videos of speech here and here
October 24, 2008

ARLINGTON, VA -- Governor Sarah Palin today delivered the following remarks as prepared for delivery in Pittsburgh, PA, at 9:00 a.m. ET:

Thank you all very much. I appreciate the hospitality of the people of Pittsburgh, and I'm grateful to all the groups who have joined us here today. The Woodlands Foundation, the Down Syndrome Center at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Autism-link, the Children's Institute of Pittsburgh: Thank you for coming today. And, above all, thank you for the great work you do for the light and love you bring into so many lives.

John McCain and I have talked about the missions he'd like me to focus on should I become vice president, and our nation's energy independence and government reform are among them. But there is another mission that's especially close to my heart, and that is to help families of children with special needs. And today, we'll talk about three policy proposals that are going to help us fulfill our country's commitment to these children: more choices for parents, fully funding IDEA, and efforts to reform and refocus.

Too often, even in our own day, children with special needs have been set apart and excluded. Too often, state and federal laws add to their challenges, instead of removing barriers and opening new paths of opportunity. Too often, they are made to feel that there is no place for them in the life of our country, that they don't count or have nothing to contribute. This attitude is a grave disservice to these beautiful children, to their families, and to our country -- and I will work to change it.

One of the most wonderful experiences in this campaign has been to see all the families of children with special needs who come out to rallies and events just like this. We have a bond there. We know that children with special needs inspire a special love. You bring your sons and daughters with you, because you are proud of them, as I am of my son.

My little fella sleeps during most of these rallies, even when they get pretty rowdy. He would be amazed to know how many folks come out to see him instead of me.

When I learned that Trig would have special needs, honestly, I had to prepare my heart. At first I was scared, and Todd and I had to ask for strength and understanding. I did a lot of praying for that understanding, and strength, and to see purpose.

And what's been confirmed in me is every child has something to contribute to the world, if we give them that chance. You know that there are the world's standards of perfection, and then there are God's, and these are the final measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to Him for their own sake. And the truest measure of any society is how it treats those who are most vulnerable.

As for our baby boy, Trig, for Todd and me he is only more precious because he is vulnerable. In some ways, I think we stand to learn more from him than he does from us. When we hold Trig and care for him, we don't feel scared anymore. We feel blessed.

Of course, many other families are much further along a similar path -- including my best friend who happens to be my sister, Heather, and her 13-year old son Karcher, who has autism. Heather and I have worked on this for over a decade. Heather is an advocate for children with autism in Alaska. And as governor, I've succeeded in securing additional funding and assistance for students with special needs. By 2011, I will have tripled the funding available to these students.

Heather and I have been blessed with a large, strong family network. Our family helps make sure that Trig and Karcher have what they need. But not everyone is lucky enough to have that strong network of support. And the experiences of those millions of Americans point the way to better policy in the care of children with special needs.

One of the most common experiences is the struggle of parents to find the best and earliest care for their children. The law requires our public schools to serve children with special needs, but often the results fall far short of the service they need. Even worse, parents are left with no other options, except for the few families that can afford private instruction or therapy.

Many of you parents here have been through the drill: You sit down with teachers and counselors to work out the IEP -- an individual education plan for your child. The school may be trying its best, but they're overstretched. They may keep telling you that your child is "progressing well," and no extra services are required. They keep telling you that -- but you know better.

You know that your children are not getting all of the help they need, at a time when they need it most. The parents of children with special needs ask themselves every day if they are doing enough, if they are doing right by their sons and daughters. And when our public school system fails to render help and equal opportunity -- and even prevents parents from seeking it elsewhere that is unacceptable.

In a McCain-Palin administration, we will put the educational choices for special needs children in the right hands their parents'. Under reforms that I will lead as vice president, the parents and caretakers of children with physical or mental disabilities will be able to send that boy or girl to the school of their choice -- public or private.

Under our reforms, federal funding for every special needs child will follow that child. Some states have begun to apply this principle already, as in Florida's McKay Scholarship program. That program allows for choices and a quality of education that should be available to parents in every state, for every child with special needs. This process should be uncomplicated, quick, and effective -- because early education can make all the difference. No barriers of bureaucracy should stand in the way of serving children with special needs.

That's why John and I will direct the Department of Education to clarify the statute administratively. We'll make explicit that when state funds are portable, federal funds are fully portable. We're going to make sure parents have choices and children receive the education they deserve.

Even the best public school teacher or administrator cannot rightfully take the place of a parent in making these choices. The schools feel responsible for the education of many children, but a parent alone is responsible for the life of each child. And in the case of parents of children with disabilities, there are enough challenges as it is, and our children will face more than enough closed doors along the way. When our sons and daughters need better education, more specialized training, and more individual attention, the doors of opportunity should be open.

