FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006
Contact: ACF Press Office
(202) 401-9215

Appointees Sworn In to Serve on President’s Committee
For People with Intellectual Disabilities

Members of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID), appointed recently by President George W. Bush, were sworn in today by HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D.

“By appointing these individuals, President Bush is strengthening the care, attention and services for people with intellectual disabilities,” Horn said. “These men and women will help achieve the goals of the Bush Administration to help citizens with intellectual disabilities live full, happy and productive lives.”

The appointments to the PCPID are as follows:

• Clay Aiken of Raleigh, North Carolina: Recording artist Clay Aiken is also the founder of the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, an organization that promotes and funds educational and recreational programs for children with special needs.

• Ricardo Barraza, Jr. of El Paso, Texas: Barraza’s years of volunteer service include membership on the Arc of Texas, the Advisory Council to the Texas Rehabilitation Council, vice president of the Texas Association of Private Providers and founding director of the Texas Society of Qualified Mental Retardation Professionals.

• Herb Bartlett of Bellevue, Washington: In his 23 years of working at Medtronic Emergency Response Systems, Bartlett has helped to build awareness and change attitudes about people with intellectual disabilities in the workplace.

• Valerie Billmire of Park City, Utah: The mother of a 10 year old son with cerebral palsy, Billmire serves as the chair of the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council.

• Stephen Bird of Blacksburg, Virginia: Bird is a professor of journalism at Radford University in Virginia and the father of a 10 year old daughter with cerebral palsy.

• James Boles of Amherst, New York: Boles is the president and CEO of People, Inc., the largest human services agency in New York. He also serves as a member of the New York State Advisory Council on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

• Stephanie Preshong Brown of Palm City, Florida: A long time advocate for children, Brown was nominated to the Martin County School District’s Least Restrictive Environment Committee which helps children with disabilities excel in the classroom environment.

• Sharman Word Dennis of Silver Spring, Maryland: Dennis has a masters degree in Special Education from George Washington University and is an expert on Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment for persons with developmental disabilities and other special needs.

• William Edwards of Pasadena, California: Edwards is a deputy public defender with the Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office and has dedicated the past ten years to representing inmates with intellectual disabilities, including those on death row.

• Carmela Vargas Gonzales of Albuquerque, New Mexico: Vargas Gonzales has taught special education for the past thirteen years in collaboration with staff, parents and students to improve the quality of education for students.

• Harris N. Hollin of Palm Beach, Florida: Hollin is the founder of the Conquer Fragile X Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure or treatment for Fragile X syndrome.

• Brian Kelly of Montecito, California: The father of a child living with autism, Kelly serves on the executive board of directors of Autism Speaks, a national fund-raising initiative committed to raising public awareness and support for research and treatment of autism.

• Casey Patrick O’Halloran of North Fort Myers, Florida: O’Halloran is the founder and owner of Casey Enterprises, a small business to inspire, educate and motivate other individuals with disabilities to become more independent.

• Thomas J. Reilly of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Reilly was the first president of Dayspring Homes, a network of full service residential and respite care facilities for mentally challenged adults.

• Steven C. Rhatigan of The Woodlands, Texas: Rhatigan is a Chartered Lifetime Assistance Planner and a Certified Estate Planner dedicated to helping families understand and cope with the long term care and finances of their children with lifetime special needs.

• Neil Romano of Clarksville, Maryland: Romano is the founder of America’s Strength, a private organization designed to help people with disabilities find mainstream employment.

• MaryMargaret Sharp-Pucci of Batavia, Illinois: Dr. Sharp-Pucci is an epidemiologist and senior healthcare analyst with over 25 years of healthcare experience. She is also the founder and Managing Member of Sharp Health Strategies LLC, which provides a line of clinical research and analytic services to the health care industry.

• Linda Hampton Starnes of Longwoord, Florida: The mother of two children with disabilities, Starnes has dedicated her life to education and advocacy for people with disabilities throughout many communities (local, educational and religious), including serving on the founding team for Access Ministry within McLean Bible Church in Virginia.

• Henry Stephen Suroviec of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania: Suroviec is the executive director of The Arc of Pennsylvania, and formerly served as deputy secretary for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, policy director for the Pennsylvania Department of Health and executive policy specialist in the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.

• Dallas “Rob” Sweezy of Centreville, Virginia (Chairperson): Sweezy, appointed by President Bush to chair the committee, has a teen-aged daughter with intellectual disabilities. He is also the president of Public Affairs Strategies/Healthcare (PAS), a communications and government relations firm concentrating on health care issues.

• Will Tienken of Clarendon Hills, Illinois: The father of a daughter with multiple special needs, Tienken is the first vice president of Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Chicago and the Chicago fundraising chairman for the 32 Degree Masonic Learning Centers for Children Inc., which provides dyslexia remediation services for free.

The PCPID acts in an advisory capacity to the President and the Secretary of HHS on matters relating to programs and services for persons with intellectual disabilities. President Bush has adopted several national goals to uphold the right of people with intellectual disabilities to enjoy a quality of life that promotes independence, self-determination and participation as productive members of society.

For more information on the PCPID, go to: www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/pcpid/.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news

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