[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 21, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E647-E648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                               ED ROBERTS

                                 ______


                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 21, 1995
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to sadly note the 
passing of one of the great people of our time, Ed Roberts, the former 
secretary of rehabilitation of the State of California, the cofounder 
of the Center for Independent Living, and the founder of the World 
Disability Institute.
  I knew, admired, and worked closely with Ed Roberts throughout my 
entire adult life, in Sacramento, and as a Member of the House of 
Representatives. Ed was as dedicated, insightful, determined, and 
skilled as any person I have ever met in public life, and his singular 
contributions to the disabled community throughout America is, simply 
stated, unparalleled.
  Ed deeply understood the need for the law, and for government, to 
defend the rights of those who had neither power nor influence. And he 
forced dramatic changes that broke 
[[Page E648]] the barriers for millions of disabled men, women, and 
children.
  I wish to submit for the Record the following editorial from the San 
Francisco Chronicle paying tribute to this great American, and good 
friend.
           [From the San Francisco Chronicle, Mar. 18, 1995]

                The Transcendent Life of Edward Roberts

       ``What I want and a lot of other disabled people want is to 
     live, to experience, to be a part of society. And that's 
     nothing extraordinary. So when we do things and do become 
     successful, it doesn't make us different from any other 
     successful person.''
       Even though it was not what he was seeking, Edward Roberts 
     died a hero at age 56 this week, having lived up to such 
     admiring sobriquets as ``the Gandhi of disability rights'' 
     and ``the Cesar Chavez for the handicapped.''
       A budding athlete who became a paraplegic at age 14 from 
     polio, Roberts was an in-your-face kind of guy because 
     society gave him no other choice. When his principal balked 
     at graduating Roberts from high school because the teenager 
     hadn't completed required physical education courses, Roberts 
     fought the decision with such vigor that the principal was 
     forced to relent.
       When a counselor at the state Department of Rehabilitation 
     sided with the University of California in denying Roberts 
     admittance to Berkeley because the school had never had a 
     wheelchair-confined student who required a respirator and 
     iron lung, Roberts argued until he was enrolled. He lived at 
     Cowell Hospital and later organized successfully for 
     dormitory housing for disabled students.
       He co-founded the Center for Independent Living at 
     Berkeley, which promoted the idea of integrating disabled 
     people into the mainstream and making available to the 
     disabled such essentials as housing, transportation and 
     wheelchair-accessible ramps and curbs. The establishment of 
     400 similar centers nationwide followed.
       Roberts' longtime work received official affirmation when 
     Governor Jerry Brown appointed Roberts to head the California 
     Department of Rehabilitation in 1975. He was a familiar sight 
     in Sacramento in his motorized wheelchair, and his presence 
     alone helped many lawmakers understand for the first time the 
     needs of people who desperately seek independence--despite 
     not being able to use either arms or legs--and yet are 
     constantly stymied by thoughtless policies.
       In 1984, Roberts received $225,000 in a MacArthur 
     Foundation ``genius'' award for his work with the disabled, 
     and he created the World Institute on Disability, an Oakland-
     based think tank on disability issues with a $3.3 million 
     budget.
       Roberts' life was not only heroic, because of the many 
     personal obstacles he overcame, but in the end, transcendent, 
     because of the way he helped transform the way we think about 
     and act toward disabled people.
       ``As an international leader and educator in the 
     independent living and disability rights movements, he fought 
     throughout his life to enable all persons with disabilities 
     to fully participate in mainstream society,'' said President 
     Clinton. ``Mr. Roberts was truly a pioneer . . . His vision 
     and ability to bring people together should be an example for 
     all Americans.''
       A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at 
     Harmon Gymnasium on the UC Berkeley campus. Memorial 
     endowments have been set up for Roberts' son, Lee, and for 
     the institute. Contributions may be sent to the institute at 
     510 16th Street, Oakland, CA 94612.
     

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