U.S. Office of Personnel Management

American Association of People With Disabilities Logo

Speech by Janice Lachance, Director,
Office of Personnel Management

Spirit of ADA -- Torch Relay
Madison, Wisconsin Opening Ceremony
July 7, 2000

Thank you so much, [Dr. Linda Stewart], for that very kind introduction. And thank you all for being here. It is my great pleasure to be here in beautiful Madison for the Spirit of ADA Torch Relay.

Like many policy makers, I signed a pledge to support the ADA and its goals of inclusion and equality for those with disabilities. It was a pledge that I didn't take lightly, especially because I have seen the good that has come from the ADA. And I can see the potential of what remains to be done.

And, I am proud to be part of the Clinton/Gore Administration that is so committed to ensuring that no one is overlooked because they happen to have a disability.

As a nation, we cannot allow the enormous potential of people with disabilities to remain untapped. And one way to do this -- which this Administration will do -- is to bring more qualified candidates with disabilities into the Federal government.

As a member of the President's Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, and the Director of the US Office of Personnel Management -- the Human Resources agency for the Federal government -- I am very familiar with the barriers to employment confronting people with disabilities in our society.

We, as a nation, are very fortunate. We are in the midst of the greatest economic expansion in American history, with record low levels of unemployment. Help wanted signs are up everywhere, the classified sections of our newspapers are bulging. Yet, more than three-quarters of individuals with severe disabilities in our nation remain unemployed.

And, what makes this particularly troubling is that it is happening in the midst of such prosperity. In 1992, America was running the largest budget deficit ever. Today, those in the know are predicting that the Clinton/Gore Administration will produce the largest budget surplus in our history.

Clearly, everyone should be benefiting from these strong economic times. But, as I mentioned earlier, many people with disabilities are not. You and I know these individuals have so much to offer our society. This exclusion is not acceptable. It cannot be justified, and it is simply wrong.

As President Clinton said, "it is only by creating new jobs and new opportunities for all our citizens, that we can keep the American economy going..."

At OPM, we have taken the President's words to heart and have worked hard to make the Federal government a model employer for people with disabilities.

That is why we recently published the Government's landmark plan that systematically recruits and promotes people with disabilities. It is our roadmap to help level the playing field for those who have been overlooked, or just not given a chance to succeed.

And today, I am pleased to announce that the Federal government has taken another major step forward on our road to become a model employer. Even as I speak, we are unveiling a new regulation to make it easier to appoint people with psychiatric disabilities. It will ensure that individuals with psychiatric disabilities are given the same hiring opportunities as persons with other severe disabilities.

These regulations give people with psychiatric disabilities the chance at the success they deserve. They open the way for Federal employers to recruit from a new pool of talented job seekers. And, after two years of satisfactory service, persons with psychiatric disabilities can easily move into permanent Federal jobs -- giving them both an opportunity to contribute to our nation, and the promise of a life of dignity and financial security. This fulfills a commitment made by the President and Vice President to remove the unfair stigma associated with psychiatric disabilities.

One major obstacle for people with disabilities is finding information about jobs in the Federal government. OPM is fixing that problem.

I am pleased to tell you that we have created a new disability web site: WWW.OPM.GOV/DISABILITY. This site contains all of OPM's information about the employment of people with disabilities, and it is in one location. The web site meets all ADA criteria and has received a "Bobby."

For those of you who may not know, the Bobby is the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for accessible web sites.

Why is this web site important? Because it creates a "one-stop shop" for people with disabilities who are interested in careers in the Federal service. The new web site contains wonderful information about everything from how to get a Federal job to the benefits you will receive if you work for the Government. Help us spread the word about this important new tool.

Seeing as how this is the home of the U of W, I'd like to talk to the students in the audience. One of the features of this web site is information about summer job opportunities for students. We believe one of the best ways for students to explore a career in the Federal service is by trying out a job for the summer. This can be an important experience for all students, but especially for disabled students because summer employment opens so many doors to permanent jobs.

That is why, this year, I challenged all Cabinet members to ensure that 10 percent of their summer hires are people with disabilities. I am especially proud to say that OPM will meet this goal.

I would like to tell you a little about one of the students with severe disabilities that we're hired as part our summer program. His name is Marque Moore, and he attends law school at the University of Texas at Austin. After being interviewed and recruited on campus, he started working for us in Washington, DC, in early June. He is also a quadriplegic.

Marque has been a wonderful addition to our staff, and is one of the main architects of our new web site on disabilities. He also works on policies for implementing reasonable accommodation in Federal agencies, increasing the numbers of persons with disabilities employed in the Federal government, enhancing our health benefits, and a variety of other issues.

But let's face facts; it's going to take more than just a few success stories to level the playing field. It's going to take the combined all-out efforts of government, business and local communities to succeed. And that is why we are here today.

People with disabilities have always shared the same dreams as everyone else: to become engineers, lawyers, teachers, and even presidents. In years past, however, all too often these were just dreams.

So today as we celebrate the spirit of the ADA, and the progress we have made since its enactment, let us renew our commitment to making sure these dreams are not just empty dreams... but dreams that come true.

Thank you.