Tony Coelho

Anthony "Tony" Coelho (b. June 15, 1942) is a former United States congressman from California, and primary author and sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He currently chairs the Epilepsy Foundation's national board of directors.

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Education and early career

Coelho was born in rural Los Banos, California, to parents of Portuguese descent, attended public schools in nearby Dos Palos, and grew up working on his family’s dairy farm. At age 15, Coelho was injured in a pickup truck accident, which doctors later suggested was the precipitating event for the onset of his epilepsy. For years after the accident, Coelho did not know he had the illness.

Coelho graduated with a B.A. from Loyola University of Los Angeles (now Loyola Marymount University) in 1964. At Loyola, he was a member of the prestigious Crimson Circle, and later was elected Student Body President during his senior year.

After the Kennedy assassination, Coelho decided to become a priest.^[1] He went to a doctor for a medical exam, a prerequisite for entering into the seminary. The doctor informed him that he had epilepsy. Because of canon law, he was unable to become a priest. Once the diagnosis was reported to the state, Coelho lost both his driver's license and his health insurance.

Early political career

Coelho worked as a staff member for Congressman Bernie Sisk from 1965 until 1978. By 1970, Coelho was serving as Sisk’s administrative assistant. He enhanced his expertise in agriculture policy as staff director for the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Cotton. As staff coordinator for the House Rules Subcommittee on Broadcasting, on which Sisk served, Coelho helped develop the procedures that made possible the television coverage of the House proceedings via C-Span. When Sisk retired, Coelho ran for his seat and won.

During his first campaign for Congress, Coelho’s opponent asked how people would feel if Coelho went to a meeting at the White House and had a seizure. “The press called me and the good Lord was with me,” Coelho later related. “Off the top of my head I said, ‘Well, in the 13 years I have served in Washington I knew a lot of people who went to the White House and had fits. At least I’d have an excuse.”^[2]

Congressional career and politics

In November 1978, Coelho was elected as a Democrat to the 96th Congress. He was later elected to the five succeeding Congresses where he served until his resignation on June 15, 1989. He served on the Agriculture, Interior, Veterans Affairs, and Administration Committees during his tenure, but he specialized in disabled rights.

In 1980, Coelho was named chairman of what is often called in Washington, “The D Triple C.” As the Washington Post observed, “They made the sophomore congressman from central California, their chief House fund-raiser, a position not bestowed on such a junior member since it was given to a young Texas congressman named Lyndon B. Johnson in 1940.”^[3]

As a member of the House leadership, Coelho helped lead the effort to pin the political blame for enactment of the Reagan economic program on the Republicans in the House. One Democratic campaign advertisement, airing early in the 1982 election season, featured scissors cutting a Social Security card and a voice accusing Republicans of trying to cut benefits.^[4]

In 1986, Coelho was elected House Majority Whip. As the chief vote counter for his party, Coelho oversaw a series of Democratic victories in the House on measures ranging from the budget to cutting off funds for the war in Central America.

In 1990, Coelho retired from the House after six terms in the wake of press reports that he had received a loan from a savings and loan executive to purchase junk bonds. He was not charged with any crime.^[5]

Coelho was the original author of the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. By 1994, the U.S. Census Bureau was reported that some 800,000 more people with severe disabilities had found employment than were employed when the bill was first enacted.^[6] The promise of Coelho’s political career had been redeemed by the community of the disabled from whose ranks he had arisen.

Life after Congress

In nearly two decades since his retirement from Congress, Coelho has pursued careers in business and public service, while remaining active in the disabilities community.

After leaving Congress, he joined Wertheim Schroder & Company, an investment firm, as a managing director.

From 1990 to 1995, he also served as president and CEO of Wertheim Schroder Investment Services, which grew from $400 million to $4 billion in managed investments under his management.^[7]

In 1995, Coelho formed ETC w/tci, an education and training technology company in Washington, DC. He was the chairman and chief executive officer until 1997.

President Bill Clinton appointed Coelho to serve as Chairman of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, a position he held from 1994 to 2001; he also served as Vice Chair of the National Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities. In 1998, Clinton appointed Coelho as the United States Commissioner General at the 1998 World Expo in Portugal. Clinton also appointed Coelho as Co-Chair to the U.S. Census Monitoring Board, a position he held until his appointment as general chairman of the Gore Presidential campaign.

In the summer of 1994, Coelho was the principal Democratic political strategist during the run-up to the mid-term Congressional elections. Officially, he was Senior Advisor to the Democratic National Committee. The Republican Party won a landslide victory in the fall congressional elections, capturing both the House and Senate by commanding margins.

On November 29, 1994, then-Speaker of the House Tom Foley appointed Coelho as one of 17 members of the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the United States Intelligence Community. Congress created the commission to study what intelligence agencies should do after the Cold War, and was charged with preparing a report of its findings and recommendations to the President and the Congress.

In 1999, Coelho was made Chairman of Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign. During his tenure, Coelho moved the campaign headquarters from Washington, DC to Nashville, Tennessee. He oversaw an overhaul of the campaign’s message and strategy, and changed personnel and consultants. Gore prevailed over former Senator Bill Bradley in the Democratic primaries of 2000 in every primary and caucus contest and received the Democratic nomination to be president.

Before the 2000 Democratic Convention, Coelho became ill and resigned his position as General Campaign Chairman. Doctors later found and removed a tumor on the left side of his brain. He was replaced by former Commerce Secretary William Daley.

Coelho now lives in Arlington, Virginia. He participates annually at New York Law School for its Tony Coelho Lecture in Disability Employment Law & Policy. He has endowed a chair in Public Policy at the University of California in Merced. He is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Epilepsy Foundation.

See also

• Congressional Hispanic Caucus

• Americans with Disabilities Act

• Facts about the Americans with Disabilities Act

• Library of Congress Biographical Dictionary

• Epilepesy Foundation of America

• Hispanic Americans in Congress

References

1. ^ 'Why Tony Coelho fights for the disabled: epilepsy kept him from Vietnam and the Jesuits,' The National Catholic Reporter, January 20, 1995.
2. ^ “Tony Coelho reflects on his life with epilepsy,” Epilepsy/USA staff, April 1, 2002.
3. ^ “Rep. Coelho: Democrats’ Fund-Raiser Extraordinaire,” Washington Post, August 26, 1982, A2.
4. ^ “Short but Not Sweet: Democrats Counter GOP Ad,” Washington Post, July 16, 1982.
5. ^ “The Coelho Network is Alive and Well,” by Tim Burger, Roll Call, January 28, 1991.
6. ^ “Coelho Reflects on the Law,” The Modesto Bee, January 18, 1997, B1.
7. ^ “About Us,” Epilepsy Foundation, www.epilepsyfoundation.org.

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