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National Council on Independent Living |
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Not Just Responding To Change, But Leading It! |
Presidential Candidates’ Forum: A National Forum on Equality, Opportunity and Access Part II: Kucinich, Bonior for Edwards, Gravel, McCain |
GRANITE STATE INDEPENDENT LIVING FORUM, continued >> I thought about it for a second. I said, dude, this is so not gonna happen. And they were like, "Put your hands up!" Okay. Then they were like, "Put your hands down." Then I was like, "Make up your mind! Do you want them up or down?" Then they said, "What are you doing?" I said, "My friend's car got broken into." "That's b.s." I said, "I'm not feeling -- how do you steal a car from the passenger side?" (Laughter) >> "well, crooks are stupid!"
I said, "I got a college-degree," and he said, "Well, you're a smart stupid crook." I said,"And you're a cop?"
Oh, my God. And so we go back and forth and I don't know how I talked him out of it. He puts his gun back and it -- this is going, I know what you look like and I said, yeah, we all look alike! >> He got in the paddy wagon and took off, I said, whoa, that was close, I turn on the radio and go back to sitting. Now another cop car pulls up. This is a different cop. "Get out of the car. Put your hands up." I said, "Your boy was already here." "I don't give a damn. Get out of the car, what kind of drugs are you on?" >> As this is all going on, my friend, who is from Sweden, 6'2, blonde hair and blue eyes, plays volleyball, he wouldn't get mad because that's how he describes himself, he comes over, are you okay, my God, what happened? The cop goes, we thought he was in trouble, we were here to help him! I took a deep breath and I said, "Only in America, only in America." So that's Sitting While Black. [ Applause ] and I tell you that story because it ties in to what we are doing here which is we are trying to get political leaders to pay attention to what our hopes and dreams and our desires are, what we want to do and how we want to live and how we want to proceed in our life. We are not asking for them to reshape the world, we are just asking to make the world fair and equitable so we can access our dreams and our hopes and our possibilities just like everybody else. That's all we're asking for, that's all we need. [Applause] And as this thing goes on, I'm sitting there and I'm like, okay, it cain't get no stranger than this. Well, I used to smoke cigarettes a lot. I have cut -- well, I cheat, don't tell nobody, and one day, when I was working, I actually used to work for VSA arts and our office was in Chinatown and I would go downstairs and smoke a cigarette. So I'm sitting in the wheelchair smoking the cigarette and I did not know how much money you could make sitting outside smoking a cigarette! [ Laughter ] You know, I really did not know that. I spent all that time in college, doing homework and I could have just set on the corner smoking a cigarette and been rich beyond my wildest dreams. So as I'm sitting there smoking, now the funny part is people -- every time they saw me with a cigarette they would try to figure out how is eliteing these cigarettes and you could see the question marks on their forehead as they walked by. I was like, that's for me to know and for you to find out. And so as I'm sitting there, you know, smoking the cigarette and apparently my nerves were really bad so I'm smoking the siing relt, people are walking by me and throwing change in the wheelchair. I'm like, if you're gonna throw something at me, throw a 10 dollar bill or 20, hook a brother up, throw me a hundred dollars. I'm sitting there, no, okay, this guy is like, here, take it, no, that's okay, here, take it. I took it. I only give you three chances to say no. You only get three chances. So this guy walks by me and reaches in his pocket and hands me a 10 dollar bill and I'm like dude, I don't want your 10 dollars. I don't want it. Here, take it. I don't want your money! I have a job. Apparently if you are in a wheelchair, and you are smoking a cigarette outside your job, you're homeless and you're broke and you need somebody to give you $10. I said okay, so I took his $10 because I was hungry and Burger King was right around the corner and I had thanked him for lunch and went on and got my Whopper and I went upstairs and I said I can't believe these people are throwing money at me. I didn't pay no mind to it. Usually it's an occurrence like when I was in New York and I had a McDonald bag on the inside of the wheelchair and we were waiting for the A train and somebody came and put 85 cents on my cheeseburger. I don't know where the hell your money has been, why are you putting change on top of my food? Apparently either I just was not dressed appropriately or I had a really broke look on my face. I couldn't quite figure out which one it was. So the guy that gave me the 10 dollars, I told the story, I went shopping. On the back of my chair, I thought, now, mind you I got paid so the bags had names like, name brand stuff, I see the same guy in the mall and I have bags hanging on the back of my wheelchair, the same guy, he came over and gave me ten more dollars. This time I didn't give him three chances, I took the $10! And then after he gave me the $10, I guess people felt really bad they had not given me money so, like, there was a line of people throwing change and dollars who my chair. I think I made about $50 that night. I went straight to the club and had a good old time. And I tell you these things because what it did was it kind of caused a question in my mind, I was like, is it me? Or is it them? I started to really wonder, am I not dressing right? I thought I was cute. I had an matching shoes, hat on, smelling good, a million dollar smile, see? [ Laughter ] So I thought I was doing all right and the next thing I know, I got money being thrown at me and I thought they were being nice.
So that next day my cousin was with me and we were in the line to cash a check, okay. If it sounds like I'm making this up, I really wish I could. The guy was in line cashing his check in front of me. I didn't pay him no mind and I was praying to God that he did not know who I was. So he cashes his check and he goes to the side, me and my cousin go up and I cash my check and we're counting the money and the guy says, hey, and pulls out his wad and starts going hundreds, 50s, 20s, 10s, 5s, and got to the $1 bill and handed me a dollar bill. I said man, you skipped over hundreds and 50s and you only gonna give me a dollar? It's sort of like politicians now. They see people with disabilities and it's like, oh my God, God bless you for being so strong, oh, my God, you get up and you do what! And you are married? She must have a saint and I'm like, dude, if I wasn't a good Christian boy I would whup your behind right here and right now. But I took a deep breath, prayed to the Lord to give me strength and I turned away. Because, you know, if you are a person with a disability and you are with someone who may not appear to have the disability they assume the one without the disability is taking care of the person with the disability. Or like if you go to the restaurant, my favorite story, going to the restaurant with my friends and there's four of us and they -- everybody orders. "I'll have a burger." And they get to me and say, "What does he want to eat?" I go, "Are you kidding me? Ask me!" "I didn't know if you could talk." "I could talk enough to cuss you out" and because we're in public I won't tell you the words and they were very colorful. I thought that was one of the best rants. It kept going to the point that perception about what we can and cannot do tends to be excused because people tend to look at us like, well, you guys can't do anything. Like, well, that's not necessarily so. And if it was, why am I here in this store with you? Why am I living my life like you're living your life? The only difference between me and you is life circumstances. That is it. That is all. If you put me in a position where I have Bill Gates' money, I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. So I want to thank you all for listening, I wish you nothing but the best. Let's get these people to do what is absolutely mandatory for them to do. Thank you. >> How about another round of applause for Keith Jones? [ Applause ] By the way, we are going to -- we'd like to invite you to come back again at around 4:00. Are you willing to come back and share some more stories at 4:00? > Only if they'll have me. >> What do you say? [ Applause ] >> Nice going, Keith. Thank you very much for coming together. > Thank you. >> I have to remember some of those lines. Thank you. That is great. He was fantastic. [ Applause ] Welcome to the afternoon portion of our program. We are very delighted to have in our presence Congressman Kucinich who has taken the time out of his busy schedule and come to New Hampshire from Washington to address all of us, Congressman Kucinich has had a fascinating political year. Political year and political career. He has really succeeded in many ways by disproving conventional wisdom. He's been in Congress since 1996. He's extremely popular in his own district in Ohio, he has been voted the chair of the progressive caucus because of his passionate commitment to peace, human rights, workers' rights, rights, economic just particular and the environment. Congressman Kucinich, welcome to Granite State Independent Living Forum and we're glad you're here with us today! [Applause] >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: Good afternoon, everyone. And before I begin, I would like to make a very special introduction of a woman who is just transformed my life and is having an impact on this campaign in many ways, my wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth, would you stand. [Applause] To Ted Kennedy, thank you very much, thank you for your own commitment to a lifetime of commitment to people who are differently-abled because I look at it that way, any one of us who come from a big family understand that there are people who are differently-abled, they are not necessarily disabled because someone, everyone can do something and we need to have the kind of society that reaches forward and reaches out and is able to tap the abilities that everyone has. One of the things that I wanted to talk to you about today before we go to questions is the approach that I would take as president of the United States to healthcare that would impact so many of the communities represented in this room and I want to explain a