July 29, 2022

Celebrating 32 Years of the ADA

Dear Friends,  

This week, we celebrated the 32nd anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act! In 1990, the ADA transformed the lives of millions of Americans living with a disability – including mine.

In 1980, I was a 16-year-old kid who wanted to be a police officer. I was in a precinct locker room when a gun discharged and a bullet severed my spinal cord, leaving me paralyzed. My family and I were lucky to have the strong support of this community, but life back then wasn’t easy for people with disabilities. I remember when curb cuts were rare, and places like movie theaters and restaurants didn’t have accessible seating. Getting around was a challenge.

A decade later, President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law, and things changed. For me and so many other Americans, the world opened up. From accessible public spaces to new employment opportunities, the ADA broke down barriers and helped millions of people with disabilities to reach places in society that were previously unattainable.  

I have always said that without the ADA, I would not be representing Rhode Island in Congress today. I have never forgotten that it was the work of the leaders, lawmakers, and advocates who came before me that made my career possible.  

As soon as I got to Washington, I got to work strengthening rights and resources for the disability community. Some of my proudest accomplishments are founding the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus and authoring the bipartisan Lifespan Respite Care Act and the Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act of 2020, signed into law by President Trump. I worked to pass the ADA Amendments Act and the Affordable Care Act, which bars health insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals with preexisting conditions. I’ve introduced legislation to make air travel safer for passengers with disabilities, as well as create a pilot program to make public transit more convenient for people with disabilities.  

I’ve had the chance to do all of this because of the ADA. As we mark 32 years of this groundbreaking piece of legislation, I am enormously grateful for the opportunities it has afforded me. As my time in Congress comes to an end, I remain committed to fighting for disability rights until the very end of my term – and beyond.  

To keep up with my work in Washington and in our district, please visit my website and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. 

Sincerely,

Equality for Families with Disabilities Act This month, I introduced legislation to eliminate discrimination against parents and guardians with disabilities. Today, there are 4.1 million parents with disabilities raising families here in the United States. And yet, parents and guardians with disabilities face excessive scrutiny and disproportionate targeting for unwarranted intervention from child welfare agencies. That is simply unfair, which is why I’m working with Democratic and Republican colleagues to pass the Equality for Families with Disabilities Act, so we can end discrimination against parents and guardians in state child welfare proceedings, once and for all.

National Defense Authorization Act   This month, the House passed H.R. 7900, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. This year’s NDAA, which I helped to craft, includes the highest pay increase for service members in decades, while also investing heavily in future technologies and capabilities to ensure that the United States never has to send our warfighters into a fair fight.  I was especially proud to include provisions in the NDAA to bolster the cybersecurity of our most critical infrastructure, like large utility companies and major financial institutions. I also secured language to expand immigration visas and create a pathway to citizenship for highly qualified, foreign professionals seeking to defend our national security.