Bob Dole: “I am pleased to join with Senator Dodd in sponsoring this bill which authorizes the minting of coins to commemorate the…”

“I am pleased to join with Senator Dodd in sponsoring this bill which authorizes the minting of coins to commemorate the 1995 Special Olympics World Games. Although the sales of these coins will provide important financial support for the Special Olympics, they have a much larger significance. In the past, the Treasury has issued coins for the Olympics and the World Cup, but this will be the first time for an international sports event featuring disabled athletes. In my view, these coins are more evidence we live in a new age of disability. In 1990, Congress passed the Americans With Disabilities Act, determined to base our national disability policy on the principles of equal opportunity and full participation. Last July, to extend these principles to American foreign policy, I introduced, with strong bipartisan support, a bill which recognized for the first time that discrimination against the disabled is a human rights violation. Mr. President, the Special Olympics helped forge this new age.”