PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE:
      A Record of Working on Behalf of Americans with Disabilities
                            January 10, 2001

President Clinton and Vice President Gore have worked hard to empower all Americans and to achieve equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities. Key accomplishments include:

• Signing into law and implementing the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act which enhances employment-related services for individuals with disabilities and enables Americans with disabilities to retain their Medicare or Medicaid coverage when they go to work.
• Creating the Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities to develop a comprehensive, coordinated employment agenda for Americans with disabilities.
• Vigorously defending the Americans with Disabilities Act in court cases across the nation.
• Working to implement the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision, which prohibits unjustified institutionalization of persons with disabilities who, with proper support, can live in the community.
• Ensuring a quality education for children with disabilities by enacting a stronger, improved Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• Helping ensure that 80% of America's public transit buses are now accessible.
• Launching a new website, www.disAbility.gov, which serves as a "one-stop" electronic link to an enormous range of useful information available throughout the Federal government for people with disabilities and their families.
• Working with the First Lady to create a new interagency Youth to Work Initiative to help young people with disabilities successfully make the transition from school to work.
• Increasing the amount that students who receive SSI can earn while continuing to receive benefits.
• Increasing and indexing the Substantial Gainful Activity level to enable more individuals with disabilities to return to work without fear of losing critical Social Security Disability benefits.
• Mobilizing public and private efforts to create digital opportunity for people with disabilities and increase their ability to participate in the workforce. Initiatives include a national investment in the development and transfer of assistive technology and universal design.
• Making the federal government a model employer by directing agencies to increase efforts to recruit and hire people with disabilities, by expanding hiring opportunities for people with psychiatric disabilities, and calling for mental health parity for federal employees.

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