Tony Coelho Issues “Work Agenda Challenge” to 2004 Presidential Hopefuls

Says ADA Under “Savage Attack” in Courts

Posted: October 24, 2003

Former Congressman Tony Coelho outlines plan
to restore the right to work for Americans
with Disabilities in New York Law School Address:
"Our Agenda for Work is powerful and clear:
The Americans with Disabilities Act is under
savage attack in the courts, and we must save it"

Former Congressman Tony Coelho, the principal author of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the chairman of Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, recently issued a toughly-worded “work agenda challenge” to all ten major party candidates for the presidency of the United States.

He stated that the right of Americans with disabilities to work should become an important part of the national debate as the nation prepares to choose a president in 2004.

“Our Agenda for Work is powerful and clear: the Americans with Disabilities Act is under savage attack in the courts, and we must save it,” said Coelho. “ADA protections for the right to work are being whittled away, and we must restore them.”

“The federal government’s purchasing and hiring power to spur the right to work for the disabled lies dormant, and we must revive it,” he continued, charging that the programs that educate, train, and address medical needs are under-financed. “We must force Washington to honor these commitments.”

Coelho’s speech, titled “Our Right to Work, Our Demand to be Heard: People with Disabilities, the 2004 Election and Beyond,” took place on Friday, Oct. 24, 2003, at 10 a.m. at New York Law School in New York

Coelho is chair-elect of the Epilepsy Foundation's board of directors. He also has epilepsy and early in life experienced the impact of a disability on employability.

About 54 million Americans have disabilities. Experts agree that the right and ability to work at a trade or profession is key to feeling a sense of life purpose for people with disabilities.

Coelho noted that many candidates ask for the support of the disability community. That support, however, should be contingent upon the candidate adopting the Agenda for Work. Coelho exhorted members of the disability advocacy community only to support those 2004 presidential candidates who concretely and directly embrace the following five core issues:

• Appointing judges who will respect the Americans with Disabilities Act as law of the land.
• Restoring the ADA to its original goals and purposes, in order to reverse the damage caused by decisions that do not support the ADA.
• Using the federal government’s massive purchasing power to increase the employment of people with disabilities in the private sector.
• Dramatically increasing the number of people with disabilities employed by the federal government.
• Changing federal policies that keep people with disabilities from full employment and inclusion in the workforce by paying them to stay home instead of granting the assistance they need to afford to go to work.

“My passion for expanding job opportunities for disabled Americans is rooted in my life—in the pain and personal failure I felt when I was prevented from working—and in the confidence and ability to contribute I rediscovered when I was finally able to find work once again,” Coelho said.

“This election has to be about our right to succeed…our right to prosper and to pay taxes…our right to lead independent lives…our right to provide for our families…our right to advance…our right to the American dream. These are our goals—and we must make ourselves heard,” Coelho said.

Read the Speech.