Washington, D.C., June 11 – For Sen. Klobuchar, disability is not only personal but her past includes a history of legislating for people with disabilities. Responding to a question posed to all of the viable 2020 presidential candidates by RespectAbility, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities for people with disabilities, the campaign pledged to continue in the same direction.
“Their voices are essential in this election and our campaign is committed to being both inclusive and empowering of Americans with disabilities,” the campaign responded about ensuring people with disabilities are fully included in their campaign. “While we’ve made progress in the nearly 30 years since the passage of the ADA, there is still work to be done to protect and expand the rights of Americans who live with disabilities and ensure they have equal opportunity to realize the American dream.”
Klobuchar’s campaign participated in a nonpartisan briefing with RespectAbility on this topic. Seven other Democratic presidential campaigns also participated in such a briefing: Biden, Booker, Inslee, Gillibrand, Sanders, Warren and Yang. All viable campaigns were invited to participate in a general briefing or to schedule a briefing, and all are welcome to request a future briefing.
Each campaign has been asked to respond to the same question. We are presenting Sen. Klobuchar’s response in full below:
Q: How will you be ensuring that your campaign fully includes people with disabilities and intentionally speaks to people with disabilities?
A: For our campaign, ensuring equal opportunity and inclusion for persons with disabilities isn’t just the law, it’s one of our basic values. Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey once said that the moral test of our government isn’t just in how we treat the young, healthy and able-bodied. It’s also how we treat the sick, the needy and people with disabilities — those in need. Their voices are essential in this election and our campaign is committed to being both inclusive and empowering of Americans with disabilities. While we’ve made progress in the nearly 30 years since the passage of the ADA, there is still work to be done to protect and expand the rights of Americans who live with disabilities and ensure they have equal opportunity to realize the American dream.
RespectAbility is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities for people with disabilities. RespectAbility does not rate or endorse candidates. View more coverage of 2020 presidential candidates here: http://therespectabilityreport.org/category/2020-campaign. To learn more about the organization, visit our website at www.respectability.org.
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