Harkin: How One Iowa Senator Secured Civil Rights For Americans With Disabilities

 

(Think Progress)

January 29, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] This past weekend, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced he will not seek re-election in 2014, bringing an almost 40 year career in Congress to a close. But as Harkin steps aside, his legacy — particularly his work to champion increased protections for Americans living with disabilities — remains.

Twenty two years ago, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) into law. Either law would have been considered landmark civil rights legislation on its own merits — taken together, they represented nothing short of a legislative revolution for disabled and special needs Americans. And those bills were made possible by Harkin, who authored and shepherded them to overwhelming bipartisan approval.

Every handicapped spot in a parking lot, each mechanical wheelchair ramp on a public transport vehicle, and any company that employs qualified Americans with a disability, is only made possible because of the ADA. The law’s provisions — which include protections ranging from anti-workplace discrimination, to public transport and public facility accommodations, to telecommunications support for the visually and hearing impaired — have given millions of Americans the means to pursue independent livelihoods.

As one disabled American put it, “I have traveled 18,000 miles between Los Angeles and Bakersfield in an externship, and without the ADA and the Department of Transportation’s provisions, I would not have managed to remain independent and commute.”

According to one study, the percentage of disabled Americans citing public transport accommodations as a barrier to their commute dropped from 49 percent to 31 percent between 1989 and 2004.

Entire article:

How One Iowa Senator Secured Civil Rights For Americans Living With Disabilities

http://tinyurl.com/ide0129131a

Related:

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to retire (Washington Post)

http://tinyurl.com/ide0129131b