Burgess Owens: “among the organizations that have supported this legislation and feel they are in jeopardy are many organizations that…”

“among the organizations that have supported this legislation and feel they are in jeopardy are many organizations that have had bipartisan support in the past. In fact, the Americans With Disabilities Act had strong bipartisan support. Our great worry is that that bipartisan support will no longer be there. In the former Committee on Education and Labor, now called the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, the one committee that dealt with the interests of the people with disabilities all in one place, found that it was broken up and the various functions related to people with disabilities were spread through three different committees. We considered that a dangerous and hostile sign of the kind of things that are about to happen. Many of the signers of the Contract With America have indicated that they think that President Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act in a weak moment. In fact, one of the signers of the Contract With America has stated that the President signed that bill in a weak moment, and they want to undo the kind of rights that are provided in the legislation for people with disabilities. So it is very important that a clarification is gained here.…”