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For Immediate Release March 13, 1998
PRESIDENT CLINTON
SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING NATIONAL TASK FORCE
ON EMPLOYMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
The President today signed an Executive Order establishing a
National Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities that will
create a coordinated and aggressive national policy to bring working-
age individuals with disabilities into gainful employment at a rate
approaching that of the general adult population.
"Since 1993, we have created 15 million new jobs. But the
unemployment rate among people with disabilities is far too high, and
that is why I'm so pleased to sign today an executive order that will
design a strategy to make equality of opportunity, full participation,
inclusion, and economic self-sufficiency realities for all 30 million
working-age Americans with disabilities," declared President Clinton.
Charged with developing and recommending to the President a
federal policy to reduce employment barriers for persons with
disabilities, the Task Force will submit four reports, the first by
November 15, 1998, and the last on July 26, 2002, the 10th anniversary
of the initial implementation of the employment provisions of the
Americans with Disabilities Act. Alexis M. Herman, Secretary of Labor,
will Chair the Task Force. Tony Coelho, Chairman of the President's
Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, will serve as
Vice-Chair.
Key components of the Task Force's directive include analyzing
existing programs and policies to determine what changes, modifications
and innovations may be necessary to remove barriers to work; developing
and recommending options to address the barrier of health insurance
coverage; analyzing youth programs related to employment and the
outcomes of those programs for young people with disabilities; and
evaluating whether federal studies related to employment and training
can and should include a statistically significant sample of adults
with disabilities.
The Task Force also will include the Secretary of Education; the
Secretary of Veterans' Affairs; the Secretary of Health and Human
Services; the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; the
Secretary of the Treasury; the Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of
Transportation; the Administrator of the Small Business Administration;
the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Director
of the Office of Personnel Management, and the Chair of the National
Council on Disability. These officials are required to make the
activities and initiatives of this Executive Order a high priority
within their respective agencies.
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