[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) 15TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. MIKE ROSS

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, on July 26, 1990, President George H. W. Bush 
signed into law the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. This 
legislation was the world's first comprehensive declaration of equality 
for people with disabilities.
  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was the next step in the 
civil rights revolution that began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 
The ADA extended broad civil rights protections to America's 54 million 
citizens with a disability. To the over 97,000 working disabled 
Arkansans, this legislation has helped to establish greater options for 
individuals who are willing and able participants in our communities.
  Among its key provisions, the ADA prohibits employers with 15 or more 
employees from discriminating against qualified individuals with 
disabilities. It calls for the removal of barriers to access for people 
with disabilities to a wide range of public accommodations, including 
restaurants, lodgings, places of entertainment, hospitals, doctors' 
offices, pharmacies, grocery stores, and all other retail and service 
establishments. It also requires the removal of barriers to access for 
people with disabilities to various public services, including public 
transportation. Additionally it mandates that telecommunications be 
made accessible to those with speech and hearing impairments through 
the use of special relay systems.
  Over the last 15 years, there is no question that the ADA has ushered 
in significant change. One need only look around to see the signs of 
progress: curb cuts, wheelchair lifts, Braille signs, and assistive 
listening devices at movie theaters. The ADA has made transit systems 
and communications systems more accessible. And, perhaps most 
importantly, the ADA has begun to change society's attitudes toward 
people with disabilities.
  Despite this important and widespread progress, the promise of the 
ADA remains unfulfilled for far too many. A major focus of the ADA, for 
example, was to improve employment opportunities. However, the evidence 
shows that there has been little change in the employment rate of 
people with disabilities. Only 32 percent of people of working age who 
have a disability are employed. And today, people with disabilities are 
still three times more likely to live in poverty.
  Furthermore, we can still find disparities for the disabled in 
education, housing, and technology. It is for this reason that we need 
to take greater steps to ensure that the disabled community not only 
has access to, but is also participating in gainful elements of all 
programs and facets of society. I call on my fellow colleagues to join 
together in a bipartisan effort to find ways we can strengthen the ADA 
and fulfill our commitment to our disabled communities.

                          ____________________