[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13939]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

  (Mr. BOEHNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join the Speaker and the 
majority leader in recognizing the 20th anniversary of the Americans 
with Disabilities Act.
  First I want to applaud you, Mr. Speaker, for making history today as 
the first American with disabilities to preside over this distinguished 
body. It's truly an inspiring sight and a reminder that the disabled 
are, of course, among the most active and functional members of our 
society. And it's a testament to the historic measure that we're 
celebrating today.
  I also want to congratulate my colleague, Mr. Hoyer, the majority 
leader, who I know played a key role in making this legislation a 
reality, along with other colleagues from the other body and retired, 
along with Mr. Sensenbrenner.
  But really I want to thank all of you for ensuring that we come 
together, across the aisle when necessary, to make certain that this 
act fulfills its original mission.
  Before the Americans with Disabilities Act, nowhere in the world was 
there a comprehensive declaration of equality for people with 
disabilities.
  In the medical community, people with disabilities are called 
``handi-capable'' because they strive and succeed in the face of great 
personal obstacles.
  There was a time, however, when courage alone was not enough to get 
them into their hometown theaters to see a movie or into office 
buildings to apply for a job, much less to provide for their families. 
Those wrongs were corrected on July 26, 1990, when President George 
Herbert Walker Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law 
on the South Lawn of the White House.
  On that day President Bush noted that it was roughly a year after the 
Berlin Wall came down and said that this legislation ``takes a sledge 
hammer to another wall, one which has for too many generations 
separated Americans with disabilities from the freedom they could 
glimpse, but not grasp.''
  For too long our Nation has kept Americans with disabilities 
dependent, when they all yearned for independence. And the Americans 
with Disabilities Act has given them the tools to do just that, to 
quench their thirst for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It 
has changed the lives of millions, and will do so for many, many 
generations to come.

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