Here it is
>>                        Justice For All
>>
>>                        [log in to unmask]
>>
>>             John Williams Interview with John McCain
>>
>>ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY  by John Williams February 2, 2000
>>
>>John McCain: "We Must Put the Disabled to Work"
>>
>>The New Hampshire primary winner says he's a champion for people with
>>disabilities -- and his record makes clear he is.
>>
>>It was an experience I'll always remember. On Jan. 27, with temperatures
>>in the single digits, I departed from Baltimore-Washington International
>>Airport for snowy New Hampshire in hopes of talking with some of the
>>candidates in the 2000 Presidential campaign.
>>
>>I've never been on the campaign trail before, and it was an eye-opening
>>experience. I saw how candidates stage photo opportunities, answering
>>questions that range from the sublime to the ridiculous. I interviewed
>>New Hampshireites. And I learned all about the rigid pecking order of
>>the media hounds who dog the candidates' every move. Those TV
>>personalities covering the campaigns can be snarling beasts in person.
>>
>>But I got my interview. It was an in-your-face encounter with Senator
>>John McCain (R-Ariz.), pulled together at two stops of his whirlwind
>>campaign through the Granite State. At Yoken's Restaurant in Portsmouth,
>>I literally squeezed in between the TV microphones and pushed myself in
>>front of other reporters. Armed with my trusty Sony microcassette tape
>>recorder, I started blasting away: "Senator, as President of the U.S.,
>>will you support the Americans with Disabilities Act?"
>>
>>MEET THE AUTHOR. Then and there, I saw up close the John McCain that
>>everybody has been talking about -- a plain-speaking, sometimes gruff
>>man who has made candor his trademark. "Of course I will," he replied.
>>"It's the law of the land. It's Americans we are protecting. I helped
>>write the Americans with Disabilities Act. I know it, and I support it."
>>
>>He's not lying about that. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, McCain
>>was instrumental in writing two key sections of the landmark 1990
>>legislation -- Title I, which says employers can't discriminate against
>>people with disabilities in hiring and promotions, and Title II, which
>>extends the same protections to disabled people who work for state and
>>local governments. McCain's stay in the "Hanoi Hilton" as a prisoner-of-war
>>during the Vietnam War, where he was beaten and tortured, is now part of
>>the candidate's lore. But less well-known is that McCain's experience left
>>him with limited mobility of his arms -- he can't raise his hands much
>>higher than his head because of the beatings he received while imprisoned.
>>
>>I continued. "Senator, with more than 11 million unemployed adults with
>>disabilities nationwide who can benefit from access to assistive technology,
>>will you recommend increasing funding for the R&D of new products for
>>disabled people?"
>>
>>Blind people must have someone pull the lever for them, which violates the
>>spirit of the secret ballot.  "I will," McCain replied. "These are Americans
>>we are talking about. Disabled people have the right to share in the
>>American
>>dream, and President McCain will see they do it. I would also suggest
>>forming
>>public-private partnerships to increase the further development of
>>technologies and opportunities for disabled people in this Internet Age."
>>
>>McCain is a chief sponsor of S. 511, the Improving Accessibility to Voting
>>for Disabled & Elderly Americans Act, which he introduced with fellow
>>Vietnam
>>War veteran Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) last March. The McCain-Kerry bill
>>would make it easier for people with disabilities to vote by making polling
>>places more accessible. It would also allow blind or visually impaired
>>people
>>to vote privately with new polling equipment. As it stands now, most blind
>>people must tell someone else how they wish to vote, so the person can pull
>>the lever for them. That can be degrading, and it violates the spirit of
>>the secret ballot. What's more, it can keep the disabled from voting. The
>>bill is awaiting action by the Senate Rules Committee.
>>
>>A LONG HALL. McCain has long championed such initiatives. And he enjoys the
>>support of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the American Foundation for
>>the Blind. In New Hampshire, he had the support of the New Hampshire
>>Disability Rights Center, the state's Developmental Disabilities Center,
>>and the Granite State Independent Living Foundation.
>>
>>I rode on McCain's press bus and got to chat with other reporters. Soon,
>>we arrived at the Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow, N.H. As
>>McCain
>>turned down a hallway, I approached him once again. He's a brisk walker, but
>>it was a long, long hall, so I got all my questions in.
