Americans With Disabilities Act

Fifteenth Anniversary Statement by Tony Coelho, Chair, Board of Directors, Epilepsy Foundation

Former California Congressman Coelho, primary author and sponsor of the ADA while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, has issued the following statement on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the ADA. The historic disability rights legislation was signed into law by the President on July 26, 1990.

Progress and a Promise Yet to Be Fulfilled

The American with Disabilities Act was the first comprehensive declaration of equal treatment for people living with disabilities. When the Act became law fifteen years ago, it began the process of opening the door of full participation in our society to all people with disabilities.

The ADA has now become a model for legislation around the world, as more and more countries adopt civil rights protections that promote the full integration of people with disabilities and the protection of their civil rights. Since the ADA was enacted, there has been a noteworthy reduction in physical barriers—everywhere one sees signs of a more accessible world, and that is rapidly getting better as new office buildings and businesses are built in compliance with the law.

All of us have benefited from these changes. Curb cuts and ramps designed to allow access for people with wheelchairs help parents with baby carriages, delivery people, mail carriers making their rounds, and elderly people. Because of the ADA, in most businesses in America, you do not need to reveal whether you have a physical condition or disability when you apply for a job—you simply need to indicate whether you can safely perform the work, with or without an accommodation. That is real and significant progress for people who have been too often locked out of everyday life, forced to rely upon government handouts and charity because they cannot get a job or participate in society.

We have much more to do, however. Fundamentally, the ADA is a law that protects civil rights and is designed to promote equal opportunity for all people with disabilities, and we have not gotten very far on that goal. Too many American businesses still fail to employ people with disabilities; too many people with disabilities are not integrated into their local communities, cannot participate in the everyday activities most Americans enjoy.

Court rulings—and the positions taken in the courts by the employer community - have dramatically limited the civil rights protections for many people with disabilities like epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, bipolar disorder and diabetes. As a result, too many people with disabilities are being denied jobs because of disabilities—but if they seek to protect their civil rights by going to court—they are often told they are not disabled enough to be covered by the law! So, you can get fired or not hired because you have the condition—but you might have no recourse under the law as it's being interpreted! That is not what we envisioned when the ADA was crafted and passed; it does not reflect the sound principles behind the ADA or the wishes of the American public.

I believe that people should be employed based upon whether they can do the job—not whether or how their physical condition is described. For people with disabilities to have personal independence and economic security, and for society to continue to move forward, employers need to comply with the requirements and obligations of the ADA, and we need to be sure that individuals who are unfairly discriminated against have legal protection. I ask each of you to join me in supporting the ADA and its promise—and in ensuring that its promise is fulfilled.