Bush Outlines Plan for Disabled
Goal is to bring more people into workplace with help of high-tech tools
By Edwin Chen - Los Angeles Times

Washington - President Bush announced a major new effort yesterday to
integrate more people with disabilities into the workplace and society with
the latest tools that technology has to offer. 

Using a combination of tax incentives, low-interest loans and grants, the $1
billion "New Freedom" initiative would expand access to an array of
"assistive technologies." These include text telephones for the
hearin-impaired, infrared computer pointers for those unable to use their
hands, and lighter artificial limbs and wheelchairs. 

Bush said he also will ask Congress to create a fund to help people buy
telecomuting equipment and provide tax incentives to encourage businesses to
provide such equipment. 

"We must speed up the day when the last barrier has been removed to full and
independent lives for every American with or without a disability," Bush said
during a White House ceremony. 

The president's proposal also has a tie-in to the major theme of his second
week in the White House: encouraging faith-based organizations to expand
their social services, in part by making the groups eligible to compete for
federal funds. 

Bush's approval would make federal funds available to help churches,
synagogues, and mosques meet requirements of the 1990 Americans with
Disabilities Act, which exempted such entities. The act was signed by his
father, former President Bush. 

The president also intends to seek additional funds from Congress to escalate
research and development of "assistive technologies."  

In unveiling his proposal, Bush did not put a price tag on it. But Ari
Fleischer, the White House press secretary, told reporters later that Bush's
campaign proposal would serve as "a good rough guide."  

During the recent political campaign, Bush said his "New Freedom" initiative
would cost $1.025 billion over five years. 

Bush's plan was warmly hailed by advocates for people with disabilities
including Democrats such as Senators Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass and Tom
Harkin, D-Iowa, both of whom attended the East Room event. "This is great
stuff," Harkin said. "I'm very impressed."  

Alan Reich, president of the National Organization on Disability, added:
"Having the president address our concerns in such a comprehensive way early
in his administration augurs well for the one-fifth of the population who
live with disabilities."  

Bush, a man who does not hide his emotions, clearly was moved by the event.
"I am proud that the last great reform in this cause, the Americans with
Disabilities Act, bears the name of my dad," he said. 

According to the White House, there are an estimated 54 million Americans
with disabilities, and their unemployment rate is about 70 percent. Their
home ownership is in single digits. 

Bush also signed an executive order to create a National Commission on Mental
Illness Treatment Services, with a goal of improving the availability and
delivery of services. 

Earlier in the day, both he and Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at the
annual National Prayer Breakfast. There, the president made another pitch for
his faith-based chartable giving proposal. 

"Government cannot be replaced by charities, but it can welcome them as
partners instead of resenting them as rivals," Bush said. "The days of
discriminating against religous institutions simply because they are religous
must come to an end."

