Tom Harkin: “I ask the indulgence of the Senate to do something that I did 10 years ago; that is, to recognize the 10th anniversary…”

“I ask the indulgence of the Senate to do something that I did 10 years ago; that is, to recognize the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by doing what I did on the floor 10 years ago. I will do a little bit of sign language with respect to that. (Signing.) Mr. President, what I just said in sign language was that 10 years ago I stood on the floor of the Senate and spoke in sign language when we passed the Americans with Disabilities Act. The reason I did that was because my brother Frank was my inspiration for all of my work here in Congress on disability law. That was the reason that I became the chief sponsor of the Americans With Disabilities Act. I further said that I was sorry to say that my brother passed away last month. Over the last 10 years, he always said me that he was sorry the ADA was not there for him when he was growing up, but that he was happy that it was here now for young people so they would have a better future. Mr. President, we do celebrate today the tenth anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which has taken its place as one of the greatest civil rights laws in our history.”