Wednesday, April 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
After having received five appointments from presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, lifelong Republican and nationally recognized advocate Justin Dart is breaking ranks and urging disabled Americans to support President Clinton.
"Personal and party loyalty are important to me, but loyalty to the human dream is more important," Dart told an audience of disabled Nevadans who attended his lecture at UNLV's Barrick Museum Auditorium on Tuesday. "I have made an anguished decision of conscience. In 1996, I am a Republican for Clinton."
Dart's split from the Republican party stems from its threat to cut entitlements guaranteed under the Americans with Disability Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). He referred to an article in Standard magazine on Sept. 18, 1995, stating that "sick people are expensive. The dead are a burden to no one. ... The only answer is some kind of rationing. ... Gingrich ... knows that."
"A few days after these words were published, the Congress passed legislation authorizing the states to ration health care," Dart said. "Rationing Medicaid. Rationing life. Your life. Your children's lives."
Dart is traveling throughout the country, urging disabled Americans to unite and fight for their rights. His trip to Nevada was sponsored by 38 statewide disabled American organizations along with the Centers for Independent Living in Las Vegas and Reno.
The organizations, representing 123,000 Nevadans with disabilities, have drafted a declaration of principles that they want Dart to bring to Washington and the National Council on Disability in Dallas on April 26.
Some of the rights the declaration is demanding are:
* That ADA, IDEA and other basic disability rights laws are sacred to people with disabilities.
* Support and emphasize education and training for people with disabilities.
* Increased congressional flexibility and funding that will enable federal, state and local agencies to fulfill their ADA and IDEA responsibilities.
* Opposition to any move to decrease Medicaid funding.
* Presidential, congressional and Nevada gubernatorial and legislators' support for quality universal health care for all.
* That future telecommunications systems are fully accessible and affordable to all citizens.
"Socially responsible government is the heart, the soul, the success of America," Dart said. "There's nothing wrong with responsible government. America is experiencing the growing pains of its astounding success.
"There were problems with the first electric lights. We didn't go back to oil lamps. ADA and IDEA are cornerstones of the new culture. They empower all Americans to participate, to produce. They must not be weakened. They must be implemented."
Stating that the election of 1996 will decide the future of generations to come, Dart urged disabled Americans to campaign, volunteer and support candidates who are for retaining, improving and funding disability programs.
"Bill Clinton has included people with disabilities as never before in his administration and the White House decision-making process," Dart said. "In the face of devastating attacks on ADA, IDEA, Medicaid and empowerment services, Bill Clinton has stood firm for our rights.
"I think of my mother and my brother with disabilities who took their own lives because they could not face the daily rejection of their humanity. I think of my grandson, Dylan, with a learning disability. I think of your grandchildren and grandchildren everywhere in the 21st Century. They must have life, liberty and happiness -- and they can."
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