[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 27, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1427-E1428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 26, 2010

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, in 1990, I cosponsored the Americans with 
Disabilities Act, legislation intended to prohibit discrimination 
against individuals with disabilities and ensure that they are able to 
claim their rightful place as equal members of our society.
  Our legislative mandate was purposefully ambitious. We sought--for 
once and for all--to prohibit unfair discrimination based on 
disability.
  Last week, at a hearing in the Subcommittee on the Constitution, 
Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, we heard from people whose lives 
have been changed by the Americans with Disabilities Act:
  Former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, who both supervised the 
enforcement of the ADA in its infancy and has raised a son with a 
disability;
  Lt. Col. Gregory Gadson, a man with 20 years of active duty service 
who lost both legs

[[Page E1428]]

in Iraq in 2007, and has recently been named the Director of the Army's 
Wounded Warrior Program;
  Adrian Villalobos, a young man from El Paso, Texas, whose spinal 
injury occurred shortly after the ADA was enacted;
  Casandra Cox, a woman with a mental disability who has advocated for 
housing for individuals with mental disabilities that fosters their 
independence and dignity;
  Cheryl Sensenbrenner, past board chair of the American Association of 
People with Disabilities;
  and Jonathan Young, the chairman of the National Council on 
Disability.
  Majority Leader Hoyer, Congressman Langevin, and Thomas Perez, the 
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, also 
testified about the history and future of the ADA.
  Each witness had something unique to say about how the Americans with 
Disabilities Act has changed their lives, and what remains to be done 
to live up to the Act's mandate of inclusion, dignity and 
nondiscrimination.
  What have we learned in the 20 years since the Americans with 
Disabilities Act was passed?
  First, civil rights legislation has the power to create substantial 
and necessary change. Before the enactment of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act, individuals with disabilities were routinely 
discounted, and their gifts were routinely ignored.
  Fundamental human rights--the right to work, the right to live where 
you want to live, and the right to enter the stores, schools, and 
government buildings where everyone else shops, learns, and 
participates--were arbitrarily denied to individuals with disabilities.
  Those obstacles were created by ignorance, indifference, and actual 
prejudice. The effect was the creation of a second-class citizenry, 
excluded from society in all meaningful ways.
  We know that isolation breeds stigma. We also know that inclusion 
promotes productivity, mutual understanding, and equality.
  Civil rights legislation is built on creating a more just society, by 
empowering and requiring equal access to all that American society has 
to offer--to every individual.
  Second, the Americans with Disabilities Act reminds us that our 
concern with civil rights legislation does not end once a bill becomes 
law.
  The Act did not magically erase the barriers to equality for 
individuals with disabilities. All doors and all minds were not 
instantly opened wide enough to encompass this diverse group.
  Progress under the Act was slowed, and even blocked, by Supreme Court 
decisions that contravened our legislative intent, by narrowing the 
Act's scope and applicability, time and time again.
  But we came together, on both sides of the aisle and in both 
chambers, to make it clear that we meant what we said: Americans with 
disabilities must have complete legal equality.
  I proudly cosponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments 
Act in response to those Supreme Court decisions, and ultimately, a law 
correcting the Court's misconstruction of the ADA was passed in 2008.
  This anniversary is a time to recognize one of our most significant 
civil rights achievements.
  But as the circumstances surrounding the ADA Amendments Act remind 
us, Congress must remain a vigilant steward of the civil rights laws we 
have passed.
  Third, we cannot celebrate our accomplishments without recognizing 
future challenges.
  One issue impeding the fulfillment of the Act's promise is the 
failure of some States to comply with their obligations to offer 
integrated housing, where appropriate, to persons with mental illness.
  The Olmstead case on this issue has correctly been called the Brown 
v. Board of Education for individuals with disabilities, because it 
condemned the practice of indiscriminately directing all individuals 
with mental disabilities into separate, segregated housing as 
inconsistent with the core purposes of the ADA.
  Segregation from mainstream society, default warehousing in 
institutions, and enforced dependence are unacceptable conditions to 
impose on individuals with mental disabilities who have the ability to 
live more independent and integrated lives.
  The Americans with Disabilities Act demonstrates that civil rights 
laws not only protect personal dignity, they enrich society as a whole.
  In these hard economic times, what can be more important than easing 
obstacles that prevent individuals with disabilities from becoming 
productive members of the workforce?
  We must continue to attend to the implementation of the Americans 
with Disabilities Act to ensure that future anniversaries can make us 
equally proud.

                          ____________________