[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – As our nation marks the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) as well as members of the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee’s Advisory Board at the FDR Memorial to honor President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s leadership as the first known United States President with a significant physical disability and highlight the importance of disability representation and the work we must do to achieve full accessibility and inclusion. Video of the Senator’s remarks can be found here.
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“While we’ve come a long way since the ink dried on the ADA 31 years ago, we still have a long way to go to make this country truly accessible for Americans with disabilities, including at National Parks like the FDR Memorial, on our transportation systems and more,” said Duckworth. “From updating illegible braille text on the walls of this memorial to passing my ASAP Act to help make our transit stations more accessible, all of our laws should safeguard every American’s constitutionally-enshrined rights, rather than punishing the very people whom our country has already discriminated against for too long. I was proud to join Congresswoman Norton and the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee’s Advisory Board to mark this important day in our nation’s history for disability rights, and I look forward to continuing our work to bring about a tomorrow where we won’t have to work so hard just to live our daily lives.”
Earlier this year, Duckworth and Norton introduced a resolution recognizing the successful campaign led by disability advocates to secure a statue of FDR in a wheelchair in the Prologue Room at the FDR Memorial and urging the National Park Service (NPS) to make the memorial accessible to everyone by installing tactile braille throughout the space and supporting the development of accessible education materials for visitors. In May, Duckworth introduced her All Stations Accessibility Program Act to help make public transportation systems more accessible to passengers with disabilities.
This week, Duckworth sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Haaland urging the National Park Service to take action to make the FDR Memorial fully accessible to blind or visually impaired.
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