|
 Bush
Response to American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
Questionnaire
Justice For All, July 25, 2004
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The following
response to AAPD's questionnaire is provided by the Bush-Cheney
'04 Campaign. AAPD is non-partisan and shares information about
candidates' disability-related policy positions for educational
purposes.
DISABILITY ISSUE QUESTIONS FROM THE
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
1. What are your top three accomplishments on behalf of
people with disabilities in your career to date as an elected
official?
My New Freedom Initiative builds on the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) to enhance opportunities for the 54
million Americans with disabilities. Many specific programs in
the New Freedom Initiative benefit Americans with disabilities,
including three that I believe are particularly noteworthy: the
transportation, community life, and health care provisions.
I have proposed $884 million over six years to remove
transportation barriers still faced by individuals with
disabilities. Further, my Administration has completed the
regulation process for installing platform lifts on public
transportation and worked with the States to sponsor "United We
Ride," a five-part initiative to help States and communities
coordinate human service transportation for older Americans, and
people with disabilities.
To enhance community life for people with disabilities, I issued
an Executive Order calling for swift implementation of the
Supreme Court's Olmstead decision to expand community-based
services and community living choices for individuals with
disabilities regardless of age. Ten agencies submitted the first
report agency efforts to meet the order, identifying barriers to
full community integration that exist in Federal programs and
proposing more than 400 solutions for removing these barriers.
The report sets forth a summary of the actions that Federal
agencies propose to take in several key areas such as health
care structure and financing, employment, housing, education,
and personal assistance services. As a result, the Department of
Health and Human Services has awarded nearly $158 million for
the "Real Choice Systems Change Grants for Community Living" - a
program that will help states and territories enable people with
disabilities to reside in their homes if they wish.
My budget proposes an increase of $2.2 billion over the next
five years for the Department of Health and Human Services to
fund demonstration projects that promote community-based
services for people with disabilities. The Help America Vote Act
includes $10 million to improve access to voting for people with
disabilities and $5 million for protection and advocacy programs
on behalf of people with disabilities. The Department of Housing
and Urban Development has funded grants to enable older
individuals and individuals with disabilities to remain in their
homes.
Of course, access to high-quality health care is vital to people
with disabilities, and I have taken action to make health care
more accessible and affordable. I have allocated $1.75 billion
for a five-year initiative that would fund Medicaid services for
individuals transitioning from institutions to the community.
And I proposed strengthening Medicaid by allowing spouses of
individuals with disabilities who return to work to keep their
Medicaid coverage. I have allocated $102 million through fiscal
year 2009 for this project.
My New Freedom Initiative represents a clear and ongoing
commitment to ensure that Americans with disabilities have every
opportunity to enjoy all the opportunities our Nation has to
offer. A caring and compassionate society can offer no less.
2. If you are elected/re-elected what will be your top three
priorities during your first 100 days in office to improve the
quality of life for people with disabilities living in the U.S.?
I will continue to pursue the policies I proposed in the New
Freedom Initiative - the most comprehensive proposal since the
ADA that is focused on removing barriers faced by people with
disabilities - and I will remain open to new ideas to assist
people with disabilities as technologies develop or new needs
arise.
3. What ideas do you have for bringing our four largest
federal programs (Medicaid, Medicare, Supplemental Security
Income, and Social Security Disability Insurance) in line with
the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act (equality of
opportunity, full participation, independent living, and
economic self-sufficiency)?
The ADA is an excellent start in affording everyone an equal
chance at success, but more must be done. My commitment to the
20% of Americans with disabilities is demonstrated in my New
Freedom Initiative. I secured funding for a number of projects
aimed at removing disincentives to work that currently exist in
the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
disability benefit system. And in June 2001, I signed an
Executive Order to create "Community-Based Alternatives for
Individuals with Disabilities," directing agencies to require
States to place qualified individuals with mental disabilities
in community settings, rather than in institutions. The "Ticket
to Work" law extends Medicare coverage for SSDI beneficiaries so
employees can return to work without the fear of losing health
benefits. It also expands Medicaid eligibility categories for
certain working people with severe disabilities so that they can
continue to receive benefits after their income or condition
improves.
I also created the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental
Health, which is responsible for conducting a comprehensive
study of the Nation's mental health service delivery system. The
Commission recommended improvements to enable adults with
serious mental illness and children with serious emotional
disturbances to live, work, learn, and participate fully in
their communities. My Administration is working to address the
improvements recommended in the report.
4. What do you see as the most appropriate role for the
federal government to play in the lives of people with
disabilities and their families and what is your reaction to
recent trends limiting the federal role in disability policy?
I believe that the Federal government should not only provide an
outstanding example of equality and fairness in its own
employment policies, but should facilitate efforts that will
help to establish an environment of opportunity that gives every
American a chance to succeed and thrive. It is the government's
duty to enforce the laws that protect the rights of Americans
with disabilities and to invest in the projects that will
further expand their opportunities. In keeping with this
philosophy, the Justice Department is aggressively enforcing the
ADA, which has been critical in tearing down the barriers once
faced by Americans with disabilities. There is still more we can
do, and my New Freedom Initiative is building on this progress.