little bit about myself for a moment. I am the oldest of seven. My own parents never owned a home. We moved around a lot when I was growing up because as renters, the more the family grew, the more difficult it became to find rent so by the time I was 17 years old, we lived in 21 different places, including a couple cars. When you grow up in a big family under intense economic stresses all the time it can have an effect on children so it's not really a secret there are some people in my family who have had some serious mental health issues and because of when you have someone in your family who deals with that closely, you realize what all families go through in trying to make sure that someone in the family who needs mental health gets it. We have a society that is largely indifferent to people who need help from many different kinds of disabilities. >> TED KENNEDY JR: 1962. > CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: That's a long time and he was talking 40 years ago about a not-for-profit healthcare system. I've had the honor to be the co-author of the bill in the House of Representatives, 83 members of the House of Representatives now support this bill. For a not-for-profit system called Medicare for all. Everyone would be covered under this, there would be no premiums, no co-pays, no deductibles, we would take the $700 bill a year which currently goes for corporate profit, stock options, executive salaries, advertising, marketing, cost of paperwork, 15 to 30% with the insurance companies, we could take that and put it into care for people and let me tell you what we would be able to cover. We'd be able to cover vision care, total coverage, dental care, prescription drugs, totally paid for with the government negotiating with the drug companies for rock-bottom prices, not this phony Medicare part D deal, that lets the pharmaceutical companies be able to charge Medicare whatever they want, but a real prescription drug benefit that would be free. That's how much money is in healthcare these days. Long-term care would be covered. I want everyone here to listen to this. If you can afford long-term care, and not everyone can, you go into most nursing homes and they ask you to sign a statement of financial viability and your property that you own, the house, land, what your assets are, and before you might be able to apply for any government benefits you have to exhaust your own benefits. This is something that always bothered me. People can work a lifetime to be able to just have a little something and then a major illness in a family, particularly later in life, you can lose everything you worked a lifetime for. I have never understood why America lets that happen. And I know when you are talking about long-term care, because of the tremendous cost, many people provide care at home and yet there's this type of thinking that says, well, people provide care at home and should not in any way receive any kind of compensation. I reject that. The bill I have in the Congress for the first time in this country's history opens the door for total cover rang of long-term care, including giving people the choice whether they want to be able to get the care that they need in a nursing home or receiving the care at home. Now, this becomes significant for many people who have differently-abled because as you remember the only steady decision in 1999 when the Supreme Court, you know, effectively ruled on behalf of those who are differently-abled saying people should have a choice, it's one thing to have a choice but it's another thing to have a system that backs up your choice. Because you could choose to stay at home or in your community but if there's no financial resources available to make it possible for you to live a productive life, then you're out of luck. I'm talking about a system, a not-for-profit healthcare system that establishes healthcare for all Americans, whatever their status, whether they are perfectly hell any and they just need preventive care or if they have a long-term disability, everyone is covered, there is no deselection, no screening, everyone is covered. No premiums, no co-pays, no deductibles, everybody is covered. No more bankruptcies because people can't afford to pay hospital or doctor bills. It's time in America that we establish healthcare as a basic human right and made it afford believe to everyone and lifted this country up! [Applause] I'm the only one running for president of the United States who is advocating this system. 14,000 physicians support it, hundreds of labor unions, and locals, community groups across America favor this. Let me tell you what's happened to our politics. You get into the political didn't and my fellow candidates say you'll never get this through Congress because of the power of the insurance companies. I want everyone to think about this for a moment because this is a central point in this campaign. What kind of a president of the United States would anyone be if even in the campaign for the presidency they concede that insurance companies have more power than the presidency? I want everyone here to think about that because that has real implications to where this country is going. Because if we concede that insurance companies are more powerful than the presidency, our are arms manufacturers more powerful than the presidency so we stay at war? Are oil companies more powerful than the presidency so we stay tied to hydrocarbon-based energy? You start to think about this. You know what, the presidency is an extension of the American people. It's called "We, the people", the people created the presidency and I commit to you that that White House will belong to you, I'm ready, on behalf of the people, as the voice of the people, to take on the insurance companies, to rally the American people in the cause of healthcare, no one has the right to drain the pockets of the American people holding them captive in a system that does not give them the care that they need while people are even paying for it. I'm talking about a total different type of presidency, one that fights for the people. It was in January of 1961 when John F. Kennedy said that we should ask not what our country could do for you, ask what we can do -- what you can do for your country. Let me say that right now our nation is in jeopardy. We are losing our nation to war and to lies. It is time that we had a president who is able to understand what people go through, who is able to understand the mechanisms of government after 40 years of involvement in politics so we can elevate the purpose of our nation, so that American once again be the beloved nation that relates to people's practical aspirations for healthcare, for jobs, for education for our children, for retirement security, for decent housing, the kind of country we can have. It can be barely imagined by so many Americans today but this campaign is dedicated to calling forth the potential of America, the goodness of America, the resources of America, to be able to create the nation that shows that it cares for people and your presence here today presents the challenge to this country as to whether or not we can be a nation of compassion, as to whether or not we can be a caring nation, as to whether or not we are ready to live by those words, government of the people, by the people and for the people.
That's the direction I will take this country. Thank you very much. >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: Thank you. >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you, Congressman Kucinich, for sharing your thoughts and visions with us. We have a number of questions that have been submitted by the audience. This one is from Andy, I know you spoke briefly about this in your remarks. But what will you do -- the question is: What will you do as president to improve the rights and opportunities for people with mental illness? >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, certainly we need total coverage. People need the opportunity -- people need to know the care is there. We need to take the stigma off of mental illness. There's still some of that there in our society, we have made some progress over the last 50 years but we need to make more. But it's one thing to talk about removing the stigma but it's another thing to have care available. I need to meaning one thing, Ted, and that is that I'm going to rally the American people to pass this legislation, to get the congressional support to pass this legislation to create a Medicare for all program, that is how you do it. You have a president who reaches out and entrusts the people to move their members of Congress to get the photos votes. This is how F.D.R. got the New Deal. He told the American people: Give me a Congress that will provide for you a New Deal and a huge turnover came in the 1932 Congress. And I intend to take the same approach to lift up conditions of healthcare in this country which I see as being the No. 1 domestic priority. Thank you. >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you. [Applause] This question comes from Madelyn who lives in Concord, New Hampshire. She claims the Web sites of presidential candidates include audio visual material that is not captioned and is not accompanied by a transcript to a deaf or hard of hearing viewer this is like showing a video with the sound turned off. >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: First of all, with respect to my own campaign, I have talked to people who handle technology on my campaign and they said that what we would need to do, and you know, I would look for help on this, is to hire a full-time transcriber. I'm willing to do that. You have to -- the only thing I want to tell you is that unlike some of the candidates who are, you know, raising 70 or 80 million, we are still in our first million, however, I'm in fourth place in New Hampshire and fourth place nationally -- ( Applause ) >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: Despite only spending a million, so the answer is yes, I'd like to do it. I also know we solved the technological problem of -- I talked to my tech guy and he said we worked to create something in line 22 of the horizontal resolution, you camera men will know a little bit about that, the transcripts are actually there but you have to have a way of having someone transcribe them with fidelity so I want to do this, it is one of the objectives of the campaign, we don't have it yet. It should be done and as our campaign grows, this is one of the things that I absolutely want to do. It's a great idea and to have captioning of televised and audio