The American’s with Disability Act (ADA) was designed to end the exclusion of people with disabilities from the workplace and from other realms of social life. As President George Bush (No. 42) explained upon signing the ADA:
Today, we’re here to rejoice in and celebrate another `Independence Day,’ one that is long overdue. With today’s signing of the landmark Americans for [sic] Disabilities Act, every man, woman, and child with a disability can now pass through once closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence and freedom. Today’s legislation brings us closer to that day when no Americans will ever again be deprived of their basic guarantees of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
President George Bush, “Remarks on Signing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,” (July 26, 1990), reprinted in Bernard D. Reams, Jr., et. al., eds., Disability Law in the United States: A Legislative History of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Public Law 101-336, Vol. I, Document No. 9 (1992).
When he introduced the ADA, Senator Harkin called the statute “a broad and remedial bill of rights for individuals with disabilities. It is their emancipation proclamation. ” 135 Cong. Rec. S 4984 (May 9, 1989)(statement of Sen. Harkin) reprinted in Disability Law, Vol. VI, Document No. 36. Citing a nationwide poll, Senator Harkin pointed out that sixty-six percent of working-age disabled persons who are not working, or some 8.2 million persons, want to have a job and that eighty-two percent of people with disabilities would give up their government benefits in favor of full-time employment. Id. at S 4985.
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