>>
>>"Senator, Vice-President Al Gore said as President he would appoint Supreme
>>Court justices who adhere to his views on the Americans with Disabilities
>>Act. What is your opinion on his comment?" (See BW Online, 1/05/00, "Q&A
>>with Al Gore: Using Technology to Connect the Disabled".)
>>
>>An irate McCain started walking faster. "Of course he would appoint judges
>>to the Supreme Court who support his view of the Americans with Disabilities
>>Act. He has to. The Americans with Disabilities Act is the law of the land.
>>Justices are supposed to enforce the U.S. Constitution and the law of the
>>land." While McCain was voicing support for what Gore said, he also left me
>>with the impression he was annoyed that he was even asked the question.
>>
>>MAKING THE LAW WORK. "President Clinton recently signed the Work Incentives
>>Improvement Act [which allows the disabled to continue to receive certain
>>federal and state benefits if they go to work]. For the Act to work, states
>>must buy into it. What will President McCain do to persuade states to make
>>health insurance available to disabled people under WIIA?" I asked.
>>
>>"My Administration will work with the states to make this unique bill work.
>>We must put disabled people to work. They are a valuable untapped resource,"
>>he replied.
>>
>>My final question: "Senator, as President, will you support expanding
>>efforts to improve educational opportunities for people with disabilities?"
>>
>>"I believe we must do more in the field of special education for disabled
>>children," he answered. "Not enough is being done. We need more money for
>>special-education programs. We need more training for special-education
>>teachers." McCain seemed to be tired, but at the next stop, he made similar
>>comments on supporting special-education programs for disabled children.
>>
>>During the day I talked to five disabled people at three McCain meetings.
>>Pete Gabrielli uses a wheelchair. He was wearing a John McCain button. He
>>said he supports McCain "because he has a strong stand on sticking up for
>>the military. He has been a strong supporter of the Americans with
>>Disabilities Act. He is a friend of disabled people."
>>
>>At rallies, disabled people are turning out to show their support for
>>McCain. Mary Nugent is blind. Standing in a corner at a school rally
>>in the evening, she said, "I am a McCain supporter. Do you know he was a
>>strong and vocal supporter for airlines to provide blind people with equal
>>treatment to sighted people when we travel? I know he supports the
>>Americans with Disabilities Act." Nugent said she's a member of the
>>American Council of the Blind.
>>
>>Craig Dunbar is a Persian Gulf War veteran who said he suffers from Persian
>>Gulf Syndrome. "I believe that with John McCain's genuine concern for
>>veterans and his own history of being a POW, he'll make the Pentagon tell
>>us the truth and finally resolve the question of this sickness," he said.
>>
>>My impressions of McCain? I believe him when he says as President, he would
>>enforce the rights of disabled people under the Americans with Disabilities
>>Act, that he would work with the states to implement the Work Incentives
>>Improvement Act, and that he would ask Congress to increase funding for
>>special-education programs for disabled school children. He doesn't seem
>>to have the same depth of knowledge about the issues that affect people
>>with disabilities that Vice-President Al Gore has, but he has a visceral
>>passion.
>>
>>NOT A VOTE-GETTER? I also believe that if people with disabilities want
>>their issues to be addressed, they must become more vocal and visible.
>>They must tell the candidates such issues are important to them and keep
>>telling them. They must show up at town-hall meetings, rallies, and other
>>campaign events, and ask questions important to them. Only then will
>>disability issues receive the national attention they deserve.
>>
>>For McCain to attract more disabled voters to his campaign, his staff
>>needs an education, too. At one point during the whirlwind day, a senior
>>McCain aide told me, "I know your area of specialty. But frankly, it's
>>not our issue, and I don't see the votes." I told him there was a drive
>>to get more than 1 million disabled people to vote in this election.
>>
>>I was sure McCain would have a strong opinion on these issues, and I was
>>right. The staffs of the Presidential candidates need to understand that
>>disability affects 55 million disabled people in the U.S. Their issues
>>are national issues.
>>
>>Williams writes a weekly column for Business Week Online on assistive
>>technology. For information on assistive technology, write to him at
>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>>
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