equal employment opportunities. The Harris Poll of employers supports that.

We must all recognize, however, that eliminating discrimination in the employment area will not solve the coming national labor shortage or the enormous problems people with disabilities must face everyday.

In order to provide meaningful protections to individuals with disabilities as well as to assure the availability of this segment of the work force to employers, civil rights legislation must be comprehensive.

It must address all the barriers to the independence and integration of people with disabilities into American life. Any break in the link in the chain that connects individuals with disabilities to the work place or prevents them from functioning independently creates a barrier that many times cannot be bridged.

It makes little sense to protect an individual from discrimination in employment if, for example, they have less than adequate accessible public transportation services. We have conducted surveys in 45 communities over the last seven years, and, consistently, inaccessible transportation has been identified as the major barrier, second only to discriminatory attitudes.

Mr. Chairman, just as business looks at the bottom line, so must we all. As I see it, the bottom line in passage of comprehensive civil rights legislation for people with disabilities is: For business, access to a qualified labor force and to a largely untapped group of

consumers.

For individuals with disabilities: dignity, pride, and an improved quality of life, and, finally, independence. And for the Nation, a renewal of our commitment to equality for all and a contribution to the human spirit.

Mr. Chairman, the President's Committee stands ready to assist business in implementing the mandates of this comprehensive civil rights statute and other agencies and organizations, both public and private, are equally eager to share their expertise.

As our previous experience with bringing new classes of repressed people into the social and economic mainstream of society has demonstrated, the returns to the Nation will be bountiful. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The prepared statement of Jay Rochlin follows:]

Mr. Chairman, my name is Jay Rochlin. I am the Executive Director of the President's Committee on Employment

of People with Disabilities.

My current position follows 32

years with AT&T, the last ten of which I developed policies fot AT&T and the former Bell System for employment, retention and advancement of people with disabilities.

I am honored to have this opportunity to address you regarding comprehensive civil rights protections for persons

with disabilities.

In a report just released in July, the Bureau of the

Census identified characteristics of Americans with

disabilities which graphically, and I might add tragically, details their economic status in our society. This new Census report is so important, it merits special attention.

Here are some of the alarming findings:

A) The percentage of men with a work disability working full time fell 7 percent from 30 percent in 1981 to 23 percent in 1988.

B) The income of workers with disabilities dropped sharply compared to other workers. In 1980, men with disabilities earned 23 percent less than men with no work disability, and by 1988 this had dropped to 36 percent less than their counterparts.

In 1980, women with disabilities earned 30 percent less than women with no disabilities, and by 1988 this had dropped to 38 percent less than their counterparts.

In a period of a general economic upturn, these figures raise serious questions about the effectiveness of current federal and state laws barring job discrimination based on disability.

The editor of the Salt Lake City's Deseret News

poignantly summarized the meaning of the census findings. The August 30th editorial said, "When it comes to helping the handicapped, America has slipped backward during the 1980's when we should have been making progress."

Discrimination against individuals with disabilities still persists not only in the critical area of employment in the private sector, but also in public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications.

Seventy-five percent

of top managers in private sector corporations surveyed in 1986 Harris Poll feel that persons with disabilities often encounter discrimination from employers.

Yet, while most Americans with disabilities remain unemployed, total disability expenditures in this nation are increasing at an alarming rate: from $19.3 billion dollars in fiscal year 1970 to $169.4 billion dollars in fiscal year 1986 a rise more than 800%.

Private sector disability expenditures, paid in the form of payments through insurance policies, private pensions, and indemity claims, are becoming a greater percentage of the nation's total disability expenditures. In 1986, such private expenditures totaled $31.8 billion.

These, Mr. Chairman, are the societal problems this

nation faces as a result of actions or inactions that

discriminate against individuals with disabilities by effect as well as by intent or design.

The principle solution to these problems must be the opportunity to work at a good job. This enables people to be self-sufficient and allows them to earn protection against illness and temporary unemployment, and to prepare for old age. It follows, then, that helping people to work is in the short and long-term interest of society of a whole.

Thus, we have a societal problem with a business solution. And, Mr. Chairman, this can be one of those rare "win-win" solutions.

The Hudson Institute's Workforce 2000 and Opportunity 2000 concluded that "(b)usinesses will be able to satisfy their labor needs only if they successfully confront... barriers and empower individuals presently outside the economic mainstream to take advantage of meaningful employment opportunities." The front page of the September 2nd Washington Post "Faced with a severe shortage of labor, Local

stated: companies such as Giant Food, Marrriott and American Security Bank are hiring the hard-core unemployed. ...For the firms, there hires are not just a matter of goodwill--they are a bottom-line necessity."

While comprehensive civil rights legislation can provide protections from employment discrimination for persons with disabilities, it will also enhance the private sector's access to an additional resource of human capital

qualified