ASHCROFT'S RECORD ON DISABILITY ISSUES AS GOVERNOR
AND ATTORNEY GENERAL

1. As Governor, Ashcroft stated that he thought mental illness could be averted through prayer. Ashcroft made statements to this effect at a 1986 meeting with the state mental health commissioner and several other people. Ashcroft as governor opposed increases to the mental health budget. When the legislature voted to approve more funding for mental health services, he vetoed those appropriations. The mental health commissioner, together with the coalition of community mental health centers, convened a meeting with Aschroft to explain to need for budget increases for mental health and substance abuse services. Ten minutes into the meeting, Ashcroft stood up and ended the meeting, saying that he did not believe the statistics that were being provided and did not feel that failure to fund mental health or substance abuse services was a problem. He stated, "I don't know anyone with mental illness & I don't know anyone with alcoholism or a drug problem. If families just prayed together, these things wouldn't happen." Ashcroft made similar statements in public settings. At a rally at the Missouri Capitol rotunda on Mental Health Day, Governor Ashcroft preached from an open bible and encouraged mental health consumers, their families and advocates to stop relying on doctors and medications and to "go down to the altar and pray" and that they would thus "be cured."
   
   
2. John Ashcroft has stated that disabilities are the product of sin. Governor Ashcroft reportedly prayed over a child who had developed a brain injury in order to get rid of the sin he believed was the cause of the injury.
   
   
3. John Ashcroft's wife has voiced his view that disabilities are the mark of the devil. Around 1983 or 1984, John Ashcroft's wife reportedly made several calls to the head of the Missouri protection and advocacy system, whose son had a seizure disorder, to seek advice because her own son had been diagnosed with a seizure disorder. As John Ashcroft began his gubernatorial campaign, Mrs. Ashcroft called the woman back to make sure that her previous calls not be publicly disclosed because her husband believed that such disabilities were "the mark of the devil."
   
   
4. During John Ashcroft's tenure as governor, several psychiatric hospital and mental retardation facilities were shut down or downsized, but the money saved did not go toward creating community-based mental health services.
   
   
5. As Governor, Ashcroft failed to make state buildings physically accessible. Immediately after Ashcroft left the governorship, the new governor was forced to spend $70 million on capital improvements to make state buildings accessible. At the time Ashcroft left office, approximately 3/4 of the state-owned buildings in Missouri were inaccessible, including vocational rehabilitation offices. The state had been sued years before by a woman with polio, Micky Gudermuth, over the inaccessibility of Southeast Missouri State University, and had lost. Yet, nothing was done to make the university accessible until after Ashcroft left office.
   
   
6. Governor Ashcroft drastically underfunded the state Human Rights Commission. When Ashcroft left the governorship, there was a backlog of about 900 to 1000 complaints that were unopened. The new governor had to hire extra staff for the Commission to process the complaints.
   
   
7. When an AIDS prevention poster was developed through a state Dept. of Health-sponsored project, Gov. Ashcroft decided that he did not like the posters and he not only had them destroyed but made the person who printed the posters reimburse the state $7000 out of his own pocket for the printing.

 

ASHCROFT'S RECORD ON DISABILITY ISSUES AS SENATOR

1. Senator Ashcroft introduced the School Safety Act of 1999, which attempted to weaken the IDEA's protections. This bill, which ultimately failed, would have cut off services for special needs students who had weapons at school or threatened harm. A similar provision sponsored by Senator Ashcroft to amend the IDEA did pass as part of the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999.
   
   
2. Senator Ashcroft voted against the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which would have amended federal hate crimes legislation to extend hate crimes to include crimes based on sexual orientation, gender and disability.
   
   
3. Senator Ashcroft voted against the Mental Health Parity Act, which mandated that insurance providers who cover mental illness apply lifetime insurance coverage limits equally to both physical and mental health coverage.
   
   
4. Senator Ashcroft twice voted against additional IDEA funding in 2000. >>
   
   
5. Senator Ashcroft voted in 2000 against a bill to extend Medicare to cover prescription drug benefits.
   
   
6. In 1995, Senator Ashcroft introduced a bill to convert Supplemental Security Income (SSI) into a block grant to the states.
   
   
7. Senator Ashcroft twice refused to cosponsor legislation reauthorizing the Ryan White Care Act, which provides for care and treatment to individuals with HIV and AIDS.
   
   
8. In 1995, Senator Ashcroft opposed Clarence Sundram, who was nominated by President Clinton for a federal district court judgeship. Sundram, who is Indian American, was formerly the head of the New York protection and advocacy system for individuals with disabilities. Ashcroft's opposition was based in large part on accusations that Sundram had changed his position on the legalization of marijuana and was derived from two comments that were taken out of context. Sundram stated in a letter to Orrin Hatch that he does "not support the legalization of drugs and never ha[s]."

 

 

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