Office on Disability

Bringing Emergency Preparedness to the Government’s Workers and Customers With Disabilities

An enduring story from September 11, 2001, concerns two friends – Ed Beyea and Abe Zelmanowitz – who worked for Blue Cross/Blue Shield on the 27^th floor of One World Trade Center. During the evacuation of the building, Ed, who was quadriplegic, decided to wait behind while others evacuated first. Abe directed Ed’s aide to get out of the building, and volunteered to wait with Ed until he could be carried out. This proved not to be possible in the ensuing minutes until the building collapsed, and both men died.

This is one example of the vulnerability facing people with disabilities in times of crisis. When natural disasters or acts of terrorism threaten American citizens, providing for the safety and security of people with disabilities requires careful planning and coordination.

Yesterday, President Bush took an important step in securing the safety and security of government workers, and those they serve, who have disabilities. With the Executive Order, “Individuals with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness,” the President is making government agencies responsible for properly taking into account agency employees and customers with disabilities in the agencies’ emergency preparedness planning. The order also calls for facilitating cooperation among government entities in the implementation of emergency preparedness plans as they relate to individuals with disabilities. Additionally, the President is establishing the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities to coordinate this effort, under the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security.

Here at the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) plays an important role in this new partnership. Research conducted at NIDRR has led to new applications of the principles of universal design to the built environment, information technology, telecommunications, transportation, and mass-market consumer products. The tools that NIDRR research puts in the hands of people with disabilities will be essential to their emergency preparedness.

The focus on safety and security is part of an ongoing process under the President’s New Freedom Initiative, which is designed to tear down the remaining barriers to full integration into American life that many of the nation’s 54 million citizens with disabilities still face. The New Freedom Initiative will increase investment in and access to assistive technologies and a quality education, and help integrate Americans with disabilities into the workforce and into community life.

The Executive Order, located on the Web at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/, follows below. Questions about it can be directed to Tracy Justesen at the White House Domestic Policy Council at (202) 456-5228.

Troy R. Justesen, Ed.D.
Delegated the authority to perform the functions of Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

The White House
President George W. Bush

EXECUTIVE ORDER

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES IN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to strengthen emergency preparedness with respect to individuals with disabilities, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Policy. 

To ensure that the Federal Government appropriately supports safety and security for individuals with disabilities in situations involving disasters, including earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, floods, hurricanes, and acts of terrorism, it shall be the policy of the United States that executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government (agencies):

1. consider, in their emergency preparedness planning, the unique needs of agency employees with disabilities and individuals with disabilities whom the agency serves;

2. encourage, including through the provision of technical assistance, as appropriate, consideration of the unique needs of employees and individuals with disabilities served by State, local, and tribal governments and private organizations and individuals in emergency preparedness planning; and

3. facilitate cooperation among Federal, State, local, and tribal governments and private organizations and individuals in the implementation of emergency preparedness plans as they relate to individuals with disabilities.

Sec. 2.  Establishment of Council. 

1. There is hereby established, within the Department of Homeland Security for administrative purposes, the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities (the "Council").  The Council shall consist exclusively of the following members or their designees:

1. the heads of executive departments, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Administrator of General Services, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, and the Commissioner of Social Security; and

2. any other agency head as the Secretary of Homeland Security may, with the concurrence of the agency head, designate.

2. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall chair the Council, convene and preside at its meetings, determine its agenda, direct its work, and, as appropriate to particular subject matters, establish and direct subgroups of the Council, which shall consist exclusively of Council members.

3. A member of the Council may designate, to perform the Council functions of the member, an employee of the member’s department or agency who is either an officer of the United States appointed by the President, or a full-time employee serving in a position with pay equal to or greater than the minimum rate payable for GS-15 of the General Schedule.

Sec. 3.  Functions of Council. 

1. The Council shall:

1. coordinate implementation by agencies of the policy set forth in section 1 of this order;

2. whenever the Council obtains in the performance of its functions information or advice from any individual who is not a full-time or permanent part-time Federal employee, obtain such information and advice only in a manner that seeks individual advice and does not involve collective judgment or consensus advice or deliberation; and

3. at the request of any agency head (or the agency head’s designee under section 2(c) of this order) who is a member of the Council, unless the Secretary of Homeland Security declines the request, promptly review and provide advice, for the purpose of furthering the policy set forth in section 1, on a proposed action by that agency.

2. The Council shall submit to the President each year beginning 1 year after the date of this order, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, a report that describes:

1. the achievements of the Council in implementing the policy set forth in section 1;

2. the best practices among Federal, State, local, and tribal governments and private organizations and individuals for emergency preparedness planning with respect to individuals with disabilities; and

3. recommendations of the Council for advancing the policy set forth in section 1.

Sec. 4.  General.

1. To the extent permitted by law:

1. agencies shall assist and provide information to the Council for the performance of its functions under this order; and

2. the Department of Homeland Security shall provide funding and administrative support for the Council.

2. Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals.

3. This order is intended only to improve the internal management of the executive branch and is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.




GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 22, 2004.




Last Revised: July 29, 2004

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