visual material. Frankly, practically speaking, it's politically smart so it's something that we certainly are working towards as our campaign gains momentum and money I think we'll be able to do it. >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you. This next question is from Sheryl of Concord, New Hampshire, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, yet 17 years later nonspread noncompliance persists. What steps would you take to ensure stronger enforcement of civil rights laws such as the ADA? >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: Let's talk about practical aspects. You have curbside carriers, buses that do not want to provide access, okay. I see this as being pretty easy, actually. Just suppose that we put an amendment in the transportation bill that said that any state who receives transportation funds must enforce the provisions of the ADA with respect to their carriers. So then you would make receipt of millions, tens of millions of dollars and maybe more, contingent on the enforcement. See, that is one way you do it. I am -- there's other things, too, that relate to the ADA. We need to make sure that if you are talking about public transportation as we build our public transportation systems out, every public transportation system must affirm before they get any kind of support that they're complying, full compliance with the ADA so I would say you can in all cases improve compliance by tying the receipt of federal funds in specific places to the compliance with the ADA and then the states will be happy to take up the enforcement. Some might say it's an unfunded mandate but the fact of the matter is they wouldn't be getting the federal funds unless they were compliance so I think that works for everyone. >> TED KENNEDY JR: The next question is something that we would all like to know which is: How can our community be more effective in getting our messages across to candidates for public office? >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: First of all, forums like this are very important. Having the opportunity throughout my career to reach out to people who are differently-abled, I feel it's first incumbent upon people who aspire to public office to come to you I see groups from the paralyzed veterans, we've had a very close relationship in Cleveland over the years, there are groups here who represent many different communities and I have worked with those communities over the years. It first starts with the work the candidate must do and if it's a lifetime of work, it's a lot better because then when you look out at the audience, you understand the amazing abilities that are out here. You don't have to watch a Daniel Day-Lewis movie to understand that a person may be sitting in front of you who represents amazing abilities, so what I would urge you to do, first of all, is take the initiative to contact a campaign. I'd be happy to have the help of the individuals in this room, in New Hampshire and any other state you have influence in, to help move the cause of all Americans forward. How would you work in a campaign? Our government and a Kucinich administration would want to be home to people of many different abilities so we can be an example of what's possible. There are so many people waiting to make a contribution to the nation and in so many different ways or to the community but they need to know that there's a leader who sees the multi-dimension nalt of people, who sees that we are more than our bodies, we are more than our eyes and our ears, that there is a human heart which has tremendous potential and if you have a leader who can see the potential in every individual, that can translate into policies that call that potential forward so for this came pain, I would ask you: If you want to be of assistance in any way, to either go down the street to a Kucinich headquarters which is at the street level and to visit or to go on the Web at Kucinich.U.S. and sign up and to talk about the special abilities that you have in communicating with various con state weekend sees. But I want everyone here to know that in whatever way you are differently-Abe pweld, everyone here is Abe pweld to be able to help make this a great country through your participation and that's why for me to be here is just so wonderful and before I close, I just want to add one word. Go ahead. Are we done now? >> TED KENNEDY JR: We have time for one more question, Congressman. This is from John Richards, he says: There are 5.3 million Americans living today who are disabled due to brain injury. As you know, the issues related to brain injury have received substantial media coverage and heightened awareness recently with the war in Iraq and the unfortunate number of injured soldiers. What thoughts or plans do you have in addressing these issues for civilians as well as the military? >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: Let's first talk about the military. This is a conference that deals with a specific constituency but the truth is those young men and woman who are serving who come home injured, some of them impaired for life with brain injuries deserve a couple things. First of all, they deserve a leader who doesn't send our young people into these wars based on lies, I say we ought to bring all our troops home, that's No. 1! [Applause] >> CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: No. 2, how cynical can you get? You say support the troops. Keep them there? I don't think so. No. 3, it's interesting, we say support the troops, keep them there, but when they come home, they don't receive the support. We have so many troops coming home that they don't get the care they need, they don't get mental healthcare, we saw the stories out of Walter Reed, half a year ago, how people who were critically injured were not getting the care they needed and had long-term injuries and weren't getting the care they needed so we need to care for our soldiers. This is what Lincoln said, he said care for those who have borne the battle. We need to provide for long-term care. They were ready to put their lives on the line. We have to put our resources on the line for them when they come back. Let's talk about those who didn't go to war and have brain injuries. This is a huge problem because often families can't afford it. You know if you know any family where someone had a traumatic brain injury, that it will totally exhaust the family's financial resources. So this is where the system that I'm talking about, Medicare for all, H.R. 676, universal, single payer, totally changes everything because people then get the care they need. What does that care include? It also includes helping them to rebuild their lives. My wife, you know, who is here, she worked for three years with a brain-injured person who was in an accident through no fault of his own, he was a ski instructor, very intelligent man and she provided assistance to him for three years and that assistance wasn't just care in the house. She would take him out and go and visit. People who are brain-injured should have a chance to have some kind of life outside of where they are staying and we need people who are paid to do that and the bill that I'm talking about, the healthcare plan I'm talking about, provides for that kind of care. It gives people a choice. It helps people rescue a part of their lives. No one in America should ever be written off. Something of God exists in every person. We need to respect that. We need to call fort whatever it is that resides in that person that responds to that spark of humanity that spark of life. We need to elevate it and we need to lift it up and we need leaders who see that in people and that's what I want to bring to the White House and that's what I'm asking for your help in doing. [Applause] Thank you. Just one final story here. When years ago there was a little boy who was six years old who started school and when he had learned to read, by the time he was three and when he got to the first grade, he was so excited to talk about what he had learned. When he was called on in class right at the beginning he stuttered. He stuttered so badly that no one could understand him. This was 50 years ago and if -- and more -- at a time when some children who stuttered were thought also to have mental disabilities as well and because teachers saw that this child may have had some other problems other than stuttering, they saw that he received speech therapy for a couple years and as a result, this little boy who if he hadn't had the help to deal with his stuttering problem could have just been thrown aside like so many other children who have so many difficulties that this little boy, because someone recognized that if you gave this child help, that maybe he could be somebody someday. That was me many years ago. I understand what people go through who just struggle to survive and I also understand that when you get a little bit of help, what can happen. Thank you very much! [Applause] [Background talking] >> TED KENNEDY JR: Please give Congressman Kucinich another warm round of applause. We're going to take about a three-minute to five-minute break before introducing our next speaker. >> I'd like to ask everyone to return to their seats. For our next presentation, if you could, I think it's a good idea we give the speakers a few minutes of in-between time between the different presentations so they get a chance to meet and talk with some of us face-to-face but in order to keep the program on track and Sheryl is giving me the thumbs have up, I'd really like to ask everyone to take your seats again so I can introduce the next speaker, representative David Bonior. >> TED KENNEDY JR: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. Unfortunately, today, Senator John Edwards was unable to be with us today, Senator Edwards is, as you all know, has been a lifetime advocate for people with disabilities but he did send in his stead his campaign manager, close friend, and former U.S. representative David Bonior who himself has a long and distinguished career of over 26 years in the U.S. house during his time in Washington, Congressman Bonior served as both the majority and minority whip and he has been a passionate crusader for social and economic just particular and leader on issues ranging from the environment, civil rights, jobs and fair trade so at this point I would like to invite to the podium, and please give him your undivided attention, our friend in the disability community U.S. -- former U.S. representative David Bonior. Thank you for being with us today. [Applause] >> DAVID BONIOR: Thank you.
