Presidential Document2024-16851
Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, 2024
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 30, 2024
Signed
July 25, 2024
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 61005-61007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16851]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 146 / Tuesday, July 30, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 61005]]
Proclamation 10787 of July 25, 2024
Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities
Act, 2024
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA), one of our Nation's most
significant civil rights laws to protect people with
disabilities from discrimination. For the more than 70
million Americans living with a disability, the ADA
enshrines into law the idea that we all deserve
opportunity, inclusion, respect, and dignity. I am
proud to have co-sponsored this landmark legislation
years ago, and I am honored to celebrate its lasting
legacy today.
The ADA was a historic triumph against discrimination
that opened the doors to opportunity and independence
for people with disabilities. But more work still needs
to be done. Disabled Americans often earn less for the
same work as nondisabled people. Additionally, too
often, disabled Americans face obstacles that keep them
from voting, prohibit them from getting to and from
work and school, or limit their ability to enjoy public
spaces.
I believe in building an America for all Americans.
That is why, in my first few months in office, I signed
an Executive Order establishing a Government-wide
commitment to advancing equality and equity in Federal
employment, including for people with disabilities. It
brought together the Department of Labor and the Office
of Personnel Management to ensure that Federal
workplaces are fully accessible to people with
disabilities and that the dignity and rights of
disabled Americans are built into our policies.
At the same time, the Department of Labor is also
ensuring our workers are protected by ending unjust
employment practices across our economy. For example,
my Administration is helping State and local
governments, businesses, and nonprofits access Federal
funds to hire more disabled Americans. And we are
making the Federal Government a model employer when it
comes to wages, accommodations, and opportunities to
advance for people with disabilities.
Further, we are ensuring that every child with a
disability, including early learners, receives a
rigorous education in a learning environment that
supports their development and well-being and leads to
promising pathways after high school. To that end, the
Department of Education announced funding to involve
parents of children with disabilities as partners in
creating equitable and inclusive schools.
Concurrently, my Administration is also taking action
to improve access to health care for disabled
Americans. Through my Inflation Reduction Act, we have
lowered health care costs for people with disabilities.
The Department of Health and Human Services issued a
rule to bar denials of medical care related to organ
donations or lifesaving care for disabled Americans
based on their disability alone. They also launched
long COVID clinical trials to study its debilitating
health effects and created the Office of Long COVID
Research and Practice with a first-of-its-kind
initiative in our history. The United States Access
Board has proposed updated medical diagnostic equipment
guidelines to ensure people with disabilities can
access health care providers and improve accessibility
for manual and powered wheelchair users. Further, the
National Institutes of Health made it easier
[[Page 61006]]
for scientists to get funding for research on health
disparities in the disability community by designating
people with disabilities a ``health disparity
population.'' We also launched the Advanced Research
Projects Agency for Health, which is advancing new
biomedical science breakthroughs and is opening up new
funding for unmet health needs specific to disabled
Americans, like biomedicine to prevent, detect, and
treat diseases like cancer, diabetes, and multiple
sclerosis.
Meanwhile, we are making public spaces and care more
accessible to people with disabilities. The American
Rescue Plan provided $37 billion to enhance, expand,
and strengthen home-based services. That empowers more
people with disabilities--including intellectual and
developmental disabilities--to live independently at
home. In April, the Department of Health and Human
Services finalized a rule that will help ensure access
to these critical services. Further, our Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law makes the biggest investment in our
history--$1.75 billion--to make transit and rail
stations more accessible. At the same time, we are
investing $5 billion to add wheelchair ramps and
accessible restrooms at airports and other locations.
In addition to issuing a rule that now requires all new
single-aisle aircraft over a certain size to have
wheelchair-accessible restrooms, the Department of
Transportation proposed a new rule to ensure that
travelers using wheelchairs can fly safely and with
dignity.
Everyone in America should be able to share in the
benefits of technology. That is why my Administration
has taken action to ensure that we are improving our
digital infrastructure for people with disabilities.
The Department of Justice issued standards for State
and local governments to make their web content and
mobile apps more accessible to Americans with
disabilities so they can more easily access local
government services, emergency services, voting
information, and publicly funded education. And my
Administration is working to make online health
services and applications for jobs in the Federal
Government more accessible.
As we celebrate the anniversary of the ADA, we honor
the courageous activists who worked so hard to get this
historic legislation passed. We recognize the strength
of people with disabilities, who remind us every day
that America is stronger when we tap into the talents
of all our people. And we renew our commitment to
moving America closer to the promise of equal
opportunity for all Americans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 26, 2024,
as the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities
Act. I encourage Americans to celebrate the 34th year
of this defining moment in civil rights law and the
essential contributions of individuals with
disabilities to our Nation.
[[Page 61007]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2024-16851
Filed 7-29-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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