Connie Morella: “Yes, Mr. Speaker, in the decade since its enactment, the ADA has changed the social fabric of our Nation. It has brought…”

“Yes, Mr. Speaker, in the decade since its enactment, the ADA has changed the social fabric of our Nation. It has brought the principle of disability civil rights into the mainstream of public policy. In fact, the law, coupled with the disability rights movement, has fundamentally changed the way Americans perceive disability. ADA placed disability discrimination alongside race gender discrimination, and exposed the common experiences of prejudice and segregation, and provided a cornerstone for the elimination of disability discrimination in this country. The passage of ADA resulted from a long struggle by Americans with disabilities to bring an end to their inferior status and unequal protection under law. It is well documented the severe social, vocational, economic, and educational disadvantages of people with disabilities. Besides widespread discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, I could go on, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services, people with disabilities faced the additional burden of having little or no legal recourse to redress their exclusion. Mr. Speaker, over the past decade, ADA has become a symbol of the promise of human and civil rights. It has brought change and access to the architectural and telecommunications landscape of the United States.”