From: Julie Dawson
Subject: Equality of Opportunity -- HISTORY.TXT (fwd)
"Out of many''''one people."
We give of ourselves to share with each other.
we receive from each other to empower ourselves.
Blessed be the Almighty who blesses His people.
Julie, AKA Magnolia in New York.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 25 Jul 97 06:38:56 EDT
From: Jamal Mazrui
Reply-To: patt@tram.com
To: BlindCopyReceiver.@CompuServe.COM;
Subject: Equality of Opportunity -- HISTORY.TXT
Resent-Date: 25 Jul 97 06:38:56 EDT
Resent-From: Patt Bromberger
Resent-To: jdawson@idt.net
In commemoration of the 7th anniversary of ADA, the National
Council on Disability is pleased to publish "Equality of
Opportunity: The Making of the Americans with Disabilities Act."
This history is rich in description and analysis of the social,
economic, and political events that led to the most comprehensive
civil rights law known today. It contains many lessons we can
carry into the future.
Free copies of the book may be obtained in print, disk, tape, or
braille format by contacting NCD in amy of the following ways:
National Council on Disability
1331 F Street, Northwest
Suite 1050
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: (202) 272-2004
Fax: (202) 272-2022
TTY: (202) 272-2074
Email: mquigley@ncd.gov
The ADA history will also soon be available on our web site,
http://www.ncd.gov
Since this electronic version is about 750K in size, I've put
"End of Document" at the bottom to indicate whether you received it
completely. If not and you want it, send email to me or Mark
Quigley (NCD Public Affairs Specialist) at the above address.
Jamal Mazrui
National Council on Disability
Email: 74444.1076@compuserve.com
----------
Equality of Opportunity
The Making of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Copyright 1997 by the National Council on Disability
All rights reserved
Publication date: July 26, 1997
National Council on Disability
1331 F Street, N.W.
Suite 1050
Washington, D.C. 20004-1107
(202) 272-2004 Voice
(202) 272-2074 TTY
(202) 272-2022 Fax
This work was prepared under contract with the National
Rehabilitation Hospital Research Center, Medlantic Research
Institute, and was written by Jonathan M. Young.
The views contained in this report do not necessarily represent
those of the Administration, as this document has not been
subjected to the A-19 Executive Branch review process.
Dedication
For people with disabilities throughout the nation whose pursuit
of liberty and justice made the ADA a reality.
For those who have since passed away.
For those who join the cause of disability rights.
For John A. Gannon, whose service as a member of NCD from 1988 to
his death on May 31, 1997, helped achievepassage of the ADA and
the writing of this history.
Members and Staff
of the National Council on Disability
Members
Marca Bristo, Chairperson
Kate P. Wolters, Vice Chairperson
Yerker Andersson, Ph.D.
Dave N. Brown
Larry Brown, Jr.
John D. Kemp
Audrey McCrimon
Bonnie O Day
Lilliam Rangel Pollo
Debra L. Robinson
Shirley W. Ryan
Michael B. Unhjem
Rae Unzicker
Hughey Walker
Ela Yazzie-King
Staff
Ethel D. Briggs, Executive Director
Speed Davis, Executive Assistant to the Chairperson
Billie Jean Keith, Program Specialist
Jamal Mazrui, Program Specialist
Mark S. Quigley, Public Affairs Specialist and Editor
Brenda Bratton, Executive Secretary
Stacey S. Brown, Staff Assistant
Janice Mack, Administrative Officer
Acknowledgments
The National Council on Disability (NCD) is indebted to the
National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) Research Center for this
historical account. Jonathan M. Young, a Ph.D. candidate in
American history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill and Project Director for the NRH Research Center, conducted
in-depth research, interviewed many key participants in the ADA s
passage, and authored the manuscript. Gerben DeJong, Ph.D.,
Director of the NRH Research Center, provided overall guidance
and advice in addition to reviewing the document. With the
support of Dr. DeJong and Karen Behe, Ruth Brannon initiated this
project for the NRH Research Center, conducted oral interviews,
and collected many documents, which culminated in the development
of an annotated outline in 1995. Between 1990 and 1992, prior
contractors, including Alexander Vachon, began work on a history
of the ADA, conducted selected interviews, and collected
materials for NCD, portions of which were made available for this
project.
