| NCD Bulletin
A Monthly Publication of the National Council
on Disability (NCD)
Marca Bristo, Chairperson
September 1997
The Bulletin, which is free of charge, and at NCD’s award-winning Web site (http://www.ncd.gov), brings you the latest issues and news affecting people with disabilities. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the NCD listserv, send a blank e-mail to add-bulletin@list.ncd.gov or remove-bulletin@list.ncd.gov. No need to write anything in the subject line or body. Please send your editorial comments to Bulletin editor Mark S. Quigley (mquigley@ncd.gov).
Disability Advocates Meet with President and Vice President
In an unprecedented 2-hour meeting, NCD chairperson Marca Bristo
and other disability advocates met with President Clinton and Vice
President Gore on September 10, 1997, to discuss disability issues,
such as the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
personal assistance services, employment of people with disabilities,
cuts in Supplemental Security Income to children with disabilities,
and technology. Other participants included Bob Kafka and Michael
Oxford, ADAPT; Debra Robinson, Speaking for Ourselves; Justin Dart,
Fred Fay (by telephone), and Becky Ogle, Justice For All; Tony Coelho,
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities;
John Harper, Jr., from Jacksonville, Illinois, who attended NCD's
Youth Leadership Development Conference; Nancy Diehl, a parent from
Tennessee; Paul Edwards, American Council of the Blind; Paul Marchand,
Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities; Gina McDonald, National
Council on Independent Living; Susan Daniels, Social Security Administration;
Judy Heumann, Department of Education; Bob Williams, Department
of Health and Human Services; Bruce Vladeck, Ph.D., Health Care
Financing Administration; Chris Jennings and Diana Fortuna, White
House Domestic Policy Council; and Maria Echaveste and Bill White,
White House Office of Public Liaison.
Census Bureau Reports 54 Million Americans with Disabilities
Between October 1994 and January 1995, approximately 54 million
Americans reported some level of disability and 26 million described
their disability as severe, according to a new report from the U.S.
Census Bureau. Data collected three years earlier (1991-1992) showed
nearly 49 million people with a disability, 24 million of whom said
their disability was severe. A link to this census data can be found
at the NCD Web site (http://www.ncd.gov).
In addition, fax copies are available at 1-888-206-6463 (request
Document Number 1246), or call 301-457-3030.
NCD Releases Social Security Reform Report
On September 24, NCD released its report, Removing Barriers
to Work: Action Proposals for the 105th Congress and Beyond, at
a congressional briefing on barriers preventing Social Security
disability recipients from returning to work. Copies are available
by contacting NCD's Stacey Brown at 202-272-2004 or by e-mail (sbrown@ncd.gov).
Legislative Update
After almost 13 years on Capitol Hill, Robert Silverstein is leaving
to teach and establish a Center for the Study and Advancement of
Disability Policy at George Washington University. Mr. Silverstein
currently serves as a minority professional staff member with the
Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources and previously served
as staff director and chief counsel for the former Senate Subcommittee
on Disability Policy, when it was chaired by Senator Harkin. Mr.
Silverstein has worked tirelessly on behalf of children and adults
with disabilities, particularly during the deliberations leading
to passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and during the
recent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act.
NCD Welcomes New Member and New Staff
Gina McDonald of Salina, Kansas, was confirmed to be an NCD member
by the U.S. Senate on July 31. Ms. McDonald is the executive director
of the Kansas Association of Centers for Independent Living and
serves as the president of the National Council on Independent Living.
Andrew J. Imparato became NCD's new general counsel and policy
director on September 15. Mr. Imparato was special assistant to
commissioner Paul Steven Miller of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission and previously worked as counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee
on Disability Policy.
In Memory of Warren Asher
Longtime disability advocate and attorney Warren Asher died on
July 15, 1997. Mr. Asher, who was a partner at the law firm of Wilmer,
Cutler & Pickering, often provided pro bono legal advice to
NCD, and he helped found and chaired the Alliance for Lymphoma Survivors.
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