John Hansen: “Mr. Speaker, I hope the people in America realize that a few years ago under the direction of President Bush, we passed…”

“Mr. Speaker, I hope the people in America realize that a few years ago under the direction of President Bush, we passed a bill called the Americans with Disabilities Act, a very important piece of legislation. Up to that point, there were all kinds of obstacles standing in the way of people who were disabled. The thing I found very interesting at that time was a part of the Wilderness Act. In 1964, Congress passed the Wilderness Act which said we could use no mechanized things in the wilderness. Up to that point, what does a person do who wants to take something mechanized into the wilderness? I remember distinctly being in Ogden, Utah, and a youngster came up to me, young by my terms anyway, and he was in a wheelchair and had the broad shoulders and the biceps and the bit. We talked about what he could do. He unfortunately lost his legs in Vietnam. He made an interesting statement to me. He said, ``As a kid, I used to go in the wilderness areas with my uncle and my dad and we would fish.'' He talked about the north slope of the Uinta Mountains and he said, ``Congressman, I am not subject to this wheelchair. I play tennis,'' and he said, ``I'll take you on.'' And he probably would have defeated me. He said, ``I play basketball. I road race…”