Like John McCain, I am a believer in providing more school choice for families. The responsibility for the welfare of children rests ultimately with mothers and fathers, and the power to choose should be theirs as well. But this larger debate of public policy should not be permitted to hinder the progress of special-needs students. Where their lives, futures, and happiness are at stake, we should have no agenda except to ease the path they are on. And the best way to do that is to give their parents options.

In a McCain-Palin administration, we will also fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. To his great credit, it was President Gerald Ford who signed the legislation that became the IDEA -- establishing new standards of respect and inclusion for young Americans with disabilities. From that day to this, however, the federal government's obligations under the IDEA have not been adequately met. And portions of IDEA funding have actually decreased since 2005.

This is a matter of how we prioritize the money that we spend. We've got a three trillion dollar budget, and Congress spends some 18 billion dollars a year on earmarks for political pet projects. That's more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA. And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good -- things like fruit fly research in Paris, France, or a public policy center named for the guy who got the earmark. In our administration, we're going to reform and refocus. We're going to get our federal priorities straight, and fulfill our country's commitment to give every child opportunity and hope in life.

For many parents of children with disabilities, the most valuable thing of all is information. Early identification of a cognitive or other disorder, especially autism, can make a life-changing difference. That's why we're going to strengthen NIH. We're going to work on long-term cures, and in the short-term, we're going to work on giving these families better information.

Once a condition is known, parents need the best and latest information on what to expect and how to respond. This service is also provided for under the IDEA. And we will make sure that every family has a place to go for support and medical guidance. The existing programs and community centers focus on school-age children -- overlooking the need for assistance before school-age.

But it would make a lot more sense for these centers to focus as well on infants and toddlers. This is not only a critical stage for diagnosis; it can also be a crucial time to prepare the family for all that may lie ahead. Families need to know what treatments are most effective, and where they are available, what costs they will face, and where aid can be found, and where they can turn for the advice and support of others in their situation. As Todd and I and Heather know, there's no substitute for the friendship of those who have been where we are now.

The IDEA is also intended to serve teens and young adults with special needs. And here, too, there is an opportunity to reform and extend the reach of federal support under the IDEA. By modernizing a current law, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, we can better serve students with disabilities in our high schools and community colleges. This will require reform by the states as well. Just as the federal government expects proven results in the progress of other students, we must require results as well in the achievements of students with disabilities. And the result we will expect is simple: that every special-needs student be given a chance to learn the skills to work, and enjoy the freedom to live independently if that is their choice.

As families across America know, the care of special-needs children requires long-term planning, and especially financial planning. A common practice among these families is to establish financial trusts. These are known as special needs trusts, covering years of medical and other costs, and for parents they bring invaluable comfort.

Understandably, then, many families with special-needs children or dependent adults are concerned that our opponent in this election plans to raise taxes on precisely those kinds of financial arrangements. They fear that Senator Obama's tax increase will have serious and harmful consequences -- and they are right. The burden that his plan would impose upon these families is just one more example of how many plans can be disrupted, how many futures can be placed at risk, and how many people can suffer when the power to tax is misused.

Our opponent has an ideological commitment to higher taxes. And though he makes adjustments on his tax plan pronouncements seemingly by the day, his commitment to increase taxes remains the same. John McCain and I have just the opposite commitment. We intend to lower taxes, promote growth, and protect the earnings and savings of American families.

Not long ago, I spent some time at a place in Cleveland called the Michael T. George Center, a beautiful home for adults with Down Syndrome and other disabilities. I met Michael George, too, a boy of five with Down Syndrome. Michael is a healthy, sweet, joy-filled little man -- and I saw in him all the things I wish for Trig in just a few years.

Michael's parents, Tony and Kris George, are advocates for children with special needs in their community. They are thinking far ahead, in their own boy's life and in the lives of others. They named the center after their son. It's a public-private partnership. This welcoming place -- and so many others like it -- shows the good heart of America. They are places of hope. They are the works of people who believe that every life matters, everyone has something to contribute, and every child should have things to look forward to, and achievements to point to with pride and joy. As many of you know better than I, it can be a hard path, and yet all the more joyful and productive when the barriers are overcome.

John McCain and I have a vision in which every child is loved and cherished, and that is the spirit I want to bring to Washington. To the families and caregivers of special-needs children all across this country, I do have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. And I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.

Thank you all, and God bless you."

added by KathyR

As "Mama" says, "How can Obama lead a people, if he can't recognize a person?
from "Mama Says" blogspot:
http://milehimama.blogspot.com/2008/09/obama-campaign-sign-sharin-love.html

Sunday, October 12, 2008
ALLOTT: The Trig Palin effect
Daniel Allott
COMMENTARY:

Sarah Palin is not the only one. Right now 400,000 mothers are going
through the same experiences every day - the simple joys, the
profound challenges, the unexpected blessings. Ann Robertson is one
of them. Like Mrs. Palin, Mrs. Robertson recently gave birth to a
child with Down syndrome.

