Memo: Letter to Justin Dart

Transcription (Scripto)

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Extent (Dublin Core)

6 Pages

Item Archival Status (Curation)

In American Congress Digital Archives Portal

File Name (Dublin Core)

c021_001_005_015

Title (Dublin Core)

Memo: Letter to Justin Dart

Description (Dublin Core)

The memorandum includes correspondence between Senator Bob Dole and Justin Dart regarding Dart's resignation as Chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, and a letter on health care reform for people with disabilities

Date (Dublin Core)

1993-10-16

Date Created (Dublin Core)

1993-10-16

Congress (Dublin Core)

103rd (1993-1995)

Topics (Dublin Core)

See all items with this value Health care reform

See all items with this value Human rights

See all items with this value People with disabilities--Employment

See all items with this value People with disabilities

Policy Area (Curation)

Health

Creator (Dublin Core)

Vachon, Alexander

Record Type (Dublin Core)

memorandum

Names (Dublin Core)

See all items with this value Dart, Justin, 1930-2002

Rights (Dublin Core)

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Language (Dublin Core)

eng

Collection Finding Aid (Dublin Core)

https://dolearchivecollections.ku.edu/?p=collections/findingaid&id=54&q=

Physical Location (Dublin Core)

Collection 021, Box 1, Folder 5

Institution (Dublin Core)

Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Archival Collection (Dublin Core)

Alec Vachon Papers, 1969-2006

Full Text (Extract Text)

Memorandum
Date: October 16, 1993
To: Senator Dole
From: Alec Vachon
Re: Letter to Justin Dart

Attached letter for your signature kills three birds:
* responds to letter he hand delivered to you on Thursday concerning health care reform (attached). Justin also told me very disturbing personal stories --apparently neither of his daughters has medical insurance, and he pays a hugh premium ($16,000/year?);

* thanks him for his support of your human rights bill. He wrote you in this regard on July 20th (attached);

* commends his leadership of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. (In truth, Committee has improved, but still something of a mess.) Dart announced June 1st he would resign December 1st, or sooner if replacement was selected (see attached press release). So far, no official word, but Tony Coehlo is frequently mentioned.

UNITED STATES SENATE
Washington, DC 20510-1601
BOB DOLE
Kansas
141 Senate Hart Building
(202) 224-6521
Committees:
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Finance
Rules
October 16, 1993
(End of Letterhead)

The Honorable Justin Dart, Jr.
Chairman
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
907 6th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024

Dear Justin,
Thank you for your letter on health care reform. I fully agree with your sentiments. We must provide health security for all Americans, based on principles of choice, cost containment, and quality. I know first hand the uncertainty of being able to afford necessary medical care, and am committed to removing that fear for others.

I also appreciate your support for my bill on the protection of the human rights of people with disabilities through American foreign policy. This measure would recognize that discrimination against people with disabilities is a rights violation, and to be included in the State Department's annual country reports on human rights practices. As Dr. Vachon has explained to you, a request to include discrimination against people with disabilities in these reports was contained in this year's Foreign Operations appropriations conference report. I am preparing a letter to Secretary Christopher in this regard, and continue to explore other legislative vehicles to make this a permanent requirement.

As you prepare to step down as Chairman of the President's Committee, let me commend your leadership. You have reinvigorated the Committee, and set it on a most constructive course in the post-ADA era. Your successor will have a tough standard to meet.

If I can be helpful in any respect in your future endeavors, please let me know.

With best regards,
Sincerely,
BOB DOLE
United States Senate

JUSTIN DART, JR.
907 6th Street, S.W., APT. 516C
Washington, D.C. 20024
202-488-7684
October 4, 1993
Hon. Robert Dole - Delivered by Hand
(End of Letterhead)

Dear Senator Dole:
I respectfully urge you to support President Clinton's appeal for universal health care that embodies the fundamental principles of democracy.

As a longtime disability rights advocate, I am painfully aware of the need for health care reform in America. Our health system is the most expensive in the world, a major contributor to our national debt. Millions of our citizens are not covered by health insurance, and we die younger than the people of many other nations. Millions of people with disabilities are forced to accept poverty, unemployment, welfare and even institutionalization, because that is the only practical way they can get health care.

