by Rebecca Kragnes
I won’t forget Friday, October 25, 2002. My husband called me to tell me about the plane crash which had killed Sen. Paul Wellstone, his wife, his daughter, three of his staff members, and two pilots.
I had been trying to decide for whom I would vote on election day for weeks. But there was one race where my choice was crystal clear.
When I first moved to Minnesota in 1995, I heard people talk about Paul Wellstone as being genuine and unpretentious when they met him in person. Based on these comments and a few sound bites, I voted for his return to the Senate in 1996. In 1998, I heard him speak and met him in person. Wellstone was supporting Skip Humphrey’s campaign for governor, and I spent hours at Skip’s phone banks. I was encouraged by members of the disability community to come to the final rally before the election, and though Humphrey lost, I’m glad I was able to hear Wellstone speak. I learned that what people had told me about him earlier was true. The word “passion” has been bandied about in the media to describe the senator, and for those who have not been in the room with him, those words may sound like cliches, but for me, they are accurate and real descriptions. While others seemed to speak from a script at the rally, I heard Paul speak from his heart. None of the other speakers had Paul Wellstone’s intensity and conviction.
Media commentators have outlined Wellstone’s strong positions on many issues including the environment, veterans affairs, and U.S. policy toward Iraq. There were less well-known but equally positive actions he took to assist people with disabilities. I knew he spoke about disability issues from time to time. However, until members of ACB of Minnesota asked me to write this tribute, I didn’t know about all the ways he worked to advocate for people with disabilities.
Paul Wellstone was devoted to children and immigration causes. Therefore, he supported a bill which would make disabled children of legal immigrants eligible for federal benefits. The senator fought against an amendment which would have decreased funds for special education. On May 14, 1997, Wellstone opposed another amendment which would have encouraged uniform discipline for students with and without disabilities.
Wellstone supported employment of people with disabilities. In 1998, he voted in favor of a measure to fund programs which would allow people with disabilities to be independent and employed. The package was worth $2 billion over a five-year period. The senator voted for the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act in 1999. This bill expanded health care for disabled workers, and broadened access to rehabilitation and other support services.
Wellstone supported legislation which would raise the earnings limits for blind people who receive Social Security benefits to the same level as seniors who receive them. Seniors’ higher earnings limits have provided an incentive for them to work, and Wellstone wanted the same situation for blind people. The senator co-sponsored an even more sweeping package in 1999 which would totally remove the federal income-eligibility limits for working people with disabilities. Both of these measures were design to eliminate penalties for people with disabilities who wish to work.
Paul Wellstone believed in the dignity of people with disabilities. He voted yes to an amendment which would have included disability as a motive for a hate crime if it had passed. Finally, you may recall Moira Shea, the blind page who was not allowed to bring her guide dog onto the Senate floor. In response, along with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and three others, Wellstone co-sponsored Resolution 71 which was relative to the Congressional Accountability Act. The resolution permitted “support services (including service dogs, wheelchairs, and interpreters) on the Senate floor the employing or supervising office determines are necessary to assist the disabled individual in discharging the official duties of his or her position.”
Paul Wellstone has been called “the conscience of the Senate.” The Fannie Lou Hamer Project — a campaign finance reform group — put it this way: “He fought for the rights of the poor. He fought for the rights of the disenfranchised. He fought for the rights of those whose voices too often go unheard.” I will miss Sen. Paul Wellstone for many reasons, including his efforts to protect the rights of people with disabilities.