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64 Temp. L.R. 387 (1991)
Historical Background of the Americans with Disabilities Act

handle is hein.journals/temple64 and id is 395 raw text is: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. * On April 28, 1988, I had the very high honor of rising on the floor of the United States Senate to introduce a historic piece of legislation - the Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act.I The bill underwent much debate, negotiation, com- promise, refinement, and revision before emerging in its final form as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).2 As the original Senate sponsor of the ADA, I have been asked to describe my perspective on the his- tory and background precipitating the introduction of this momentous federal statute. The specific ADA initiative was a relatively recent development on the leg- islative front. The notion of federal legislative guarantees of equal rights for people with disabilities, however, has a much longer history. One of the first such laws was passed to assist veterans disabled during World War II.3 The-Act of June 10, 1948 prohibited employment discrimination based on physical handi- caps within the United States Civil Service.4 Two decades later, Congress en- acted the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968.5 This Act required buildings constructed, altered, or financed by the federal government to be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities.6 The 1970s and 1980s were important decades in the promotion of equal rights for people with disabilities. The years 1973 and 1975 were auspicious for federal disability rights measures. The Rehabilitation Act of 19737 extended the highly successful vocational rehabilitation programs.8 The Act also included a Title V that inaugurated some basic equal rights guarantees for people with disa- bilities in its various provisions.9 Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act required • Currently Governor of Connecticut, formerly United States Senator from Connecticut, 1971- 89; Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on the Handicapped, 1982-87 (renamed the Senate Subcommit- tee on Disability Policy, as of November 1990); original sponsor of S. 2345, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 100th Cong. 2d Sess. (1988). 1. 134 CONG. REC. S5106 (daily ed. Apr. 28, 1988). 2. Pub. L. No. 101-336, 104 Stat. 327 (codified at 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 12101-12213 (West Supp. 1991) and 47 U.S.C.A. §§ 225, 611 (West 1991)). Textual references to provisions of the ADA are cited to the codified sections of the U.S.C.A. 3. Act of June 10, 1948, Pub. L. No. 617, ch. 434, 62 Stat. 351 (1948). 4. Id. 5. Act of Aug. 12, 1968, Pub. L. No. 90-480, 82 Stat. 718 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 4151-4157 (1988)). 6. Id. 7. Pub. L. No. 93-112, 87 Stat. 355 (1973) (codified as amended in scattered sections of 29 U.S.C.). 8. Id. 9. Title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, §§ 500-504, 87 Stat. 390 (codified as amended at 29 U.S.C. §§ 790-794 (1988)).

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