On Thursday, September 15, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, known as the HELP Committee, held a roundtable discussion on the employment of people with the most significant disabilities. The committee is chaired by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), a long time champion of people with disabilities and the author of many federal disability laws. Several Senate Democrats participated in the event but no Republican HELP Committee members were present. In his opening statement, Senator Harkin cited several statistics regarding the sad state of employment for people with disabilities, calling the labor force participation of people with disabilities "shockingly low".
With the overall national unemployment rate holding relatively steady at just over 9 percent, itself a national crisis, disability unemployment data indicate a far worse problem for people with disabilities, particularly those with significant intellectual disabilities, to secure and retain jobs. Less than one third of the 15 million working age adults with disabilities are employed. Thus, two thirds of this population is umemployed, a staggering statistic. Current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show an even bleaker picture, with over 600,000 workers with disabilities having lost their jobs in the past three years. People with disabilities are losing jobs at ten times the rate of the general workforce. Senator Harkin called this situation "unacceptable" and called for action to change this trend.