Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1759, which supports the establishment of ``Ed Roberts Day.'' Mr. Edward Verne Roberts was a pioneering leader and a champion in the disability rights movement. Mr. Roberts was born January 23, 1939, in San Mateo, California. Mr. Roberts acquired polio at the age of 14 in 1953, 2 years before the Salk vaccine put an end to that epidemic. After 18 months in the hospital, he returned home paralyzed from the neck down except for a few fingers and toes. Roberts continued his high school education while spending vast amounts of time resting and sleeping in the iron lung. When a high school administrator threatened to deny him a diploma because he had not completed drivers and physical education requirements, he protested and began an early career of activism. Later, Roberts became the first student with severe disabilities to attend the University of California at Berkeley. At UC Berkeley, other students with significant disabilities joined Roberts in an empty wing in which the university had placed him and, over the next few years, began to call themselves the ``Rolling Quads.'' The Rolling Quads began advocating for curb cuts, opening access to the wider community, and creating the first student-led disabilities service program at any university in the Nation.…”