The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Address: 370 L'Enfant Promenade S.W., The Aerospace Center, Suite 210
Washington, DC 20447 Phone: (202) 619-0634 Fax: (202) 2059519 Website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/pcpid/pcpid_about.html

"About the Committee

It is estimated that between 7 and 8 million Americans of all ages, or three percent of the general population, experience intellectual disabilities. Nearly 30 million, or one in ten families in the United States, are directly affected by a person with intellectual disabilities at some point in their lifetime. In 1966, in order to ensure the right of a “decent, dignified place in society” for people with intellectual disabilities, President Lyndon B. Johnson established The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID), formerly The President's Committee on Mental Retardation, to focus on this critical subject of national concern. Since that time, the President’s Committee has served in an advisory capacity to the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on matters relating to persons with intellectual disabilities.

Since its inception, the President’s Committee has led the charge to improve the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and uphold their right to enjoy a quality of life that promotes independence, self-determination, and full participation as productive members of society. These goals include the assurance of full citizenship rights, the reduction of the occurrence and severity of intellectual disabilities and the promotion of forward thinking programs and services and cutting edge assistive technologies to improve the lives of people with intellectual disabilities.

The Committee consists of 21 citizen members appointed by the President and thirteen ex officio (Federal Government) members designated by the President. The thirteen ex officio members include the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, the President and CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Chair of the National Council on Disability and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. The President’s Committee is led by an executive director, also appointed by the President, and supported by a team of federal employees."