[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 18, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 13111-13113]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7139]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 52 / Wednesday, March 18, 1998 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 13111]]
Executive Order 13078 of March 13, 1998
Increasing Employment of Adults With Disabilities
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to increase the employment of
adults with disabilities to a rate that is as close as
possible to the employment rate of the general adult
population and to support the goals articulated in the
findings and purpose section of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. Establishment of National Task Force on
Employment of Adults with Disabilities.
(a) There is established the ``National Task Force
on Employment of Adults with Disabilities'' (``Task
Force''). The Task Force shall comprise the Secretary
of Labor, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, Secretary of Health and Human Services,
Commissioner of Social Security, Secretary of the
Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of
Transportation, Director of the Office of Personnel
Management, Administrator of the Small Business
Administration, the Chair of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, the Chairperson of the National
Council on Disability, the Chair of the President's
Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities,
and such other senior executive branch officials as may
be determined by the Chair of the Task Force.
(b) The Secretary of Labor shall be the Chair of
the Task Force; the Chair of the President's Committee
on Employment of People with Disabilities shall be the
Vice Chair of the Task Force.
(c) The purpose of the Task Force is to create a
coordinated and aggressive national policy to bring
adults with disabilities into gainful employment at a
rate that is as close as possible to that of the
general adult population. The Task Force shall develop
and recommend to the President, through the Chair of
the Task Force, a coordinated Federal policy to reduce
employment barriers for persons with disabilities.
Policy recommendations may cover such areas as
discrimination, reasonable accommodations, inadequate
access to health care, lack of consumer-driven, long-
term supports and services, transportation, accessible
and integrated housing, telecommunications, assistive
technology, community services, child care, education,
vocational rehabilitation, training services, job
retention, on-the-job supports, and economic incentives
to work. Specifically, the Task Force shall:
L(1) analyze the existing programs and policies of
Task Force member agencies to determine what changes,
modifications, and innovations may be necessary to
remove barriers to work faced by people with
disabilities;
L(2) develop and recommend options to address
health insurance coverage as a barrier to employment
for people with disabilities;
L(3) subject to the availability of appropriations,
analyze State and private disability systems (e.g.,
workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, private
insurance, and State mental health and mental
retardation systems) and their effect on Federal
programs and employment of adults with disabilities;
L(4) consider statistical and data analysis, cost
data, research, and policy studies on public subsidies,
employment, employment discrimination, and rates of
return-to-work for individuals with disabilities;
[[Page 13112]]
L(5) evaluate and, where appropriate, coordinate
and collaborate on, research and demonstration
priorities of Task Force member agencies related to
employment of adults with disabilities;
L(6) evaluate whether Federal studies related to
employment and training can, and should, include a
statistically significant sample of adults with
disabilities;
L(7) subject to the availability of appropriations,
analyze youth programs related to employment (e.g.,
Employment and Training Administration programs,
special education, vocational rehabilitation, school-
to-work transition, vocational education, and Social
Security Administration work incentives and other
programs, as may be determined by the Chair and Vice
Chair of the Task Force) and the outcomes of those
programs for young people with disabilities;
L(8) evaluate whether a single governmental entity
or program should be established to provide computer
and electronic accommodations for Federal employees
with disabilities;
L(9) consult with the President's Committee on
Mental Retardation on policies to increase the
employment of people with mental retardation and
cognitive disabilities; and
L(10) recommend to the President any additional
steps that can be taken to advance the employment of
adults with disabilities, including legislative
proposals, regulatory changes, and program and budget
initiatives.
(d)(1) The members of the Task Force shall make the
activities and initiatives set forth in this order a
high priority within their respective agencies within
the levels provided in the President's budget.
(2) The Task Force shall issue its first report to
the President by November 15, 1998. The Task Force
shall issue a report to the President on November 15,
1999, November 15, 2000, and a final report on July 26,
2002, the 10th anniversary of the initial
implementation of the employment provisions of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The reports
shall describe the actions taken by, and progress of,
each member of the Task Force in carrying out this
order. The Task Force shall terminate 30 days after
submitting its final report.
(e) As used herein, an adult with a disability is a
person with a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits at least one major life activity.
Sec. 2. Specific activities by Task Force members and
other agencies.
(a) To ensure that the Federal Government is a
model employer of adults with disabilities, by November
15, 1998, the Office of Personnel Management, the
Department of Labor, and the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission shall submit to the Task Force a
review of Federal Government personnel laws,
regulations, and policies and, as appropriate, shall
recommend or implement changes necessary to improve
Federal employment policy for adults with disabilities.
This review shall include personnel practices and
actions such as: hiring, promotion, benefits,
retirement, workers' compensation, retention,
accessible facilities, job accommodations, layoffs, and
reductions in force.
(b) The Departments of Justice, Labor, Education,
and Health and Human Services shall report to the Task
Force by November 15, 1998, on their work with the
States and others to ensure that the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
is carried out in accordance with section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, so that
individuals with disabilities and their families can
realize the full promise of welfare reform by having an
equal opportunity for employment.
(c) The Departments of Education, Labor, Commerce,
and Health and Human Services, the Small Business
Administration, and the President's Committee on
Employment of People with Disabilities shall work
together and report to the Task Force by November 15,
1998, on their work to
[[Page 13113]]
develop small business and entrepreneurial
opportunities for adults with disabilities and
strategies for assisting low-income adults, including
those with disabilities to create small businesses and
micro-enterprises. These same agencies, in consultation
with the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are
Blind or Severely Disabled, shall assess the impact of
the Randolph-Sheppard Act vending program and the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act on employment and small
business opportunities for people with disabilities.
(d) The Departments of Transportation and Housing
and Urban Development shall report to the Task Force by
November 15, 1998, on their examination of their
programs to see if they can be used to create new work
incentives and to remove barriers to work for adults
with disabilities.
(e) The Departments of Justice, Education, and
Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and
the Social Security Administration shall work together
and report to the Task Force by November 15, 1998, on
their work to propose remedies to the prevention of
people with disabilities from successfully exercising
their employment rights under the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 because of the receipt of
monetary benefits based on their disability and lack of
gainful employment.
(f) The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
Department of Labor and the Census Bureau of the
Department of Commerce, in cooperation with the
Departments of Education and Health and Human Services,
the National Council on Disability, and the President's
Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
shall design and implement a statistically reliable and
accurate method to measure the employment rate of
adults with disabilities as soon as possible, but no
later than the date of termination of the Task Force.
Data derived from this methodology shall be published
on as frequent a basis as possible.
(g) All executive agencies that are not members of
the Task Force shall: (1) coordinate and cooperate with
the Task Force; and (2) review their programs and
policies to ensure that they are being conducted and
delivered in a manner that facilitates and promotes the
employment of adults with disabilities. Each agency
shall file a report with the Task Force on the results
of its review on November 15, 1998.
Sec. 3. Cooperation. All efforts taken by executive
departments and agencies under sections 1 and 2 of this
order shall, as appropriate, further partnerships and
cooperation with public and private sector employers,
organizations that represent people with disabilities,
organized labor, veteran service organizations, and
State and local governments whenever such partnerships
and cooperation are possible and would promote the
employment and gainful economic activities of
individuals with disabilities.
Sec. 4. Judicial Review. This order does not create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law by a party against the United
States, its agencies, its officers, or any person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 13, 1998.
[FR Doc. 98-7139
Filed 3-17-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P