Thank you, Ted, for your very kind introduction, and good afternoon to you all. I want to tell you a story about why John Edwards is running for president, a story that he tells almost at every meeting he's at, he tells it obviously much better than I will but I'll try to capture it for you. Back in July, John took a tour of places that America has really forgotten, places where poverty persists in America today. That tour started in New Orleans, Louisiana, where we actually kicked off the presidential campaign and it ended in Preston Berg, Kentucky and some of you maybe remember that's the place where Bobbie Kennedy gave his famous speech on the courthouse steps 40 years ago. We called that tour the road to one America, highlighting the challenges we face to bridge the two Americas that divide us as a country. Between Americans who have everything, who live without worries and then everyone else, the vast majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck or close to it. Along the road to one America, John went to April pa laish cha and he went to a town called wise, Virginia, a coal mining town and in wise, John met a man by the name of James low. James had spent the first 50 years of his life barely able to talk, almost literally without a voice because he didn't have healthcare. All he needed was a simple operation to fix a cleft palate that a man in the rich chest country in the world could go unable to speak for 50 years because he couldn't pay $3,000 is something that should outrage every American. 50 years because he couldn't afford that operation in this wealthy country of ours. We are better than that and America is better than that. The good news is thanks to the work of a nonprofit health clinic James got that operation. But 50 years? Why is John running for president? To give a voice to James Lowe and every American, every American who does not have a voice. They don't have a voice because of the system that we have now in Washington, D.C., a system that is corroded, corrupt, that doesn't allow for those without a voice or those who struggle with their voices to have a say in Washington, D.C. If a system cared, we wouldn't have 47 million people in this country without healthcare. We wouldn't have 37 million people living in poverty and, yes, two out of three people with disabilities I should say without jobs in this country. We wouldn't have any of that if the system worked for people. John likes to say we still live in two Americas, one for those who have the resource to get over any barrier and one for everyone else struggling just to stay in place. John Edwards' campaign is about building one America where we all have an opportunity to succeed and to live and learn and work with dignity. For Americans with disabilities, that starts with the recognition that your right to be included in the American dream is a civil right. John's administration will recognize and protect disability civil rights and will educate schools, educate the health community, the business community, on how not only to be accessible but also to be welcoming. They have to learn to be welcoming. And as it so happens when John was on the road to his one America tour, he met with men and women who served by the center for independent living very close by, junction center, Virginia and one of the untold stories in America is the relationship between poverty and disability. Nationally working-age Americans with moderate disabilities are almost 30% more likely to live in poverty and those with significant disabilities more than 225% more likely to live in poverty. How we respond to this says everything about our character as a nation. And as many of you know, John Edwards started the center on poverty and work opportunity at the university of New York. He has thought a lot about it, he has proposed solutions, edited a book, he really cares about this basic fundamental issue in America that's related so much to what we are discussing here today. Let me talk to you a little bit about John's plans. We talked about some of the problems and aspirations and hopes and dreams. The barriers that separate people with disabilities from economic opportunity are some of the same barriers as I said that divide the two meshtion. John believes in one America where everybody has a chance to live up to his or her potential. John has announced a series of proposals to break down the barriers to opportunity at school, at work and at home. Let's take education. Education is America's sturdyiest ladder of opportunity. It has always been that way and will be in the future but for many of the more than five million school-aged children with disabilities that ladder has several missing runnings in it. We need to meet our responsibilities to provide appropriate education for every child. John Edwards will put us on a path toward fully funding the federal share of special education costs. We said we would fund it at the federal level at 40%. We are nowhere near that. We will move and move with dispatch and alackry ti and passion to that goal and he will force and enforce the right to receive free and appropriate education in schools that are fully accessible. That's starting with quality early childhood education inclusive of all children, regardless of disability or learning style and continuing with individualized education programs when requested and classroom materials and technology that are accessible to all students. Breaking down the barriers, transition barriers, an appropriate education is the only starting place for the young people, though. It's not the only starting place. We need to help young people with disabilities make that transition to work. We lose far too many Americans with disabilities in the transition from school to the workplace or higher education and I can tell you that from having been on the board of gall Lew day university that was one of the most difficult tasks we faced, trying to create jobs and opportunities for people who graduated from that university. That transition is terribly, terribly important. John has proposed a breaking down barriers initiative to help high school and college students with disabilities find intern ships and mentors. That's something I did in my office in Washington, D.C., try to provide that kind of opportunity for our students from Gallaudet and got other offices engaged as well. We want to do that so they can gain work experience, skills and it would help them receive educational guidance while obtaining skills and contacts for finding a job after they graduate. I want to talk to you about veterans. I want to say a special word about this and we heard Dennis and I'm sure people have talked about it all day. When I was in the Congress back in the late '70s I formed a group called Vietnam Veterans in Congress, I put this together, we were about 11 of us at that time, we started to address the physical disability problem, mental health problems of our Vietnam veterans and of course also job opportunities, the whole question of educate indication natural opportunities, upgrading the GI bill, recognition of them as a group, in a positive way, building the Vietnam veterans' memorial. This is a very important issue for our country. This is an issue I know John and Elizabeth have a very special interest in because Elizabeth as you may know comes from a Navy family. She traveled around the world, her dad was a career Naval officer so they care about this issue and we owe a special debt to veterans with disabilities. But the Bush administration has been reneging on that debt. They terminated the well-regarded program at the Department of Labor that provides skilled training and job placement for disabled veterans. John is going to restore that training program for veterans with disabilities in this country. He also has a plan to deal with the backlog of 600,000 benefit claims if you can imagine that stacked up against the wall in the VA. It's an outrage our veterans come home to really poor healthcare, okay, serious mental health problems, you probably heard the figures today, about a third of them coming back with that, head injuries which can lead acetoney can better tell you to epilepsy and other serious health problems, they come back and file a claim and it sits there day after day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. We are gonna clean that up. [Applause] We're gonna have a lot of veterans coming back soon when John Edwards ends this war and they're gonna need help, mental health help, physical help, brain injuries, post traumatic stress syndrome. They're gonna need help there. We're gonna need to give them the hero's welcome they deserve and the help that they need. John is not going to let us make the same mistake we made with the Vietnam veterans. The veterans, the Edwards administration will stand by our heroes. If you want more information go to our Web site, John Edwards.com, click on to issues and you'll see something called veterans' issues and we put together the sacred contract. This is our contract to those who served our country and we'll give you more information about where we stand on these issues. [Applause] >> Let me talk about transportation. We have to make sure they can get to the job once they get it and I know the numbers. It's 69% of people with disabilities say they have adequate ways to get to work. That's a lot of folks, 30 some% who don't. John Edwards will invest in accessible mass transit, improve mobility for people with disabilities in rural areas and I know that is a big issue here, especially in New Hampshire. We have been thinking about how to do something like that. I'm from Detroit, my whole family grew up in the auto industry and we have to convince Detroit to make an affordable vehicle that meets the needs of people who use mobility devices like wheelchairs. We have to get that done. It's just outrageous we're 100 years now into the automobile and that has not been done in this country and we need to get it done and also increase funding and oversight for paratransit services as well. I want to talk about opening up the workplace. I said it before. Almost two out of three working age Americans with disabilities don't have a job and those with jobs face too many discriminatory obstacles in the workplace today. The federal government which should be leading on these issues is not even helping. The percentage of federal employees with disabilities has not increased in 20 years. In 20 years. The federal government should be a model employer. We're gonna do that. John will lead the way to full inclusion by meeting the goal of the executive order that would ask for 100 -- require 100,000 qualified individuals with disabilities in the federal work force. [Applause] >> We can and we should and we will do this! [Applause] >> We're committed to actively recruiting people with disabilities and John Edwards will support tele communicating and flexible work schedules to make this possible. He'll also partner with the business community to combat attitudes that operate as barriers to employment in this country and finally, John is going to create -- we talked about this not only at these kinds of forums but all over the country -- we'll create one million stepping stone jobs to help individuals move into permanent work and provide new employment opportunities with people with disabilities in the United States. A word about independent living. A word about independent living. Now, all these things that I have talked about, planned for, appropriations for education, breaking down barriers, making transportation accessible, opening up the workplace, none of it means that much if we don't help people live independently. This truly is the biggest challenge as we build one America, to ensure every person with a disability is able to succeed. For people with disabilities, living within your own comment, it's essential to job opportunities. Securing the right to live independently with services and support is essential to guaranteeing equal opportunity. John has proposed a living with dignity initiative to reform Medicaid and Medicare to enable to choose home-based care. This is going to be harder -- (Applause) >> We're not under any illusions it will be harder to do in rural areas