Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues in honoring the life of Judy Heumann, one of the most important disability and civil rights leaders of our time. While Judy spent most of her childhood and early adult life in New York, she is a native Pennsylvanian, born in Philadelphia in 1947. She was an advocate for disability equality and access to education from an early age. When her mother attempted to enroll her in public kindergarten, the school principal denied her admission because Judy's wheelchair was determined to be ``a fire hazard.'' That determination wasn't by any official means; it was only in the opinion of a principal who had the power to bar her from receiving an education. It took over 4 years for Judy's parents to find a school where she could enroll, starting regular attendance at school at the age of 9. At the start of her adult life, Judy experienced similar discrimination when the New York City schools denied her a job as a teacher, despite having passed all requirements but one, the physical examination. Judy sued the New York City Public Schools and won her case and was hired as the first teacher with a disability in the New York City schools. That was 1970. One year later, partly inspired by the successful advocacy of Judy, Pennsylvania parents of children with intellectual disabilities filed suit to secure enrollment of their children in Pennsylvania public schools. That successful case, known as PARC v.…”