The Civil Rights Committee of the National Council on
Disability coordinated the development of this project: John
Kemp, Chairman; Hughey Walker, Vice-chairman; Lilliam Rangel
Pollo; Rae Unzicker; Marca Bristo, ex officio; and Kate Pew
Wolters, ex officio. NCD Chairperson Marca Bristo reviewed
multiple iterations of the manuscript and contributed
significantly to its develop ment. Billie Jean Keith was the NCD
staff person to the Civil Rights Committee and followed the
manuscript from beginning to end. Mark Quigley, NCD Public
Affairs Specialist, coordinated publication of the manuscript.
Staff at the NRH Research Center assisted in the general
development of the project. Special recognition goes to Rachel
Halpern and Ben Wheatley, who helped edit the manuscript, as well
as to Phillip Beatty, Olga Elizabeth Hayes, Barbara
Maloney-Darbeau, Lee Ann McNnerey, Georgette LaFayette Smith, and
Sabrina Smith. Kathy Butler and Antonio de Guzman, at the NRH
Research Center Library, were invaluable resources for research.
In addition, George Koch provided important access to the law
library of his firm, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart. Staff at the House
and Senate Libraries and Parliamentarian s offices were
indispensable sources of information. Frank Young, Leanne Young,
and Bob Atwood provided essential editorial assistance. Personal
interviews were transcribed by Ann Rand of Medical Dictation
Services, Inc. Mary Flannery designed the cover.
Numerous individuals provided invaluable feedback on the
complete manuscript or parts of it: Yerker Andersson, Ruth
Brannon, Maria Cuprill, Lex Frieden, Paul Hearne, Mark Johnson,
Evan Kemp, Chris Lord, Marla Miller, Phyllis Rubenfeld, Liz
Savage, Melissa Schulman, Robert Silverstein, Roger Slagle,
Roland Sykes, and Pat Wright. The manuscript is stronger and
more accurate because of their comments.
Special thanks go to the 54 individuals who gave their time
and insight in personal and correspondence interviews as sources
for this historical account: they are listed in Appendix A. Many
of these interviewees also provided access to their personal
papers and made themselves available for follow-up fact-checking.
Without them this history would have been impossible.
Contents
Foreword xi
Executive Summary xvii
1 Laying the Foundation:
Disability Policy & Activism, 1968-1988
5
2Putting the ADA on the Legislative Agenda:
The National Council on Disability
47
3Publicizing the ADA: Advocacy and the Government Response
69
4Creating a Workable ADA:
The Senate and the White House
95
5Fashioning a Durable ADA:
The House of Representatives
123
6Enshrining the ADA:
House-Senate Conference and the Signing
165
Epilogue
181
Glossary of Acronyms 191
Appendices 193Appendix A: List of Interviews195
Appendix B: The Legal Road to the ADA
199
Appendix C: Chronology: The ADA s Path to Congress
205
Appendix D: Chronology: Legislative History of the ADA
207
Appendix E: Discrimination Diaries
211
Appendix F: Key Concepts in the ADA
223
Appendix G: President Bush s Remarks at the Signing
231
Appendix H: Text of the Americans with Disabilities Act
235
Appendix I: Mission of the National Council on Disability
285
Appendix J: ADA Technical Assistance Information
289
Notes 293
Foreword
Future generations will look back on the passage of the ADA as a
watershed public policy. Future historians will come to view the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 as one of the most
formative pieces of American social policy legislation in the
20th century. Its enactment codified into law important
principles that would henceforth govern the relationship between
society and its citizens with disabilities. The ADA is
universal. It champions human rights themes by declaring that
people with disabilities are an integral part of society and, as
such, should not be segregated, isolated, or subjected to the
effects of discrimination. The ADA is also distinc tively
American. It embraces several archetypal American themes such as
self-determination, self- reliance, and individual achievement.
