing programs let alone critical new initiatives
will be very, very difficult.
Those
who voted for that budget resolution need to hear from you. They
need to know that a budget that provides tax breaks for the wealthy but
doesn’t improve housing and health care is just not good enough.
They need to be told that they must do better than that.
We
need to reinforce our support for the goals of the ADA and IDEA by renewing
America’s commitment to equality of opportunity, full participation, independent
living and economic self-sufficiency for all people with disabilities.
We
need to highlight the importance of continuing on the path to building
accessible, inclusive and integrated communities where children and adults
with disabilities have opportunities and choices.
I
look forward to working with you in that effort. |