[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 16343-16344]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  CELEBRATING THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES 
                       ACT: A DECADE OF PROGRESS

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, over the past month and a half, a brightly 
lit torch has made its journey through nineteen cities, carrying with 
it each step of the way the passionate and able spirit of the 
disability community. Today the torch arrives at its 20th stop along 
the way, our Nation's Capital, to mark the tenth anniversary of the 
signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is indeed an 
important day in our Nation's long history.
  President Franklin Roosevelt once said, ``No country, no matter how 
rich, can afford to waste its human resources.'' I am proud to say that 
the Americans with Disabilities Act lives up to President Roosevelt's 
objective. For 10 years now, this momentous, landmark civil rights 
legislation has opened new doors to the disability community. It has, 
at long last, allowed handicapped individuals the opportunity and the 
access to have their potential recognized both inside the workplace and 
outside in the community. It has brought the American dream within 
reach for the millions of American families with disabled members.
  Over the past decade of the ADA, we have seen dramatic changes 
throughout the nation in equal opportunity--

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from new and advanced technology allowing for greater public 
accommodation at places of business and in commercial establishments, 
to state and local government services and activities, to 
transportation and telecommunications technology for disabled 
Americans. Look around today--people with disabilities are 
participating to a far greater extent in their communities and are 
living fuller, more productive lives as students, workers, family 
members, and neighbors. They are dining out; cheering at football games 
and other sporting events, often even playing sports themselves; going 
to the movies; participating in state, local, and Federal Government; 
and raising families of their own.
  It is evident that that the capability of this community far 
outshines the challenges of a disability. I am proud that the ADA has 
been particularly instrumental in removing many of the barriers that 
would otherwise impede the ability and success of the disability 
community. Take the example of Casey Martin, the professional golfer 
from Orgeon with a rare disability that substantially limits one's 
ability to walk. Casey had long dreamed of playing in a PGA tour, but, 
because of his disability, Casey encountered a huge barrier. In these 
tournaments in which Casey wanted to play, the tour would not allow the 
use of a golf cart. When a Federal trial court in Oregon found that the 
PGA tour is a ``public accommodation'' and should modify their policy 
of no golf carts to accommodate Casey's disability, his vision became a 
reality. According to Casey, ``Without the ADA I never would have been 
able to pursue my dream of playing golf professionally.''
  While for Casey Martin the ADA has meant achieving his most far-
reaching goal, for other disabled Americans, the ADA has simply allowed 
them to live each new day with a little more ease and comfort. To name 
just a few areas in which the ADA has facilitated progress--access to 
restaurants and public restrooms, modifications to the aisles and 
entrances of supermarkets, assistive listening systems at places like 
Disney World and many theaters for the deaf and hard of hearing, and 
large print financial statements for those with vision impairments. Mr. 
President, these are the kind of simplicities in life that those 
without disabilities expect and take for granted, and because of the 
ADA, they have now come to be a part of the disability community's life 
too.
  Just as the barriers that continue to face each of us in life take 
many years to craft, they take many years to conquer. Together, we must 
find the strength and the courage to pick our battles. I commend the 
disability community today on their passion and their vigilance, and I 
celebrate with you on this 10th anniversary of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act for all that this day has brought to your community, 
and for all that it will continue to bring in the years ahead. Let 
today recommit each of us to the ADA for all Americans.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, 10 years ago today Congress passed 
landmark civil rights legislation, based on the fundamental principle 
that people should be measured by what they can do, not what they can't 
do. With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, America 
began a new era of opportunity for the 47 million disabled citizens who 
had been denied full and fair participation in society.
  We continue to build in Congress on the bipartisan achievements of 
the ADA. I'm gratified by President Clinton's strong endorsement today 
of the Grassley-Kennedy Family Opportunity Act now pending in Congress. 
The goal of our legislation is to remove as many of the remaining 
barriers as possible that prevent families raising children with 
disabilities and special health needs from leading full and productive 
lives. No family in this country should ever be put in a position of 
having to choose between a job and the healthcare their disabled child 
needs. The Family Opportunity Act ensures that no family raising a 
child with special needs would be left out and left behind.
  For generations, people with disabilities were viewed as citizens in 
need of charity. Through ignorance, the nation accepted discrimination 
and succumbed to fear and prejudice. The passage of the ADA finally 
moved the nation to shed these condescending and suffocating 
attitudes--and widen the doors of opportunity for people with 
disabilities.
  Today we see many signs of the progress that mean so much in our 
ongoing efforts to see that persons with disabilities are included--the 
ramps beside the stairs, the sidewalks with curbs to accommodate 
wheelchairs, the lifts for helping disabled people board buses.
  Whether they are family members, friend, neighbors, or co-workers, 
persons with disabilities are no longer second class citizens. They are 
demonstrating their abilities and making real contributions in schools, 
in the workplace, and in the community. People with disabilities are no 
longer left out and left behind--and because of that, America is a 
stronger, better and fairer country today.
  As the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the many disabled persons 
who worked so long and hard and well for its passage continue to remind 
us, equal opportunity under the law is not a privilege, but a 
fundamental birthright of every American.

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