but that means we'll just have to work that much harder to get it done. Doesn't mean we can't do it. Okay? His initiative to create one million new section 8 affordable housing vouchers will enable thousands of people to live inaccessible integrated housing with a portion of the vouchers benefitting people who make the transition from institutional care to independent living. We'll set aside thousands of vouchers in that program to do that. [Applause] >> We have to make sure HUD does their job to enforce these housing requirements to help states do their jobs to comply with the ol' many steady ruling, okay. Universe Sal healthcare. I want to come back to James Lowe for a second because the issue that James Lowe spotlights, healthcare, is going to be John's top priority when he gets to the White House, top domestic priority when he gets there. He was the first kad with a detailed plan for a truly universal healthcare plan. The first candidate. Early last winter, he came out before any of the other candidates and he had a way to pay for it. It's comprehensive, it covers mental health as well as physical health, it has an option for public plan as well as private plan. Where others followed, John Edwards led. He was the first candidate, you can applaud for that, go ahead back there. [Applause] >> He was the first candidate to do that. He'll stand up to the big insurance companies and drug companies and challenge Congress to get the job done done. What do I mean by he'll challenge Congress to get the job done? We've been fooling around and I mean that in a very negative way with this healthcare issue for far too long in this country. Germany has had national healthcare since 1870. I live across from Canada, they have had national healthcare and for years and they love it and don't let anybody tell you they don't like it! We can't compete in the auto industry because our people are paying, what, $1800 a car going into the health insurance for the workers in the U.S. What does a car cost in Japan or in England or Germany or Canada where they have universal coverage? 400 to 600. We are not competitive. We have to do this for economic reasons, we have to do this for social and moral reasons, we need to get this done and John Edwards is saying this when he's elected and he's saying it to his own administration, he's saying this, you don't pass this by July 20, of 29, six months into office, and that includes all my appointees as well, then we're gonna get rid of your healthcare coverage as well. No excuse for politicians in Washington to have healthcare while the American people don't have it. That's a moral issue as well. [Applause] >> To me that issue defines why John is running for president. John and Elizabeth decided in the quiet of a hospital room after 12 hours of tests and getting very bad news that they were going to spend their lives doing something for all of those who do not have a voice in our society today. They won't go away quietly, they will go out and fight for what they believe in. That's what makes life worth living, fighting and standing up for something you care about, what you believe in. [Applause] >> John believes that it's time for our party, the Democratic party, to show a little backbone, show a little guts, to stand up for the men and women who have no voice. For all of you in this room who I know have grown so impatient and with great justification at the lack of attention and the lack of swiftness and the detowers the government makes when they know they should be doing the right thing, I want to just ends with the words from Galatians. Let us not lose heart in doing good for in good time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. >> TED KENNEDY JR: We have time for one question. You covered a lot of ground. Congressman Bonior. You do a good job in representing the Edwards campaign. This question here from Tim: We know there is a strong connection between disability and poverty. Senator Edwards has talked a lot about poverty in his campaign. How will his anti-poverty campaign impact people with disabilities? >> DAVID BONIOR: Well, Tim, I had mentioned some of the pieces of course in my comments. It's going to impact them in a number of ways. It will deal with the question of healthcare, okay, we'll make sure that every American in this society has universal coverage and healthcare, good healthcare and for those on disabilities, that's -- it will mean accessibility, it will mean affordability, it will include all these pieces and we'll deal with the whole question of Medicaid and Medicare which is too lengthy to bring up right now but I think a lot of you know what I'm talking about and we'll get real about that as well. We'll deal with the whole question of transportation. One of the big problems with poverty is people's inability to get to work, keep a job, okay. We'll deal with the whole question of making sure that those people who are providing care to our brothers and sisters and family members are paid a decent wage! All right? So we can retain them. We're gonna lose enormous amounts of people in the next few years because we won't be able to retain them. The population of care will go up, and because of the low pay, the inability of people to get a decent wage, people caring for family members and fathers and mothers can't afford healthcare themselves because they don't get it, that's unacceptable. There should be no such thing. John Edwards says as the term working poor. If you're working, you shouldn't be poor in this country. [Applause] >> So we'll deal with that. Some of the folks who work in some of our institutional facilities making $7 or $8 an hour, you can't live on that. You can't provide for a family. Reminds me of the old Abbott & Costello where Bud says, "If you got 50 bucks in one pocket and a hundred in the other, what have you got?" Costello says, "Somebody else's pants." We have to put more money in the pocket, right? [ Applause ] >> We're gonna work on that as well. There are many times I talked about that would address the connection between poverty and the disability community and we're gonna work very hard to correct them. Thank you so much. God bless you all for what you do. [ Applause ] >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you, Congressman Bonior. Please tell Senator Edwards he has a lot of friends here in New Hampshire and thank you very much for taking the time to come by our forum today. We will move right into the next speaker because at 2:30 we have Senator John McCain calling in on the phone so we need to get ready and allow our next speaker adequate time to address the audience. At this point, I would like to introduce former Senator Mike Gravel. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and he attended schools in Springfield and he grew up there with his brothers and sisters and the construction business and was very active in local Springfield Massachusetts politics. We're very glad he chose to move out of Massachusetts and not run against any Kennedys while he was there. Instead he served in the Alaska House of Representatives and then represented Alaska in the use senate. He's running for president. We are thrilled that you took the time to come with us to visit with us today and we welcome you to manchester, New Hampshire. Thank you very much. [Applause] >> SENATOR MIKE GRAVEL: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. I was just telling him when -- I told him politely he's better-looking than his dad. I served with his dad all the time we were in Congress but he's got the same voice. And he's right, I left Massachusetts or I didn't come back because I was at Columbia and because I didn't think I had a prayer against the Irish and Italians. So being of sound mind I went to Alaska where I thought I might have a chance and as luck would have it, I got there and 12 years later I was sitting in the United States senate and served two terms. I want to talk a different approach and, truvtd me, my seeing go is sufficiently intact that I don't need a lot of applause, so I would rather -- (Laughter) -- that's enough, now you're done! I want to take and see if I can be more informative about the situation that you face. First off, I have a disability, modest, very modest, I'm displex 6, severely and was held back in school as a result of that. I didn't find out about it till my son had it and did something about it when I was in Congress and threw some money at the problem. The second is I now have a severe case of neuropathy and I've taught myself how to walk without a cane but I'm in better shape than Jack Kennedy was when he became president and more agile than F.D.R. when he became president of the United States. Just a wee bit of history. It was Bob Bartlett who was a delegate who helped bring about statehood in Washington and had an assistant who happened to be a paraplegic and this assistance was the one that persuaded him to begin -- we're going back now quite a number of years, 50 years, to begin to put in some legislation and so it was -- Bob had no particular affinity other than a sensitivity to the situation and so this young man who later wrote a book about Franklin Roosevelt was the one who got Bob to put in legislation to begin the pioneering effort to recognize disabilities in our society. So I applaud him and applaud that initial effort that was tied to Alaska but when I was in office, I was on the public works committee and we did all sorts of things, your curb cuts and all that, we were involved. I could stand here and tell you how committed I am to your issues, and I am, there's no question about it, one of the things I had a person stop me yesterday after I had spoken and he came up and says, he says, Senator, I am taking care of my wife and I'm broke and we can't afford anybody else. Just dawned on me, obviously, obviously, this cries out for a solution because who better to take care of another human being than somebody you love. We don't provide a salary or an income for that person when they do that. That's a cost for society and we must meet it. I could go on and give you a whole lit any but John Bonior has done a good job at that. But I want to give you bad news. All the people running for president of the United States can't deliver on anything 32 telling you they are gonna do. They just can't. We are bankrupt as a nation. We have got a 50 to 70 trillion dollar fiscal gap. Medicare and Medicaid in the healthcare, just analyze the healthcare situation, the first off, the crisis is coverage. We don't cover, what, 50 million Americans and we don't cover even those that we do cover properly. You are examples of that. The second issue is the crisis is Medicare and Medicaid are just exploded and the country is going bankrupt on that basis and then the third is the crisis we do in the economic area by insisting that business carry the cost of Medicaid or of our medical system. They have got no particular affinity in this area. It's an accident of history that took place so all we do is by foisting it on them like they did in Massachusetts, you're just making them uncompetitive in the world. It almost comes down to you can have a job but you can't have healthcare, or you can have healthcare but you can't afford your job because we're not hiring because we're not competitive in the world. This is the kind of policy making we have at that level.
Let me tell you about that level. That is the level of Congress. That is the level of representative government.
We need good people in Congress. There's no question about that. We have great people in Congress, but they have got some thing that is a strike against them they cannot overcome and that is the structure of representative government. That structure is broken, broken, broken and it's been broken from the get-go. Don't buy into this we got to take our government back. We never had our government. It was always in the hands of our representative and many of them do the best they can but the structure does not permit them to do what you need and now let me tell you the way politicians work. You think -- I can make a speech, any kind of speech you want, been there, done that, and I could make a speech that will cause a standing ovation, my God, this guy knows the answers.
