bobbyw24
07-26-2010, 08:07 AM
New York (CNN) -- When President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990, he addressed concerns the sweeping civil rights law would be ''too vague or costly, or may lead endlessly to litigation.''
Bush tried to reassure Americans his administration and Congress were ''committed to containing the costs that may be incurred.''
Borrowing from President Reagan's Berlin Wall speech from a few years earlier, Bush said, ''Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.''
Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, an original sponsor of the legislation, introduced a resolution last week saluting the people who helped bring the Americans with Disabilities Act into law.
"Twenty years ago, we heard testimony from Americans who had to crawl on their hands and knees to go up a flight of stairs; who couldn't ride on a bus because there wasn't a lift; who couldn't even cross the street in their wheelchairs because there were no curb cuts,'' the resolution said.
"The ADA has broken down barriers, created opportunities and transformed lives."
Amazing success fueled by act of discrimination
But the sweeping law, which regulates employment practices, federal and local programs, transportation, public accommodations and commercial facilities, remains a ripe source of news, legal action and popular debate.
Pressured by court rulings, settlements or conscience, organizations and companies big and small regularly make modest or multimillion dollar changes to their buildings and business practices.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/07/26/ada.history/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Bush tried to reassure Americans his administration and Congress were ''committed to containing the costs that may be incurred.''
Borrowing from President Reagan's Berlin Wall speech from a few years earlier, Bush said, ''Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.''
Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, an original sponsor of the legislation, introduced a resolution last week saluting the people who helped bring the Americans with Disabilities Act into law.
"Twenty years ago, we heard testimony from Americans who had to crawl on their hands and knees to go up a flight of stairs; who couldn't ride on a bus because there wasn't a lift; who couldn't even cross the street in their wheelchairs because there were no curb cuts,'' the resolution said.
"The ADA has broken down barriers, created opportunities and transformed lives."
Amazing success fueled by act of discrimination
But the sweeping law, which regulates employment practices, federal and local programs, transportation, public accommodations and commercial facilities, remains a ripe source of news, legal action and popular debate.
Pressured by court rulings, settlements or conscience, organizations and companies big and small regularly make modest or multimillion dollar changes to their buildings and business practices.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/07/26/ada.history/index.html?hpt=Sbin