Reeve: American Family Must Support Those Hurting

By Mo Barrett/AllPolitics

Vivo on-demand video of speech

[Reeve] CHICAGO (AllPolitics, Aug. 26) -- In a riveting speech, paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve made a passionate call for increased funding for medical research, invoking Franklin Roosevelt's words: "We cannot be a strong nation unless we are a healthy nation."

"We're all family...we all have value," Reeve told the attentive crowd, which repeatedly broke into enthusiastic applause. "And if that's true, if America really is a family, then we have to recognize that many members of our family are hurting." (404K WAV sound)

Reeve, best known for his role as Superman in the 1978 movie, has been confined to a wheelchair since he was paralyzed in May 1995 during a tragic riding accident. Since then, he has worked tirelessly to rehabilitate himself and increase government support for the disabled.

While not overtly partisan, Reeves' speech seemed designed, in part, to highlight the Democratic party as more supportive than Republicans of government spending to solve America's ills and advance research.

[Reeve at DNC] "I believe -- and so does this administration -- in the most important principal FDR taught us: America does not let its needy citizens fend for themselves," Reeve said. "Sure, we need to balance the budget....But we've also got to take care of our family." (321K WAV sound)

Reeve, noting that one in five Americans has some form of disability, paid tribute to a program championed by GOP nominee Bob Dole, the Americans With Disabilities Act.

"Our nation cannot tolerate discrimination of any kind," Reeve said. "That's why the Americans With Disabilities Act is so important, and must be honored everywhere." He called the measure, signed into law by George Bush, "a civil rights law that is tearing down barriers, both in architecture and in attitude."

The government is not doing enough to find cures for a host of ailments, Reeve told the Democratic delegates. The government spends about $8.7 billion supporting disabled Americans, he said, while noting "we spend only $40 million a year on research that would actually improve the quality of their lives, get them off public assistance, or even cure them."

[Hillary and Dana] After conquering outer space, Americans should be able to find cures for diseases like AIDS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and strokes, Reeve suggested. "Nothing is impossible," he said, if we only give our scientists the chance. "That means more funding for research." (299K WAV sound)

In fact, he termed the effort "a moral and an economic responsibility," one within the country's financial grasp. He also called for added support for caregivers of disabled people. "We don't need to raise taxes," hesaid, "We just need to raise our expectations."

Few could argue with the indomitable spirit of this messenger, who seemed to embody the man to whom he paid tribute: "President Roosevelt showed us that a man who could barely lift himself out of a wheelchair could still lift a nation out despair."

Reeve: American Family Must Support Those Hurting

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