Of course I do. We all know the answers. But stop and think. Why I know the answers is I have identified what your interests is all about and I have presented it back to you in a dramatic way and so you assume that because I can do that, that I must know the answer. The problem is sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, but in most cases I can't do anything about it because of the structure of representative government. We got good people in elected office, we have some lousy, real turkeys and neanderthals in office but here we are right now, everybody is telling you what they will do for you and we are about to go to war with Iran. Not enough that we're gonna blow maybe two trillion dollars of our treasure in Iraq, and now we're talking about Iran and what do you think they're gonna get your money to do anything? I don't know. It's not there. And they're passing that buck on to our grandchildren. That's what they're doing. They can make you all the promises you want. It sounds good, but that's not leadership. Leadership is to be able to tell you not what I think you want to hear but what I think you should know. That is leadership. That's the part I want to address. You know your problems better than I will ever know them and better than the Congress will ever know them so really we have a situation where you either can go to representative government, suck up to elected officials, hope they'll be responsive and act and then -- and they do. There's been progress made. There's been progress made but it's not enough. There's no reason why it shouldn't be entirely addressed but when we squander our money on the military industrial complex, the top priority of this nation and this nation spends more on defense than all the rest of the world put together, and people like Russia and China are -- 4% and 3%, who on God's green earth are we afraid of? That we would squander this degree of wealth that doesn't do anything but create violence, death and deformities? [ Applause ] >> There is an answer, it's not all bad. You know something? The answer is you. That's the answer. If the structure of representative government is broken, there's only two venues to correct it. You can't correct it in the venue where the problem lies because it's been there for years. So we have to move to what our founding fathers were talking about right at the beginning. And that was to empower the people to be able to make laws to choose the kind of government they want to and subsequent generations. We are one of those subsequent generations and we are bright enough to understand the problem and can now do something about it because technology is at hand to do just that. Now, your constituency is unique because you identify as a constituency, and I might say a very substantial constituency, that you can identify with the problem, so if I can empower you to make laws just like I can -- like the Congress is empowered to make laws, then all of a sudden you can coalesce as a constituency and get your agenda through. But you do it, you do it and you'll have allies in the Congress that will feed you the stuff but you know it, you know the research, you can do the research and get the funding. What I'm talking about is a piece of legislation that took me ten years to write and that's the national initiative for democracy, a federal statute that permits you to make laws just like the Congress makes them. I have taken those -- that procedure, tweaked it so you can make laws in every jurisdiction. The technology is there to do and so what you need to do is being empowered so you can wait, you can lobby but I'm just telling you, you have more power in your constituency than you can even think of by what you can coalesce. [ Lost audio feed momentarily ] >> So there's a whole host of other constituents in this country. You can change it, believe me, the Congress can't nor can people get elected to president because they have to go to Congress to get the wherewithal to do it and to Congress does not have the wherewithal to write that check for you. >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you, Senator. That was certainly very thought-provoking and I thank you for sharing your thoughts and opinions with us. I would like to ask a couple questions. These questions have been submitted by the audience. This one is submitted by Roberta Gallant, that's you! All right. This is your question, Roberta! I have a T-shirt like that. >> TED KENNEDY JR: Roberta wants you to talk about a person with a disability in your life and what you have learned from him or her. >> SENATOR MIKE GRAVEL: The person with the disability that I want to talk about, I alluded to it, was myself and it's a modest one. Secondly, and I have learned what I have learned from that is will. Will and discipline and being prepared to recognize that whatever you do in life, you pay a price for it. The other is I have -- I had a nephew who was a hemophiliac and he got bad blood and developed AIDS and died at 16. You may know him. His name was Will Demeters and he was taken up by the Red Sox and he was their mascot and used to play the bugle at their games. And he was very close to Paul Newman and I got exposed to what Paul Newman has been doing for the disadvantaged children who are terminal and every time I talk about it, I just get very emotional. Paul Newman, to show you how personal it was, when this kid was dying, Paul would call him probably every other day and they would wager on something and then Paul Newman always managed to lose and so he would take a half a dollar, put it or paste it on a piece of paper and send it Federal Express to my nephew who would collect the half dollar for winning the bet. This is -- what they have done with Hole In The Wall Gang and parents and rehabilitation that is all involved with that, and this kid's parents, his father couldn't work, he had cancer, throat cancer, my family is not wealthy, I'm not wealthy, but we're, you know, real Americans so we have led the ordinary life. I still do. I'll make a statement on this. You know, you judge a civilization by how it treats its seniors, how it treats its children, and how it treats its veterans. Our civilization fails grossly on all three counts! Next question. [Applause] >> Thank you, Senator. Courtney Turner of New Hampshire asks: Colleges and university aren't competing for students with disabilities like they are for other underserved populations. How can we get colleges and university to proactively recruit and serve students with disabilities. >> SENATOR MIKE GRAVEL: Real simple. I want you to be empowered to make laws and you'll do it. I'll help lead you as your legislative leader but you can do it. All you have to do is have the power to do it. This is not magic. This is magic. If you want somebody up here to promise the moon to you, fine, I can make those kind of speeches,off time for that. Not at my age. >> Well, am I on? Thank you. This is the final question. Peter Darling of Warner, New Hampshire asks: How would you expand employment outcomes for people with disabilities and remove disincentives to work present in the Social Security system? >> SENATOR MIKE GRAVEL: Here again, the answer is with you, not with me. Our Social Security system, you hear all these politicians say what they're gonna do, they've been raiding the Social Security system for the last 50 years. That's the reason why we won't have any money down the road to meet the obligations. They raid it every year, plus put a little bond in a lock box with a lousy rate of interest and people aren't any the wiser.
