Equality of Opportunity: The Making of the Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act

No piece of legislation this Congress will pass articulates more 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 in the 1990s. It embodies a philosophy and constitutes a declaration in support of human possibility and capability. . . . With a powerful commitment to building a society which encourages and supports the efforts of each individual to live a productive life, there is no challenge which our Nation cannot meet.
Congressman Major Owens⁶

6. Congressman Major Owens, statement, Cong. Rec., v. 136 (July 12, 1990), p. H4622.