When Mrs. Robertson heard Mrs. Palin was selected as the Republican
Party's nominee for vice president, her emotions jumped quickly,
from surprise, to joy, to tears. "Whether or not people are going to
vote for her, we [mothers of children with DS] all were excited,"
she said.

October is National Down Syndrome Awareness month. But nothing has
done as much recently to raise the public's awareness of Down
syndrome as events a month earlier. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's
political rise has placed the glaring spotlight of the media on the
entire Palin family, and not least on its youngest member, 6-month-
old Trig, who was born with Down syndrome.

Mrs. Palin's emergence has also cast a soft, revealing light on a
hitherto neglected issue: Down syndrome abortions. America's
epidemic of Down syndrome abortions disregards not only the sanctity
of human life but also the profound contributions that persons with
Down syndrome offer to the lives of those they touch.

Increasingly sophisticated prenatal genetic screening (involving
sonograms and blood tests) can detect Down syndrome as early as the
first trimester of pregnancy. These tests - what George F. Will has
called "search and destroy mission*" - have helped produce an up to
90 percent abortion rate for children with Down syndrome.

This horrendously high abortion rate is due in part to a medical
establishment with a decidedly pro-abortion prejudice against babies
with disabilities. Parents informed their child will be born with a
disability are often shown pitiful videos of the challenges of
rearing disabled children after they hear the "bad news" from
doctors.

When I sat down with Ms. Robertson, she told me her experiences with
the medical community were "mixed." Eschewing invasive pre-natal
tests for Down syndrome, Ann first learned her daughter, Bonnie, had
the condition immediately after giving birth in a Fairfax County,
Va., hospital. The first words of a member of the delivering staff
were, "Did you get a blood test?"

Mrs. Robertson said her nurses were very supportive. Many told her
what a blessing Bonnie was, and some even visited her on their free
time to offer encouragement. But the neonatal pediatrician and
genetic counselor gave her the feeling that it was, in Ann's
words, "all my fault. The attitude was, 'you didn't deal with it
when you could have, so you have to deal with it now.' "

Such negativity is hardly unique. Numerous academic studies have
shown physicians are overwhelmingly negative in communicating
prenatal and post-natal diagnoses of Down syndrome. As Brian Skotko,
a physician at Children's hospital Boston, Boston Medical, wrote in
a study published in Pediatrics, "Doctors have gotten better over
time, but it's been a very slow change, and they've really gone from
terrible to just bad."

When she heard about Bonnie's condition, Ann felt "pretty scared at
first." But her fears were rooted in not knowing what to expect. "I
couldn't tell you the last time I had seen a child with Down
syndrome before Bonnie was born," Mrs. Robertson recalled. "The
sadness came from the unknown."

Fear of the unknown is precisely what legislators are attempting to
alleviate with a new federal law. The Prenatally and Postnatally
Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act would require that families who
receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or other genetic condition be
provided with up-to-date information about the nature of the
condition - including the positive aspects of raising a child with a
disability and connection with support services and networks that
could offer help.

Co-sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican, and Edward
Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, the legislation would also create
of a national registry of families willing to adopt children with
genetic conditions. In late September, Congress passed the
Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act. It
now heads to the president's desk to become law.

In Ann's case, after a few weeks of trepidation following Bonnie's
birth, she decided in a single moment "That's it! No more tears, no
more grieving." Reassured by a pro-life doctor, who told her that "a
child is a child no matter what condition they come out in," her
supportive husband, Brian, and her Catholic faith, Ann chose to
accept Bonnie unconditionally, to love her the way she is and to
embrace the challenges.

Many women choose to abort unborn children with developmental
disabilities. But for Ann, the only choice was whether she would
accept and love the child she had been given by God. "Life was
already chosen," Ann told me. "My choice was love and acceptance. I
wasted time grieving for the child I didn't have instead of
accepting the child God gave me."

Ann and Brian have been transformed since Bonnie came into their
lives. "We don't take anything for granted. Every little thing
becomes great and joyful." They have learned not to focus on the
world's idea of accomplishment. "What's important," said Ann, "is
that this is a child with dignity whose every single accomplishment,
from the small things to the large things, is celebrated because we
know what it took for our child to do it."

Bonnie has helped Ann understand "what human dignity is all about"
and taught her that "being vulnerable is not a bad thing. That being
dependent is not a bad thing." In a world that hates dependency and
shuns vulnerability, people with Down syndrome, Ann believes, are "a
wake-up call to our consciences."

