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Eighteen years ago this month, the first President Bush signed into law one of the most consequential pieces of civil rights legislation in recent memory. In the ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, he said this: "With today’s signing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, every man, woman, and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence, and freedom." And in large measure, he was right - those doors have been opened. Tens of millions of Americans with disabilities now enjoy rights the rest of us have long taken for granted: the right to use the same streets, theaters, restrooms, or offices; the right to prove themselves in the workplace, to succeed on their talent and drive alone. We all understand why there are cuts in the sidewalk at every street corner, kneeling busses on our city streets, elevators on the Metro, ramps at movie theaters, and accessible restrooms and handicapped parking almost everywhere. By now they’ve become part of our lives’ fabric. And we wouldn’t have it any other way, because each one is the sign of a pledge: the promise of an America that excludes none of its people from our shared life. That was the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But looking back 18 years, the hard truth is that we were, in some ways, too optimistic. The door President Bush spoke of is still not entirely open-and every year, millions are caught on the wrong side. In interpreting the law over those 18 years, the courts have consistently chipped away at Congress’s clear intent. I know what that intent was, because as an original sponsor of the ADA, I was there when it was drafted. However, much to my disappointment, a series of narrow court rulings have had the effect of excluding millions of Americans from the law’s protection, for no good reason. In the ADA, we said we wanted broad coverage for people with disabilities and those regarded as disabled. Under the cramped interpretation of the ADA by the courts, a broad range of people with physical and mental impairments have been held not to be "disabled enough" to gain the protections of the law. We never expected that people with disabilities who worked to mitigate their conditions would have their efforts held against them. But the courts did exactly that, throwing their cases out on the grounds that they were no longer disabled enough to suffer discrimination. None of that was our intent. That is why I introduced the ADA Amendments Act, which the U.S. House passed last month. With this legislation, we make it clear that a narrow reading of disability rights will be replaced with a definition that is broad and fair. That those who manage to mitigate their disabilities are still subject to discrimination-and still entitled to redress. And that those "regarded as" having a disability are equally at risk-and deserve to be equally protected. Few kinds of discrimination, in all of history, have been more widespread than the exclusion of those with disabilities. But it was America that passed a pioneering law to help end that exclusion-we were the first in the world to do so; we were the world’s model on this central challenge to human rights. And today, with thousands of severely injured soldiers returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq, we have a special responsibility to assure them that they will receive the fair treatment they deserve as they return to work and re-integrate themselves in their communities. We must bring our nation closer to the ideals of equality and opportunity that are both our heritage and our hope. The fight was not over in 1990. We must remain vigilant for Americans with disabilities until we finish the job. As we mark the 18th anniversary of this landmark law, its promise remains unfulfilled but is still within reach. Passage of the ADA Amendments Act is critical to helping us achieve the ADA’s original promise - and creating a society in which Americans with disabilities can realize their potential.
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