Burgess Owens: “my first amendment excludes from the unfunded mandates legislation any statute or regulation that acts to protect the…”

“my first amendment excludes from the unfunded mandates legislation any statute or regulation that acts to protect the health of individuals with disabilities. My second amendment applies the same protection for individuals with disabilities in relation to the Congressional Budget Act provisions in the same legislation. Mr. Chairman, there is a high level of anxiety in the community of people with disabilities about this piece of legislation. Forty-nine million people have disabilities, and the number continues to grow because any one of us could be a candidate, and certainly as people get older, they end up in large numbers in the category of people with disabilities. Mr. Chairman, people with disabilities have a high level of anxiety for good reason. They feel that they have been targeted in this legislation, that they are a particular target because for years now there have been expressions of concern about the high cost at the local level of programs for people with disabilities, particularly the program IDEA, Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, better known to you as special education.”