Proclamation 6824

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

National Rehabilitation Week offers us a unique opportunity each year to measure our progress on the long road to creating a totally accessible society in America. This year, as we also mark the 5th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 75th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1920, we can look back with satisfaction on the tremendous advances we have made on our journey.

Because of the passage and implementation of these landmark pieces of legislation, millions of Americans with disabilities have received the training and skills to become competitive and productive employees. Working Americans who became disabled in mid-life have received the help they need to adapt to their changed circumstances and to resume their contributions to our society. Today, employers across the Nation are working closely with State rehabilitation agencies to ensure that men and women with disabilities are trained to succeed at the jobs of tomorrow.

Thanks largely to the efforts of people with disabilities, America has come a long way from the time when these citizens were kept out of sight and out of mind. Today, our Nation's disability policies emphasize inclusion, independence, and empowerment. Our laws declare that Americans with disabilities have a fundamental right to full equality-and are entitled to the same choices and opportunities as their fellow citizens who are not disabled.

But we still have a long way to travel before we reach our goal of full equality in fact as well as in law. Today, two-thirds of all persons with disabilities remain unemployed, although many of them already have received appropriate training and rehabilitative services. And even more distressing, millions of these individuals would find it difficult to work if a job were offered to them simply because our society has not instituted the changes needed to help them perform their work responsibilities.

People with disabilities want to work, and it is vital that we offer them the means to gain full employment. Not only is this the right thing to do, it is the prudent thing as well. If America is to continue to succeed in our rapidly changing global economy, we cannot afford to waste the talents, knowledge, vision, or abilities of a single individual.

Let us celebrate National Rehabilitation Week by rededicating ourselves to the spirit of equality. As we move toward the era of hope and opportunity promised by the 21st century, we must guarantee that every American has a share in that hope and ensure that the doors of opportunity are open to all. By empowering each person, including those with disabilities, to live up to his or her full potential, we will infuse our Nation with fresh energy for the challenges before us.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 17 through September 23, 1995, as "National Rehabilitation Week." I call upon the people of the United States, including government officials, employers, educators, and volunteers, to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities honoring all those who work for self-determination, equal treatment, and full participation.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twentieth.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:34 p.m., September 18, 1995]