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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release April 23, 1997

Statement by the Press Secretary

President Clinton today announced his intention to send legislation to Congress to modify the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, which will be officially dedicated on May 2, 1997. "I'm pleased to offer this legislation so that generations of Americans will know that this great President was great with his disability," said the President.

The President's action would instruct the Secretary of the Interior to formulate plans for the design and construction of an additional statue, bas relief, or similar sculpture of President Roosevelt in his wheelchair at the Memorial. FDR Commission Co-Chairman, Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), whose leadership has made the FDR Memorial a reality, will introduce the legislation at the request of the White House.

The President joins sixteen of FDR's grandchildren, President Bush, President Carter, and President Ford, and leaders of the disability community in calling for a permanent depiction of FDR's disability at the Memorial.

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