Gephardt Proposes More for Disabled

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa â€”  Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt on Monday proposed a broad expansion of federal aid to the disabled in a speech that also seemed aimed at currying favor with a key Iowa politician.

Speaking at the Iowa School for the Deaf, the Missouri congressman pledged that if elected to the White House, he would “put the full weight of the federal government behind an aggressive strategy to put people with disabilities to work.�

His plan includes a several-billion-dollar annual increase in funding for special education in public schools, which would be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes, and proposals to force federal contractors and the government to hire more disabled people.

Gephardt made a point of praising Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa’s ranking Democratic official, calling him “an accomplished leader in the fight to help Americans with disabilities.�

Harkin, who helped win passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990, has yet to endorse a candidate in the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses.

Gephardt, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and the other major Democrats in the race have eagerly sought his support, given Harkin’s influence within the state party.

His early backing of Al Gore is credited with playing a vital role in the then-vice president’s victory in the 2000 caucuses.

Whether Gephardt’s speech would lure Harkin to Gephardt’s side -- or prevent the senator from endorsing someone else -- remained uncertain.

Allison Dobson, a Harkin spokeswoman, said Monday the senator could decide within a week whether he would endorse anyone, but gave no indication whom that might be.

In his speech, Gephardt also attacked Dean, who polls show is his top competitor in Iowa. Gephardt charged that Dean has supported policies that he said would “cut benefits and inflict harm� on people with disabilities.

Gephardt said that as Vermont’s governor, Dean in 1995 backed cuts of nearly $1 million in aid to the aged, blind and disabled -- a proposal that was halted in state court, the House minority leader said.

“Gov. Dean travels the country preaching the religion of balanced budgets in Vermont and how he had a reputation for fiscal innovation,� Gephardt said. “But Howard Dean doesn’t tell anyone that his first instinct to cut benefits and inflict harm on people with disabilities was overturned by the courts. That’s not a reputation. That’s repudiation.�

Dean spokesman Jay Carson said that while the former governor had to make some “tough choices� during difficult budget years, overall funding for human services programs increased 47% during his 11-year tenure.

“This is another distortion by a desperate candidate,� Carson said.

The Dean campaign also questioned Gephardt’s record for the disabled, saying that during his more than 25 years on Capitol Hill, Congress has consistently fallen short in funding education for the disabled.

“It’s nice that Dick Gephardt now wants to fully fund special education, but the American people are tired of this kind of Washington talk,� John Hieronymous, a Dean supporter in Iowa, responded in a campaign statement.

Gephardt skewered President Bush, saying he has undermined the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act that his father signed into law as president. Gephardt noted that Bush this year won Senate confirmation of Jeffrey Sutton to a federal appeals court. Sutton was bitterly criticized by disability-rights advocates for taking positions they said would limit the reach of the ADA.

“When I am president of the United States, I will decide who sits on the federal bench,� Gephardt said, “and let me tell you, opponents of the ADA need not apply -- because they won’t be appointed.