Political Quotes

“I rise to request support for H.R. 3612, the Medicaid Community-based Attendant Services and Supports Act, also known as MiCASSA. This bill will enable our older Americans and citizens with disabilities who qualify for long-term care services under the Medicaid program to receive the noninstitutional community support service options they are entitled to under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The Americans With Disabilities Act, signed into law by President Bush in 1990, ushered in a new era of promise for a segment of our population whose talents and rights as American citizens have been too long ignored. It promised a new social compact to end the paternalistic patterns of the past that took away our rights if we become disabled. It says that people with disabilities have the right to be active participants integrated into the everyday life of society. This premise, however, cannot become a reality until we roll up our sleeves and do the work necessary to eliminate the barriers that still hinder its full implementation. In its 1999 Olmstead ruling, the Supreme Court said that States violate the Americans With Disabilities Act when they unnecessarily put people with disabilities in institutions.”