The ADA is about en abling people with disabilities to take
charge of their lives and join the American mainstream. It seeks
to do so by fostering employment opportunities, facilitating
access to public transpor tation and public accommodations, and
ensuring the use of our nation s communication systems.
The ADA is much more. The ADA s founding principles,
explicit and implicit, also serve as a framework in which other
public policies can be tested, challenged, and, if necessary,
amended. It has altered our public discourse about disability and
about the role of people with disabilities in American society.
Future generations will look back on the passage of the ADA as a
watershed public policy.
As Major R. Owens (D-NY) wrote regarding the ADA s final
passage, the ADA articulates forcefully and eloquently the
purposes which must be embodied in our public policies and in our
commitments as individuals and as a nation in order for America
to thrive. . . . It embodies a philosophy and constitutes a
declaration in support of human possibility and capability. As
Owens noted, ours is a nation of interdependence: we do and must
rely on one another for success. Because the ADA seeks to build
a society which encourages and supports the efforts of each
individual to live a productive life, it promotes the success of
our entire nation. The ADA is important for what it says about
our national commitments to each citizen. In a long tradition of
promoting civil rights, the ADA upholds the principle that each
individual has the potential, and deserves the right to
participate in, and contribute to, society.
Focus and Sponsorship
Equality of Opportunity: The Making of the Americans with
Disabilities Act tells a story of how the ADA came about. Other
works have explored in great detail what individual provisions of
the ADA mean, how they apply to individuals and businesses, and
what one must do to be in compliance. This account examines
process rather than content. Its defining focus is the
transition from a fragmented national disability policy, which
often worked to the detriment of people with disabilities, to an
affirmation of the basic civil rights of persons with
disabilities, as symbolized in the ADA s passage. To help
readers familiarize themselves with the content of the ADA,
appendi ces include descriptions of key concepts in the ADA, a
reprint of the text of the ADA, and informa tion necessary for
obtaining technical assistance.
Equality of Opportunity is the first detailed history of the
ADA. It was written for a broad audience, including the
disability community, policy makers, academicians, and general
readers. Rather than seek to be the final word on the ADA s
history, Equality of Opportunity hopes to succeed by leading
others to explore the rich history of the ADA and the disability
rights movement and offer additional information and
interpretations. This work can thus serve as an important source
document for future researchers.
Equality of Opportunity hopes to succeed by leading others
to explore the rich history of the ADA and the disability rights
movement and offer additional information and
interpretations.Writing the history of the ADA is not an easy
task. There is not a single or even a handful of founding
fathers and mothers around whom a narrative can be organized.
Nor is there one straight line from first thoughts about
implementing a national, comprehensive civil rights law for
people with disabilities to the ADA s enactment on July 26, 1990.
Rather, thousands of people from all over the nation played roles
crucial to the ADA s success, and multiple thematic threads
characterize the ADA s development. Unfortunately, each contribu
tion cannot be fully recognized in the limited space of this
work. And maintaining narrative cohesion precludes full coverage
of simultaneous activities taking place in Washington and
throughout the country. Nonetheless, the spirit of community and
cooperation among a large and diverse group of advocates and the
complexity and intensity of the ADA s passage are evident in the
narration.
Research and writing for this project was conducted under
contract with the National Council on Disability at the National
Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) Research Center, a division of the
Medlantic Research Institute, in Washington, D.C. Research was
based on a lengthy series of personal and correspondence
interviews with key participants in the ADA s passage, as listed
in the appendix, in addition to traditional documentary sources.
Building on Foundations
The heart of this story begins in 1986, when the National
Council on the Handicapped (renamed the National Council on
Disability in 1988) presented a breakthrough report titled Toward
Independence, which included a proposal for a comprehensive,
equal opportunity law for people with disabilities the embryo of
the ADA. Equality of Opportunity traces the development of the
ADA from this report (first as a draft bill, and then as a formal
---
---------------
* Origin: NFBnet Internet Email Gateway (1:282/1045)
|