[Somber piano]
CHAIRMAN GALLEGOS: I was honored to be designated as Chairman
of the National Council on Disability.
I am a Hispanic male with fair
complexion, exceedingly gray hair, black frame
glasses,
and I am a proud member
of the Disability community Class of 1996,
having sustained a spinal cord
injury
resulting in quadriplegia
in an automobile accident.
As a person with a spinal cord injury,
I, like so many others,
have experienced the realities
of trying to attain medical care
while confronting the seismic barriers
that still exist.
despite the over 30 years
since the Americans
with Disabilities Act became law.
So many of us have stories to tell.
Sir, you wrote the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
That's a big friggin deal (audience laughs).
Gentlemen, the National Council on Disability,
with nine
Presidentially and Congressionally
appointed members,
carries a statutory mission
to advise the President,
his administration, Congress and federal agencies
on all policy matters
impacting people with disabilities.
The health
and well-being of people
with disabilities have long been ignored
in this country.
This occurs despite the existence
of an overwhelming body of studies and reports
that unequivocally document the significant
and continuing prevalence of health disparities
that exist between people with disabilities
and our non-disabled counterparts.
The National Council on Disability
was fighting for federal legislation
to protect
the rights of persons with disabilities
since its inception.
NCD has worked to develop
a health equity
framework to provide policymakers in Congress
and in the administration
with a blueprint to take action.
The adoption
of enforceable medical diagnostic equipment
standards is just one step towards health
equity for persons with mobility disabilities
and is just one component
of NCD’s pursuit of health
equity for all people with disabilities--for
an all of government approach
to address health disparities.
The framework was one year in the making,
with the input of
our then-Council
members, members of the Disability community
and a Dream Team of 14 advisors
comprised of health care disparities
researchers,
physicians caring for people with disabilities,
health care and disability law professors,
among others.
It's a matter of attaining
and maintaining good health. It's
critically important for
everyone,
but more so for persons with disabilities.
It's truly
the predicate to our ability to live,
our ability to learn and our ability to work
and earn. Into the forefront of discussions
that are taking place
in medical schools
and perhaps at the associations here.
I have to impart with you, our house is on fire.
The issues that we're talking about here,
when individuals
like me can't get weighed at medical appointments
because there's no wheelchair
accessible weight scales,
when we don't get transferred
onto examination tables
for full physical examination
because of the inability
or the unwillingness of providers to do so.
And then we see a heightened percentage of people
with spinal cord injuries
and mobility disabilities
being diagnosed with colon cancer
because they're simply not being checked
or prostate cancer
because they're simply not being checked.
We don't have time for polite
conversations in your respective schools.
We need some action, and that has to happen.
And so I impart to you that our house is
on fire and these issues need resolution.
Let's remember that
disability is a natural part
of the human condition.
Let us remember that disability
is not a characteristic
that stands alone, but it is one that intersects
with all other aspects of a person's identity,
such as age, race, ethnicity, income level,
sexual orientation, gender identity and religion.
Let us recommit to shaping a future
in which all members of this beautiful community
can have
and enjoy full rights free from discrimination,
to live self-directed, independent lives,
to achieve our full potential.
Achieving our full potential is only possible
if we're able to attain, maintain good health.