Rights of disabled still fueling fire of soon-to-retire Tom Harkin ( signature legislation: ADA)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/rights-of-disabled-still-fueling-fire-of-soon-to-retire/article_ede3b785-4597-5589-9f6a-fa28c1968c8c.html



THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sen. Tom Harkin, champion of the disabled. “Whoever takes (his) place in Iowa, there’s certainly going to be expectations from the disabled community ... that we will expect that legacy to be honored,” said Emmanuel Smith, an “ADA generation” member from West Des Moines.



POSTED: SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2014 12:30 AM
By Joseph Morton / World-Herald Bureau

WASHINGTON — As Sen. Tom Harkin wraps up his final months in office, the Iowa Democrat continues to push hard on one of the central concerns that has marked his four decades on Capitol Hill: the rights of the disabled.

He is particularly interested in making it easier for the disabled to live in community-based settings and helping them find good jobs.

“That’s the one thing that has troubled me the most: that we haven’t made more progress on employment for people with disabilities,” Harkin said.

Integrating the disabled into everyday society was at the heart of Harkin’s signature piece of legislation: the landmark 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act. Harkin was the author and main sponsor of that bill, which he described at the time as a modern-day Emancipation Proclamation for the disabled.

FULL story at link.