[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 30 (Monday, August 1, 1994)]
[Pages 1559-1560]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6708--Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 
1994

July 26, 1994

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    The Americans with Disabilities Act is a national monument to 
freedom. Contained within its broad pillars of independence, inclusion, 
and empowerment is the core ideal of equality that has defined this 
country since its beginnings. For when America's founders set down the 
guiding words of freedom, first among them, proudly were, ``We the 
People.'' Our young Nation would be governed not by kings or tyrants--
America would be led by farmers and doctors, artists and merchants, 
teachers and parents, each possessing widely different knowledge and 
skills. Some would be active participants in community life. Others 
would embrace the quiet joys of home. But all of the people would make 
an essential contribution to the character and quality of America.
    On this, the fourth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities 
Act (ADA), we mark the full extension of the ADA's employment provisions 
to our Nation's small businesses. In 1990, members of both political 
parties resolved to make laws of inclusion, and today, telephone relay 
systems connect deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to Americans 
everywhere. Four years ago, we pledged to build bridges to independence, 
and today, architectural barriers are coming down in office buildings 
and movie theaters across the country, making room for new passageways 
to participation. We moved to craft policies of empowerment, and today, 
leaders in public and private sectors alike are recognizing the vast 
potential of every citizen and the breathtaking determination of each to 
create and to achieve. With this Act, we began a new era for 49 million 
of our fellow citizens. And today, celebrating the rights of people with 
disabilities, we declare in no uncertain terms that ``We the People'' 
means all of us, with our myriad differences and doubts, with our 
infinite talents and aspirations.

[[Page 1560]]

    This day--a wonderful, vigorous celebration of the progress and 
possibilities for equal opportunity--must also include an equally 
vigorous commitment to continue the fight. Now is the time to act on our 
understanding that having a physical or mental disability is a part of 
the human experience. We must work to fully implement the provisions of 
the ADA and to see that these and related laws are aggressively enforced 
in our schools and workplaces, in our national government and local 
councils. Most important, we must finally overcome the remaining 
handicaps of prejudice and stereotype. Discrimination, ignorance, 
intolerance--these barriers are a far greater tragedy than any common 
limitation of the human mind or body. And it is only in overcoming these 
that America will truly be worthy of its people.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 26, 
1994, as the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I call 
upon the people of the United States to observe this day with 
appropriate ceremonies and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth 
day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and nineteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:48 a.m., July 28, 
1994]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on July 27, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
July 29.