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Remarks by Young Woo Kang, Ph.D.
Member
National Council on Disability
Saving Lives: Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning
News Conference
April 15, 2005
Good morning everyone. Thank you all for being with
us for today. I am Dr. Young Woo Kang, a member of the National
Council on Disability.
I want to thank the panelists for working with NCD
on this event. I also want to recognize Pat Pound, a member of NCD’s
Board, for her leadership in helping to ensure this report’s
release.
Today’s event is one that NCD is proud of for several reasons.
First, it highlights NCD’s new report titled Saving Lives:
Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning. Second,
it gives us a chance to work with key personnel from the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Justice, and an excellent
group of panelists today, to share information with all of you about
an issue that’s vital to this nation’s well-being. And
third, it provides an opportunity to highlight the power of partnerships
from the national to the community level.
Today’s agenda includes:
1. A report overview from Martin Gould, NCD
research staffer;
2. Panel presentations where several of our panelists
will offer their reactions to NCD’s new report, and then describe
what their organizations or agencies are doing in the area of homeland
security, emergency preparedness, and disaster relief –
We will hear from Dan Sutherland (Director, Office
of Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, Department of Homeland Security),
Cheryl Heppner (Executive Director, Northern Virginia Resource Center
for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons), Robert Hynes (Chair, Arlington
Virginia Disability Advisory Commission), and Katie Savage (Successful
plaintiff in the precedent setting emergency evacuation case Katie
Savage v. City Place Mall). Following their remarks, we would like
to entertain any questions you may have. And to help with your questions,
we also have on our panel Hilary Styron (Emergency Preparedness
Initiative Program Officer, National Organization on Disability),
Ollie Cantos (Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division U.S. Department of Justice), and Cheryl King
(Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office, Federal Communications
Commission).
3. Finally, time permitting, I’ll offer some
closing remarks.
For those of you who may not know us, the National
Council on Disability is an independent federal agency making recommendations
to the President and Congress to enhance the quality of life for all
Americans with disabilities and their families. It is composed of
15 members appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Under its congressional mandate, NCD is charged with the responsibility
to gather information on the development and implementation of federal
laws, policies, programs, and initiatives that affect people with
disabilities. In 2003, as a result of the Administration’s initiatives
in homeland security, NCD committed itself to evaluate the development
of the Federal Government’s work in that area as well as in
the areas of emergency preparation and disaster relief as they relate
to and affect Americans with disabilities.
And now, I’d like to introduce Martin Gould……
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