[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12396-12397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING MICHAEL WINTER

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, this week Americans are celebrating the 
23rd anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. As 
chief Senate sponsor of that legislation, I know that we could not have 
prevailed without the tireless, passionate, never-give-up advocacy of 
disability rights advocates and leaders across America. One of those 
outstanding leaders, Michael Winter, cannot be with us to celebrate 
this year's anniversary. He passed away earlier this month. But I would 
like to take a few minutes today to celebrate the life of this 
wonderful person.
  Michael was born with a disability, and grew up in Chicago at a far 
less enlightened time, when students and other young people with 
disabilities were excluded from the mainstream. Michael used a 
wheelchair, but he was not the kind of person to take discrimination 
sitting down. At an early age, he began to speak up. He discovered the 
power of advocacy. He was determined to change the world for people 
with disabilities.
  In 1969, Michael was enrolled in Southern Illinois University. 
Because the school president's wife used a wheelchair, the SIU had made 
a commitment 15 years earlier to become one of the first accessible 
colleges in the United States. But Michael was not satisfied. He 
believed that the university needed to be more inclusive for students 
with disabilities. So Michael and other students with disabilities took 
over the university president's office and chained a wheelchair to his 
desk. They did so to drive home the point that the campus needed to 
have accessible transportation for people with disabilities. The 
university, to its great credit, made improvements, and Michael had 
found a special focus for his advocacy. His passionate and highly 
effective advocacy for accessible transportation became a constant 
throughout his life.
  In addition, Michael was one of the early leaders in the Independent 
Living movement. In 1977, after college and attending graduate school, 
he went to the fledgling Berkeley Center for Independent Living, where 
he completed an internship with Judy Heumann. He ended up staying on as 
a staff member for another 4 years. He then directed a Center for 
Independent Living in Hawaii before returning to the Berkeley as 
director of the Center for Independent Living for 12 years. During that 
period, Michael also served as president of the National Council on 
Independent Living.
  As I said, Michael's special passion was to advocate for more 
accessible transportation. Later in his career, he held various 
positions at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and was responsible 
for helping enforce civil rights with respect to transportation under 
the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, the Civil Rights Act, and other laws.
  He also advocated for more accessible transportation internationally. 
Marca Bristo, CEO of Access Living in Chicago, recently shared a memory 
of Michael Winter, whom she considered a mentor on independent living. 
She wrote:

       I'll never forget being in Seoul riding the most accessible 
     subway I've ever been on with my son. Later I asked my host 
     from Rehabilitation International, Dr. Il Yung Lee, how did 
     it happen? He said: ``The Convention on the Rights of Persons 
     with Disabilities and Michael Winter.''

  Many Americans got to know Michael in Eric Neudel's award-winning 
documentary, ``Lives Worth Living,'' which chronicled the rise of the 
disability rights movement in the United States. The documentary 
recounts the historic day in 1990 when hundreds of disability rights 
advocates crawled and climbed up the steps of the Capitol

[[Page 12397]]

Building in Washington to protest the slow progress in passing the 
Americans with Disabilities Act. One person who was there recalled the 
scene as follows:

       A young girl with cerebral palsy, fiercely determined to 
     reach the top (``I'll take all NIGHT if I have to!''), 
     inspired the admittedly out-of-shape Michael Winter to follow 
     close behind. When the activists gathered en masse in the 
     Capitol rotunda, Winter was approached by a young, able-
     bodied woman who was excited by the crowd. Turns out she was 
     a tour guide, expecting to host a group of ``handicapped'' 
     people on a tour through the capitol. ``I have to tell you 
     something,'' Winter wryly informed her. ``I don't think these 
     people are here for a tour.''

  Hundreds of disability rights activists are in Washington this week 
to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities 
Act. We also celebrate the contributions of leaders like Michael 
Winter, who are responsible for America's remarkable progress toward 
fulfilling the four great goals of the ADA--equal opportunity, full 
participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. 
Despite this progress, we know that our journey is far from finished. 
We have not yet achieved the full promise of the ADA. But we go forward 
inspired by the memory and example of Michael Winter and other 
outstanding leaders in this movement.
  Thank you, Michael Winter, for a job well done. Thank you for helping 
us to create a better, fairer, more inclusive and accessible world for 
people with disabilities.

                          ____________________