Obama Campaign Press Release - Obama Unveils Disabilities and Equal Opportunities Plan

Chicago, IL-- Senator Barack Obama today unveils his plan to ensure that

Americans with disabilities have an equal opportunity to achieve the

American Dream and pledged to make implementing this plan an Obama

administration priority.

In a video released on his web site, Obama said: " we must build a world

free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination," and

"policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and

organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to

get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in

their communities."

Despite the federal government's promise to shoulder 40 percent of each

state's "excess cost" of educating children with disabilities, it has

never lived up to this obligation. Restrictive Supreme Court decisions

have undermined the force of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the

employment rate of workers with disabilities continues to lag behind

other workers. And recent reports show that the Social Security

Administration's inability to deal with its backlog of disability claims

has cost individuals their homes and economic security.

Barack Obama believes the United States should lead the world in

empowering people with disabilities to take full advantage of their

talents and become independent, integrated members of society. In

addition to reclaiming America's global leadership on this issue by

becoming a signatory to — and having the Senate ratify — the UN

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Obama's plan has

four parts that are designed to provide Americans with disabilities with

the greatest possible access to the same opportunities as those without

disabilities.

Click HERE to view a fact sheet on Senator Obama's plan and HERE to view

the web ad.

They are:

First, provide Americans with disabilities the educational opportunities

they need to succeed. Obama will:

* Fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act so that students

with disabilities will get the public education they have a right to;

* Ensure that all states have the support to adopt comprehensive newborn

screening programs and set a national goal to provide voluntary

re-screening for all two-year-olds — the age at which some conditions,

including autism spectrum disorders, begin to appear;

* Expand Early Head Start to serve more children with disabilities and

spur states, through Obama's Early Learning Challenge Grants, to expand

programs for children with disabilities, such as IDEA Part C, and

integrate these programs with other early childhood programs; and

* Help more students with disabilities attend college by funding

Vocational Rehabilitation programs to provide better counseling and

offering a new, fully refundable $4,000 American Opportunity Tax Credit

to make college more affordable.

Second, end discrimination and promote equal opportunity. Obama

will:

* Restore the Americans with Disabilities Act by supporting legislation

reversing Supreme Court decisions that have narrowed it and appointing a

judiciary that will respect Congressional intent;

* Fully fund and increase staffing at the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs so

they have the resources to enforce anti-discrimination laws that protect

workers with disabilities;

* Secure affordable, quality, portable health care for all by the end of

his first term in office so people with disabilities can enter and/or

re-enter the workforce without fear of losing their government-provided

health insurance; and

* Support mental health parity so that coverage for serious mental

illnesses is provided on the same terms and conditions as other

illnesses and diseases. Obama passed Illinois' mental health parity law

as a state senator.

Third, increase the employment rate of workers with disabilities.

Towards that end, the Obama plan would, among other things:

* Increase the number of federal employees with disabilities and require

the hiring of an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities

within five years.

* Provide workers with disabilities and caregivers with greater

workplace flexibility by expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act,

mandating seven days of paid sick leave for all workers, and encouraging

states to provide paid leave, and also by protecting caregivers from

workplace discrimination; and

* Encourage more hiring of workers with disabilities in the private

sector, including by educating employers about best practices in

accommodating workers with disabilities and the availability of tax

benefits for providing accommodations, including the Disabled Access Tax

Credit, the Tax Deduction for Architectural and Transportation Barrier

Removal, and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

And fourth, support independent, community-based living for

Americans with disabilities. To further this end, Obama will, among

other things:

* Streamline the current application and appeals processes to reduce the

unacceptable delays experienced by individuals applying for Social

Security disability benefits, and ensure that the SSA has the funding it

needs to hire additional judges and staff and to invest in technology to

expedite final decisions;

* Assure that Americans with disabilities' right to choose the most

appropriate setting in which to live, affirmed in Olmstead v. L.C., is

fully vindicated;

* Support the Community Choice Act and direct care workers so that

Americans with significant disabilities have the choice to live in their

community rather than a nursing home or other institution;

* Support the CLASS Act to create a voluntary, budget-neutral national

insurance program to help adults with disabilities to remain independent

and live in their communities;

* Protect the voting rights of people with disabilities by fully funding

the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) so that all polling places are fully

accessible, better enforcing the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly

and Handicapped Act, the ADA, and the Voting Rights Act, and opposing

Voter ID laws;

* Amend the Medicare "homebound" rule so that those with disabilities

have the freedom to leave their homes without fear of having their

government benefits taken away;

* Invest in assistive technologies to develop 21st century solutions,

such as home monitoring and communications technologies, that will help

people with disabilities overcome stubborn barriers;

* Research treatments and search for the causes of autism spectrum

disorder (ASD) and guarantee that Americans with ASD can live

independent and fully productive lives; and

* Strengthen specialty care within the Veterans Administration by

creating additional polytrauma centers as well as centers of excellence

for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), PTSD, vision impairment, prosthetics,

spinal cord injury, aging, women's health and other specialized

rehabilitative care.