[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 11693]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     PASSING OF JUSTIN W. DART, JR.

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I rise today to give tribute to 
the memory of Justin W. Dart, Jr., the greatest warrior in the fight 
for the rights of disabled persons. After nearly half a century of 
tireless advocacy for the civil rights of oppressed people in America 
and around the world, my friend Justin Dart passed away on Saturday 
with his wife and partner Yoshiko Dart at his side.
  He was often called the Martin Luther King of the disability rights 
movement even though he called himself ``just a foot soldier for the 
cause of freedom.'' Justin received five Presidential appointments, and 
was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our Nation's highest 
civilian honor. And without Justin, the Americans with Disabilities Act 
would never have become the law of the land. Justin's dedication to his 
vision of a ``revolution of empowerment'' brought together a fragmented 
community to march for freedom for Americans with disabilities. He 
taught us that disabled does not mean unable.
  When President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into 
law and gave the first pen to Justin, he protested the fact that only 
three disability activists were on the podium, because he believed that 
the ADA would never have been accomplished without the power of 
hundreds of people with disabilities who made the difference. When he 
finally received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Justin sent out 
replicas of this award to hundreds of disability rights activists 
across the country, writing that ``this award belongs to you.''
  Even in his final words to us he talks of the power and importance of 
equal rights for all people. Disabled people across the country and 
around the world owe a great debt to Justin Dart for his love and his 
commitment to Justice. He is a hero not just to those with 
disabilities, but to all of us who learned from him and served with him 
in the great causes he inspired.
  As President Kennedy once said, ``As the dust of centuries has passed 
over our cities, we too will be remembered, not for our victories or 
defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human 
spirit.'' Justin Dart brought the human spirit of the disability 
movement to life, and his spirit will live on through the lives of 
those he touched.

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