As our conversation returned to the Palins, Mrs. Robertson
recalled, "When [Sarah Palin] mentioned special needs families in
her [Republican Convention] speech, I knew she was looking at me,
and was talking to us personally. It was like a sigh of relief mixed
with gratitude that finally someone recognizes we exist."

Daniel Allott is senior writer at American Values, a Washington,
D.C., area public policy organization. He is a former community
support provider for persons with developmental disabilities.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/12/the-trig-palin-effect
__._,_.___

Remarks at Johnstown, PA rally on Oct.12,2008

"In this same spirit, as defenders of the culture of life, John
McCain and I believe in the goodness and potential of every innocent
life. I believe the truest measure of any society is how it treats
those who are least able to defend and speak for themselves. And
who is more vulnerable, or more innocent, than a child?

When I learned that my son Trig would have special needs, I had to
prepare my heart for the challenges to come. At first I was scared,
and Todd and I had to ask for strength and understanding. But I can
tell you a few things I've learned already.

Yes, every innocent life matters. Everyone belongs in the circle of
protection. Every child has something to contribute to the world,
if we give them that chance. There are the world's standards of
perfection … and then there are God's, and these are the final
measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to Him for
their own sake.

As for our beautiful baby boy, for Todd and me, he is only more
precious because he is vulnerable. In some ways, I think we stand
to learn more from him than he does from us. When we hold Trig and
care for him, we don't feel scared anymore. We feel blessed.

It's hard to think of many issues that could possibly be more
important than who is protected in law and who isn't – who is
granted life and who is denied it. So when our opponent, Senator
Obama, speaks about questions of life, I listen very carefully.

I listened when he defended his unconditional support for unlimited
abortions. He said that a woman shouldn't have to be – quote –
"punished with a baby." He said that right here in Johnstown –
"punished with a baby" – and it's about time we called him on it.
The more I hear from Senator Obama, the more I understand why he is
so vague and evasive on the subject. Americans need to see his
record for what it is. It's not negative or mean-spirited to talk
to about his record. Whatever party you belong to, there are facts
you need to know.

Senator Obama has voted against bills to end partial-birth
abortion. In the Illinois Senate, a bipartisan majority passed
legislation against that practice. Senator Obama opposed that
bill. He voted against it in committee, and voted "present" on the
Senate floor. In that legislature, "present" is how you vote when
you're against something, but don't want to be held to account.

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, described partial-birth
abortion as "too close to infanticide." Barack Obama thinks it's a
constitutional right, but he is wrong.

Most troubling, as a state senator, Barack Obama wouldn't even stand
up for the rights of infants born alive during an abortion. These
infants – often babies with special needs – are simply left to die.

In 2002, Congress unanimously passed a federal law to require
medical care for those babies who survive an abortion. They're
living, breathing babies, but Senator Obama describes them as "pre-
viable." This merciful law was called the Born Alive Infants
Protection Act. Illinois had a version of the same law. Obama
voted against it.

Asked about this vote, Senator Obama assured a reporter that he'd
have voted "yes" on that bill if it had contained language similar
to the federal version of the Born Alive Act. There's just one
little problem with that story: the language of both the state and
federal bills was identical.

In short, Senator Obama is a politician who has long since left
behind even the middle ground on the issue of life. He has sided
with those who won't even protect a child born alive. And this
exposes the emptiness of his promises to move beyond the "old
politics."

In both parties, Americans have many concerns to be weighed in the
votes they cast on November fourth. In times like these, with wars
and a financial crisis, it's easy to forget even as deep and abiding
a concern as the right to life. And it seems our opponent hopes
that you will forget. Like so much else in his agenda, he hopes you
won't notice how radical his ideas and record are until it's too
late.

But let there be no misunderstanding about the stakes.

A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for activist courts that will
continue to smother the open and democratic debate we need on this
issue, at both the state and federal level. A vote for Barack Obama
would give the ultimate power over the issue of life to a politician
who has never once done anything to protect the unborn. As Senator
Obama told Pastor Rick Warren, it's above his pay grade.

For a candidate who talks so often about "hope," he offers no hope
at all in meeting this great challenge to the conscience of
America. There is a growing consensus in our country that we can
overcome narrow partisanship on this issue, and bring all the
resources of a generous country to the aid of both women in need and
the child waiting to be born. We need more of the compassion and
idealism that our opponent's own party, at its best, once stood
for. We need the clarity and conviction of leaders like the late
Governor Bob Casey.

He represented a humanity that speaks to all of us – no matter what
our party, our background, our faith, or our gender. And no matter
your position on this sensitive subject, I hope that spirit will
guide you on Election Day. I ask you to vote for McCain-Palin on
the November fourth, and help us to bring this country together in
the rational discussion of compassion and life."
(Posted to DSIE listserv by Ann Robertson)
Kathy