[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 201 (Thursday, December 20, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7981-S7982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING GEORGE H.W. BUSH

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, today I wish to pay tribute to former 
President George Herbert Walker Bush who died on November 30 at the age 
of 94. Henry Clay once said, ``Recognize at all times the paramount 
right of your Country to your most devoted services, whether she treat 
you ill or well, and never let selfish views or interests predominate 
over the duties of patriotism.'' Beginning at the age of 18 when he 
joined the Navy and served in World War II, President's Bush's life was 
a life of service and of a greater commitment to his country. Over 
several decades and in numerous roles, President Bush served with honor 
and decency offering his country the best of his wisdom, experience, 
and dedication. When he lost reelection in 1992, he left a note to his 
successor that ended with ``Your success is now our country's success. 
I'm rooting hard for you. Good luck.'' Even in defeat, President Bush's 
focus was on the future of the country and its success.
  While many commentators have highlighted his achievements in foreign 
policy, we should remember as well his domestic policy accomplishments, 
such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. George Bush was a great 
supporter of people with disabilities even before he became President. 
As Vice President to Ronald Reagan, he met with disability advocates 
Evan Kemp and Justin Dart, forming both a policy partnership and 
friendship with

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them. Both Kemp and Dart were wheelchair users and were able to 
convince the then-Vice President of the need for a civil rights bill 
for Americans with disabilities.
  When he became President, Bush tapped two key legal advisers, his 
White House Counsel Boyden Gray and distinguished former Pennsylvania 
Governor Attorney General Richard L. Thornburg, to work with Congress 
to craft legislation that would be the civil rights law for people with 
disabilities. Working closely with House leaders Tony Coelho, Steny 
Hoyer, and Steve Bartlett and Senate leaders Tom Harkin, Ted Kennedy, 
Bob Dole, and Orrin Hatch, they crafted a bill that was introduced in 
the spring of 1989 but failed to pass.
  The following year, with President Bush himself and his White House 
staff working with the congressional leaders and advocates, the 
Americans with Disabilities Act passed the House and the Senate with 
overwhelming bipartisan support. The signing ceremony was held on the 
South Lawn of the White House with hundreds of disability advocates in 
attendance. As President Bush signed the bill into law, he said, ``Let 
the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down,'' and with 
the stroke of a pen that represented years of advocacy and political 
compromise, President Bush signed the last great civil rights law of 
the 20th century.
  The world is emptier without President Bush, but his legacy lives on 
in those who knew and worked with him and in the millions of people 
whose lives were made better by his policies and his service. They are 
his ``thousands of points of light,'' and they carry forth his vision 
and his commitment every day.

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