You don't hear anybody in the Congress talk about that. That is part of the problem. Here, too, if you are equipped to deal with these problems you are the authorities in on this subject. Not the Congress, and the people in Congress who do provide leadership like Ted here is because he's felt the pain of disability. >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you, Senator Gravel, for joining us all the way from Alaska. Welcome to New Hampshire. We loved having you at the forum today, did we not? Please give the Senator another warm round of applause. [Applause] Is Mike Denahy in the room? Mike is -- we are waiting to get confirmation that Senator McCain is on the phone and at that point Mike is going to introduce Senator McCain and Mike is the campaign manager in New Hampshire for McCain for president but he is also very knowledgeable about Granite State Independent Living through his own life. I'll let him tell you about that. But we will just pause for a brief moment here until we get Senator McCain confirmed that he is on the phone ready to talk at which point we'll turn the program over to Mike. Thank you. [Short break] >> TED KENNEDY JR: Senator McCain's leadership on disability issues, he's been a champion for veterans, champions for veterans with disabilities and served on the board of Gallaudet, he was one of the co-authors of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the list goes on and on, and I'd let him speak for himself but in the meanwhile I'll introduce to you his campaign manager here in New Hampshire, Mike. >> Good afternoon, everyone, I'm Michael Denahy and I'm an advisor to Senator John McCain but I don't stand before you as just an advisor, I stand before you as a very proud father of a six-year-old son with Down's Syndrome. I'd be lying to you if I told you I knew much about the disabilities community seven years ago before my son was born but when we were blessed with our son Liam, my wife and I threw ourselves in the great organizations that help bring about awareness of people with disabilities and particularly my wife became the president of the northern New England down syndrome conference and we started the first-ever buddy walk five years ago and it's been a successful event every year since. I tell you all this for a few reasons. First, I have known John McCain for nine years and he brought my wife and I together back in 2000 so I owe him a great deal for my wife and my two beautiful boys. Second, John and Cindy McCain were the very first financial supporters of the Buddy Walk in New Hampshire in 2002 and they are supportive of the National Down's Syndrome Society in Washington. They have always been there for our help and support and they are supporters of nonprofits all across their home state of Arizona. John McCain is a wonderful and caring man. He's a talented leader and a candidate for president who has laid out a strong vision for our country and he will be the best president these United States have seen in generations. I am very proud to call John McCain my friend. Ladies and gentlemen, by telephone, please welcome Senator John McCain. [Applause] >> SENATOR JOHN McCAIN: Thank you, Mike, and thank you for that kind and generous welcome. Thank you for your participation in this important gathering. It's probably one of our fundamental Judeo-Christian valued obligations to care for those who in our society who need to be given an opportunity to have a full and complete life and that's what you are all about and I want to thank Andrew and Clyde for the opportunity to do this by telephone and to the American Association of People with Disabilities and the granite state living center the best of luck with their efforts and thank you for all you continue to do. You know America is built on the freedoms that constitute the core of our values. Those with disabilities are no less entitled to these freedoms. The private ballot is an important part of those freedoms and we have a bill in 1998 to ensure people with disabilities could get into polling places and vote in private. That bill became part of the disability provisions that eventually ended up in the Help America Vote Act. Some of us worked together on a national coalition to pass that legislation. I'm particularly concerned today that we honor or commitment to the veterans who have fought for this country. They are the finest generation and the care of those wounded in battle should be nothing less than the best. Just give me a minute and I would like to just say that our veterans healthcare is not what we want it to be, to say the least. The scandal that was uncovered by the media was a disgrace and I'm happy that Bob Dole, a great war veteran of World War II and Donna Shalala, former health of human services came up with a set of recommendations that I think are important to improve veterans' healthcare. I hope you will all contact our members of Congress and say get that wounded warrior act passed so we can start taking care of our veterans. George Washington in 1789 said the willingness with which young people will have to defend their country will be directly related to how veterans of present wars are being treated. We are not getting them the care they need and I want to thank the VA for their hard work, their treatment of combat-related disease -- excuse me -- combat related wounds, the obviously the PTSD which will be a big problem but one of the many mistakes we've made in the war in Iraq is we didn't plan on the number of wounded brave young Americans who would come home and need treatment. I will promise you as president of the United States I'll give that my highest priority and I know that no matter how we feel about the war in Iraq, we are united in our commitment to caring for these brave young Americans. I just want to finally add a few more points very briefly. The problem with healthcare in America is not the quality of healthcare and we have to reform the way we spend money and the dollar healthcare dollar spent in hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions, we can provide better care and lower costs by utilizing preventive methods to keep citizens in their homes. We must reward coordinated care and care management programs that provide superior care for chronic conditions. Those conditions are central to the rising costs and in addition we can aggressively reform insurance laws and medical regulations to ensure vigorous competition that delivers insurance, drugs and other therapist in more convenient settings and at lower costs. I want to thank you for your advocacy for our citizens who are amongst our finest and greatest. I want to thank you for providing an opportunity for every American to go just as far as their ambitions will take them. Some of the greatest love and affection that I have given or been honored to have in my life is by Americans who have had to overcome great challenges and since the Americans with disabilities act was enacted, many Americans have responded positively and creatively, the country has become more accessible for people with a broader area of disabilities and who now have greater opportunities than ever before. We obviously need to continue, we need to make sure that the ADA is enforced everywhere, we need to see where there needs to be additional improvements and changes made and that's why you are doing what you are doing while you are here where you are, because you are serving a cause far, far greater than your self interest and I'm honored to be in your company and honored to know you and most of all on behalf of millions of Americans who can't say thank you today, please accept my heartfelt thanks. Thank you and God bless. [Applause] >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you very much, Senator McCain. Are you still there? I guess not. I did have a couple questions to ask Senator McCain that were generated by the audience. I think you should just know about them and Guy woodland of Concord asks about commitment to accessibility to the deaf and hard of hearing, telecommunication and technology. This is an area of leadership from Senator McCain and I think he should be recognized for that. He's been -- he's taken a particular interest on telecommunication and technology people facing with disabilities. Too bad he wasn't here because he has shown a unique knowledge and interest together with all of us. So we are almost at the end of the program. This has been a fantastic day. Before I ask Keith Jones, Keith, are you ready to come back up? Do we want to listen to some more inspiration from Keith Jones? ( Applause ) >> TED KENNEDY JR: I'll ask Keith, this is what's gonna happen so everyone knows what will happen. Keith will come up for about 15 more minutes at which point we'll have a closing remarks and end the program at around 4:10 or so. Did I get that correctly, Clyde?All right. Okay. So that's the -- please stay, share some final moments with Keith, final thoughts wrapping up the day and then everyone, the program will formally conclude in about 25 minutes. Thank you very much. [Applause] >> Can you hear me? Did everybody get coffee? Did you get your extra shot of caffeine? First let's give a round of applause to all the sponsors and everybody who showed up because this was really important today. [Applause] >> I was sitting over there, thinking, I was like, how -- I told you a couple stories earlier and I'm gonna tell you one now, maybe one or two, that inspired me to do what I'm thinking about doing and I can't tell you publicly because it's not quite yet time, however, it's gonna be something that hopefully we can elevate and take leadership to the next level. I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. How many people know where that is? I hope you know where Missouri is. St. Louis is in there and I'm a cardinals fans so you know I like y'all because I told you in public. Who is a Red Sox fan? [Applause] >> Thank you for holding our trophy for us. We'll be back next year to claim it. I was sitting listening to people and thinking when I was in school, back in the '70s, I am kind of telling you my age, I used to watch commercials look for the union label you can grow up and do anything you wanted to do and I always had that dream, I was like, oh, man, I'm gonna grow up and be a rock star, gonna be rich and have a big car and a lot of people who are scurrying around my feet doing whatever I say. Unfortunately, I have not quite hit that mark yet but I'm this close. So -- but I was thinking, and I remember going to school and we were talking about the keys to getting to success and the keys to success being educate case and one of the things I work for in my alternate life is full education for all students, particularly students with disabilities because if you don't have an education, it leads to poverty and when you lead to poverty, you have no hope. I remember going to school and when I went in upstate New York right around the time of the educate every child, I half the day I went to special school and the other half of the day I went to the regular school. In upstate New York there were like I was one of the -- I was the only child that was a person of color and with a disability in the entire school, so I can tell you that every day was interesting, to say the least, and my mother got tired of picking me up in the principal's office because I would express how interested I was! (Laughter) And so I'll leave that to your imagination. There was one day I was standing in line and I don't know if was I was just popular, we were standing in line and I don't know if anybody went to public school, remember they used to serve the cakes like you would pay 25 cents to get your dessert and I always wanted the corner piece of cake because it was the best piece of cake in school. And I would count how many people were in front of me, one, two, 3, and if they take that corner we're gonna fight! And every time I got right to the line it would be one slice and the corner and without fail, the person in front of me would get the corner and I'd just think son of a -- I knew that word at 12, so! I kept getting mad and one day I told them, I said I can't get the corner and she says what are you talking about? I'm like, the corner, don't you understand this stuff, that's the best part of the cake. She was like, listen, if you want the corner, you have to go get the corner, you can't hope that somebody will leave the corner for you. You have to go get it. Well, I'm an ingenuous child, as my aunt would say, obnoxious, but I figured out if I waited for the person right before me, I could sneak around 'em and get the aide to get the cake, I would say, excuse me, Mary, I want that one and without doubt, without fail I would always not get the corner of the cake because my temper would flare up and my mother would come pick me up from the principal's office. But, you know, back then they were saying he has emotional disturbances and I said no, I don't have no he more than natural disturbances, I just want the cake. So you could see how people would do that so when I got to high school my first year in high school, my teacher took me around and she's like, ladies and gentlemen, this is Keith Jones and she's like, he's so talented, he's so smart and then she would pat me on the head. Okay, deep breath. Remember, we centered our khi, OM, and then we go to the next teacher. So this is like Keith Jones and he graduated and isn't he so smart and so cute and she would pat me on the head again. I said, okay, you got one more time. Because down south, if somebody who is not African-American patted you on the head, it was a sign of good luck. I thought the lady was trying to hit the lottery. I didn't know what the hell she was doing. (Laughter) >> So I would express this to her in colorful terms and they said he needs to see the school psychologist like, no, I just don't want you to pat my head and again, you know, being a child with a disability he really doesn't know what he wants. He doesn't know what he wants, just wants to be -- he's acting out. So apparently my acting out affected the whole class. So they sent me to the school psychologist and then the school psychologist came to the entire class and stood up in front of the class and now he had the best fashion sense I could ever imagine, he has brown Hush Puppies, plaid pants and a lime green sweat and a corduroy jacket with the elbow patches, you know what I'm talking about. That is a hottest look going and I was so jealous because I couldn't fit the jacket.