The time has come for America to rise above politics and business as usual. We must unite -Democrats, Republicans and all who love the American dream -to create a health care system based on our common belief in the sacred value of each human life.

We must enact a law that guarantees comprehensive, quality, affordable, lifetime health services to every American, regardless of preexisting condition, economic status or employment. Costs must be controlled by eliminating bureaucracy, paperwork, fraud, abuse, unnecessary procedures and inflationary pricing, and by each of us taking the responsibility to pay our fair share. Quality must be improved by systematically providing the best available care to meet all the basic heaith needs of all the people. Consumers must be empowered to choose their providers and treatments. Consumers, providers and government must take decisive action to prevent illness and disability.

We must eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities in our health care system. They must have primary care, rehabilitation, equipment and long term support, including personal care assistance, designed to meet their individual needs to live in the productive mainstream. They too must have the right to make their own health care choices, and they must be protected from forced treatment and forced isolation. Our health care must reflect the letter and the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Volunteerism and do good rhetoric have not worked. Political bandaids and concessions to pacify vested interests will not work. America needs a law that guarantees every single person the best, the most efficient, affordable and democratic health care within our resources, and we need that law now. Anything less is a failure of the first responsibility of society: to enhance life. I will do everything in my power to assist you.

Sincerely,
Justin Dart
Delivered 10/04/93
HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS NOW

THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
1331 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20004-1107
(202) 376-6200 VOICE (202) 376-6205 TDD (202) 376-6219 FAX
CHAIRMAN JUSTIN DART
(End of Letterhead)

July 30, 1993
Dear Senator Dole,
Congratulations on the Disability Rights in America Foreign Policy Act of 1993. Magnificent! I appreciate your leadership, and that of Alexander Vachon. Please let me know how I can support.
Justin Dart
DIGNITY, EQUALITY, INDEPENDENCE THROUGH EMPLOYMENT

1331 F Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004-1107
202-376-6200 (Voice)
202-376-6205 (TDD)
202-376-6219 (Fax)
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Dina Dorich 202-376-6200
(End of Letterhead)

JUSTIN DART RESIGNS AS CHAIR OF PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
(Washington, DC, June 3, 1993) Today, Justin Dart, Jr. asked the President to replace him as Chairman of the President's Committeeon Employment of People with Disabilities by December 1. Dart,who was appointed by President Bush in 1989, said he felt thatthere had been substantial progress toward initiating "peoplefirst" policies at his agency, and that he wanted more time to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities.

He praised President Clinton's support for the ADA, his disability related appointments, and his efforts to involve disability community leaders in White House policy decisions like health care reform. Dart told the President, "Your cooperation with my agency and with me personally has been outstanding. You have reached out to us; you have responded to us; you have not tried to limit us."

"I resign at this time principally because I feel a profound responsibility to focus all of my energy as a full time advocate for the equality of people with disabilities on the national and international levels," Dart said. He called for America to "unite in sacrificial effort to overcome the forces that pander to our fears, to pay our debts and to make significant investments in the empowerment of every citizen, including citizens with disabilities, to live the magnificent potential of an age of science and free enterprise." He called the situation of the world's more than half a billion people with disabilities an "obscene holocaust," and said, "I cannot live with my conscience if I fail to accept my full personal share of our responsibility to keep the promise of ADA to America and to the world."

A long time disability rights advocate, Dart has held five presidential, one congressional and five gubernatorial appointments in the area of disability policy, serving under both Republicans and Democrats. During the last ten years he has played a leading role in developing and advocating for national disability rights initiatives, particularly the ADA, visiting each of the 50 states at least four times.

In 1990 Dart appeared on the dais with President Bush when he signed the ADA. On May 11 of this year, he was a recipient of the Hubert Humphrey Award for civil rights leadership. On that occasion, keynote speaker President Clinton praised his work "as Chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, and leader in making the Americans with Disabilities Act come to life."

Memo: Letter to Justin Dart

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