The swift implementation of the Olmstead decision is resulting
in expanded community-based services and better assistive
technologies for more Americans with disabilities. We are
supporting these efforts with funding that will enable more
individuals with disabilities to access new technologies, own
their own homes, and fully participate in their communities. And
by providing funding through grant funds and demonstrations, we
are equipping States and localities - which are better able to
address the needs of their communities - with the resources to
provide the programs that will benefit their specific
populations.
5. What concrete steps will you take to ensure your
administration and your appointments to the federal bench and
other entities include a representative group of qualified
people with disabilities?
I have worked to appoint qualified individuals of minority
populations to the Federal bench and I will continue to appoint
the most capable people of all backgrounds and abilities to top
positions within my Administration. I believe that the best way
to ensure that qualified people with disabilities receive
Federal appointments is to ensure that individuals with
disabilities have the opportunity to compete on a level playing
field and fully demonstrate their abilities, without the fear of
being discriminated against or overlooked. My Administration
will continue to fight to ensure that all opportunities remain
open to persons with disabilities by vigorously enforcing the
ADA, aggressively resolving disability-related complaints, and
continuing to implement my New Freedom Initiative.
6. What will you do as President to dramatically increase the
percentage of children with disabilities who graduate from high
school and go on to post-secondary education?
The first step in increasing graduation rates is providing equal
opportunities for success at every stage of the education
system. I have proposed to increase funding for the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by $1 billion in 2005,
which would represent a 75% increase since 2001, and the
Department of Education recently funded a number of grants to
determine what strategies help students with disabilities access
the general education curriculum and what kinds of early
interventions promote the best results for students with
disabilities. Through these focused efforts, I aim to see every
student achieve academic success and graduate with the tools to
succeed in the future.
In addition, the No Child Left Behind Act is based on the belief
that every child can learn. Under this law, schools are being
held accountable for the education results of subgroups of
students, including students with disabilities. This Act
includes the Reading First program, which has already provided
approximately $2.5 billion in funding to ensure that every child
is reading on grade level by the end of the third grade. I have
also proposed $100 million for the Striving Readers program and
a $120 million increase for the Math and Science Partnerships
program to help catch up middle and high school students who
have fallen behind in reading and math. This funding will
significantly benefit students with disabilities who may not
have received proper instruction in the early grades.
7. What will your administration do to improve the
accessibility of mainstream technologies and access to assistive
technologies for people with disabilities?
Since technology has the potential to aid everyone in our
society, especially Americans with disabilities, increasing
access to technology is a main priority of my Administration. I
have secured $20 million for a fund to help individuals with
disabilities purchase the technology they need to work from
home. I promoted full implementation of Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act, requiring that electronic and information
technology purchased, maintained, and used by the Federal
government is readily accessible to and usable by individuals
with disabilities.
8. How will you work with disability advocates and Congress
to draft and promote legislation to restore civil rights
protections for qualified disabled individuals who have been
left out by U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting the ADA,
especially in the area of employment?
As part of a nationwide effort to build on the successes of ADA,
I announced the New Freedom Initiative in 2001 to help level the
playing field for Americans with disabilities. Men and women
with disabilities deserve equal employment opportunities and my
Administration has created programs that help expand workforce
options for employees with disabilities. Tax benefits are now
serving as incentives for employers to provide computer
equipment and Internet access to their employees with special
needs. This flexibility will expand the universe of accessible
employment and will allow employees to take advantage of this
flexibility for teleworking.
My Administration is also ensuring the swift implementation of
the "Ticket to Work" law, which provides incentives for people
with disabilities to return to work. The law provides Americans
with disabilities a voucher-like "ticket" that allows them to
choose their own support services, including vocational
education programs and rehabilitation services. It also extends
Medicare coverage for some SSDI beneficiaries so employees can
return to work without the fear of losing health benefits. To
further encourage employees to return to work, the law also
expands Medicaid eligibility categories so that individuals
working with disabilities will receive benefits even after their
income or condition improves.
I secured $36.6 million in 2002 to fund State loan programs to
help people with disabilities purchase assistive technologies,
such as computers with special adaptive equipment. I have also
mandated full implementation of Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act, requiring electronic and information
technology purchased, maintained, and used by the Federal
government to be readily accessible to people with disabilities.
In addition, the New Freedom Initiative will provide resources
for technical assistance to help small businesses comply with
the ADA so that they can better serve customers and hire more
people with disabilities.
And I will continue to work closely with the Department of
Justice to ensure full enforcement of the ADA. Since 2001, the
Civil Rights Division has resolved over 1,000 disability-related
complaints, over 500 of those through mediation.
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