He stood in front of the class and said what do we all have in common? This is the school psychologist. Just standing in front of me and say we're all crippled. This is the school psychologist. I'm like, maybe he needs to be getting therapy and we need to stand in front of him and say, listen, our physical shell does not define who we are. It is not who we are. I know it ain't who I am, although I am very pretty! And I would say this because I couldn't understand how he was, the school psychologist and the teacher would agree we both -- the only thing we had in common was the fact that we were cripple. We didn't define ourselves that way. And I would play this over and play this over so me and my friends, you know, boys hit 16 and the testosterone shoots off the chart, you know when you hit 16 you ain't got no sense so we would go out and do what 16-year-old boys do and as we're out there, there was this lady, she had one of those -- she came to me and said I love you, I want to pray for you. I want to heal you and give you a new body. I said are you kidding? I just looked at her. So she prayed and she prayed and she prayed and she prayed and she said hallelujah and I stood up to say thank you, Jesus and she looked and her Bible was like, it works! (Laughter) >> I deepened her faith that day. I deepened her faith. She was like, she kept going up to other people in wheelchairs and praying for them and she would stand back and wait for them to jump out out of the wheelchair and she couldn't figure out why it didn't work anymore. It just showed me even people who are supposed to feel for you still see you in the way that is not you. I think that's what this whole thing is about, it's not to see us the way you think we are but see us the way we are. We are people first, we have disabilities second. We are people first. [Applause]That stuck with me because I -- you go to church and everybody is praying and the pastor would come over, oh, my God, Lord is gonna give you a new body. Why do I need a new body? What's wrong with this one? >> No, Lord, we have your new body waiting for you in heaven. All you have to do is pray for forgiveness, for the sins of your mother. >> I said, did you just talk about my mama? And then at that point everything went black and -- I couldn't believe it, so people are just running up to me saying the strangest things. The strangest things. In the last two stories I want to tell you is I was coming home from the Red Sox game so you fans will appreciate that, they were rowdy, he think it was right after they beat the Yankees -- [ Applause ] >> I knew y'all would like that part -- so we're getting on the train and it's like go, the Yankees suck, Yankees suck and then there's this one guy and one guy who used wheelchair, you know they are sacred to you, when people start leaning on your chair, they violated your space. The guy starts leaning on my chair and I'm being nice to him, he leaning again, I'm like, dude, I'm getting a little uncomfortable because he's not attractive, [Laughter] >> He didn't even have the decency to ask me my first name or offer me a drink or anything. He had no pickup lines at all so we're sitting there and the train is going and I notice that he is slightly in inebriated and that's an understatement. And he says, brother, oh, my God, you are an inspiration to me. He starts crying. I'm like, why are you crying? He's like, you just don't understand. I look at you and in your condition and I thank God that it is not me. I'm like, again, we center our chi, ohm... because if I knew I got violent you knew who was gonna get arrested, so I just kind of went there and as the train goes, we stopped, I kinda started getting, man, get off me, I push him a little bit and he leans this way and then he comes back. He gets on one knee and gets this close and says, brother, I love you. And grabs my face and tries to kiss me on the train. I was like, are you kidding? Well, at that point I just knew I was sexy to everybody! So I was quite comfortable with my attractiveness. However, this was not the person I wanted to have grab my face and kissing me on the train because he did not look like Halle Berry. And he's grabbing my face and just, I'm like, are you absolutely kidding me that you can grab my face and you can look at the people on the train because they didn't know what to do. They were like, oh, my God, should we help the guy. They thought maybe we were having a lovers' quarrel, no, it's not that serious and if it was I wouldn't have this look on my face. And it just -- he literally -- after I shoved him off, I said what the hell is wrong with you? He said, why? You don't want me to help you. I just feel so bad for you and I was like, why are you feeling bad for me? I could not figure out why he felt so bad. Then I realized he felt bad because he was not me. He felt bad because he didn't have my swagger, he didn't have my style, he didn't have my attitude, he didn't have my hope, my dreams nor my ambitions. All he had was a 40-ounce and a bad attitude. I said, okay, and when he got off the train everybody looked at me like are you okay and I'm like now you're concerned? You are about eight stops too late. You could have jumped in at any time when the dude was trying to kiss me on the train and I could not -- I'm sitting there trying to understand at what point in my life did I become so attractive that drunk people just have to accost me on trains? [Laughter] I just couldn't understand and it kept going back and forth to this one like okay, how do we do this? How do we move from a point of pity to acceptance? How do we get from the point of people feeling like they need to cure me to just letting me be who I am? I been struggling with that part ever since but it reminded me that no matter what we are, how we got here or what we do, it is about what we are going to do. It's about how we will enlighten and engage and go forward with the community. We ain't going nowhere and if we go anywhere, it's hopefully to Jamaica because they have really good drinks and the beach is absolutely wonderful. And so those kind of things are where we stand now and so I hope that today we take what we learned, you take the energy, take all the messages and don't look at the candidate because they are attractive or because they sound good, or they have a million dollar smile but because they understand the issue and are committed and help us move forward. Thank you so much for listening. You guys have a great day. [Applause] >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you, Keith!
I'm looking forward to following Keith's career. I know that he is gonna go places because he really is a star. Thank you, Keith.
And I want to thank all of you. At this point really we have no more formal business I want to ask Andy to come to the stage, I know Clyde is coming.
In all honesty, I think we should all be really, really pleased with what happened here today and it happened because all the different groups got together, you were calling these candidates, the groups were calling in, encouraging these candidates to attend and it really was a group effort and I think we'll be -- I was just told by one of the press people she had a legal pad with two pages completely filled out full of news organizations that were here and I think that's terrific and we should just build on this momentum and I'm so pleased to be able to be here today in Manchester with all of you and I look forward to working with you guys in the future. >> Thank you, Ted, and let me just say on behalf of all the national sponsors how much we appreciate Granite State Independent Living and all the folks from New Hampshire who came out today. [Applause] >> Thank you. For people that want to get more detail on where the presidential candidates stand on disability issues, we submitted questions to all campaigns, we have posted them on our Web site at AAPD.com, while you are there, please sign up and become a member of AAPD. We want everybody in this room to join. Join the other national groups, too, like the National Council on Independent Living while you're at it and let me just close by saying that today was about civil rights and one of the things I like to do when I'm with a group of disability advocates is say what do we want and have you say civil rights. What do we want? >> Civil rights. >> When do we want it? > Now. >> What do we want? >> Civil rights. >> When do we want it? >> Now. >> Thank you. Please join me in welcoming Clyde Terry. [Applause] >> Okay. Before we close the program, I do have a gift that I'd like to present to Ted since he sort of was up here volunteering and under the hot lights all day. >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you, Clyde. >> A little memento of the New Hampshire primary and for your good work with us. Thank you so much. [Applause] >> TED KENNEDY JR: Thank you, thank you very much. >> This morning we said this was a ground-breaking event and you were part of something historic. It was not only the people in this room that made this event successful but with the new technology we reached out at one point to well over 450 sites across the country and some of those sites had 30 people watching at once so if we do a little bit of math we really made a difference today and got our message across. So it is our dream and indeed I think a reality that if we can take the momentum and come together as a coalition, whether you are from UCP or from the NFB or from AFB, whatever acronyms they are, we share a common goal and that goal is dignity, respect, equality, opportunity and access for everyone. Our agenda, the disability agenda, is America's agenda. If we can solve the problems we face so that we can be competitively employed, we can solve the problems so everyone can be employed. If we can solve the problems of the people with disabilities getting from here to there with accessible transportation, we can solve the problems for everyone in America having accessible transportation. That is our mission. We're not a special interest group, we are America's group and you should be proud of it and be proud to be part of this community. Thank you all for coming and have a great weekend! [Meeting concluded at 5:30 PM CDT]
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