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Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2000 12:46 PM
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Subject: AAPD TO EASTWOOD: "RENEW THE PLEDGE"


                        Justice For All

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              AAPD TO EASTWOOD: "RENEW THE PLEDGE"

Andy Imparato, [log in to unmask], writes:
(Washington, DC, May 18, 2000) On the occasion of today's Congressional
hearing on a bill that would require potential plaintiffs with
disabilities
to wait three months before taking a business owner to court under the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the American Association of
People
with Disabilities (AAPD), a national non-partisan, non-profit membership
association of children and adults with disabilities, their family
members
and supporters, today called on actor Clint Eastwood, members of
Congress,
and others in attendance at the hearing to renew their pledge to support
full
implementation and enforcement of ADA.

"ADA has been on the books for almost 10 years," noted AAPD President
Andrew
J. Imparato.  "It is time for Congress and the Administration to stop
coddling small business owners like Clint Eastwood who would rather
spend
hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees to fight their
obligation
to make their establishments accessible than spend a small fraction of
those
fees on the improvements that would meet ADA's requirements," Imparato
added.

AAPD is using the occasion of the 10th anniversary of ADA this July and
the
25th anniversary of a companion civil rights law for children and youth,
the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), to call on elected
officials, candidates for office, and private individuals to renew their
pledge to an America that works for everyone.

"The pledge campaign, which we have called the Spirit of ADA campaign'
and
have linked to a 24-city torch relay that will be traveling across the
country this summer," said Imparato, "is AAPD's effort to focus
America's
attention on the roll that everyone must play if ADA's goals of equality
of
opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic
self-sufficiency are to become a reality for all Americans with
disabilities."

"I am hopeful that Congress will use its oversight authority to examine
some
of the real issues that we in the disability community face regarding
ADA
implementation," said Imparato.  "For example, why have a number of
State
attorneys general argued in Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme
Court,
that States are not obligated to comply with this historic civil rights
law
under the Constitution?"

Imparato added, "Why haven't the Federal enforcement agencies been more
aggressive in ferreting out widespread violations of ADA, and why has
Congress been so reluctant to provide adequate funding to Federal
agencies
enforcing ADA like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and
the
U.S. Department of Justice?"

"Finally," Imparato continued, "I encourage Congress to take a hard look
at
why the employment rate for working age people with significant
disabilities
is hovering around 30 percent, a far cry from the national employment
rate
for the general public."

The American Association of People with Disabilities was founded in 1995
by a
group of cross-disability leaders to represent, educate and unify
interests
of the entire diverse disability community, family and friends as a
membership organization.  The goals of the organization are to promote
the
economic and political empowerment of all people with disabilities,
educate
business and the general public about disability concerns, and provide
benefits such as insurance and discounts on goods and services to its
members.

For more information on AAPD, visit www.aapd-dc.org.  For more
information
about AAPD's Spirit of ADA torch relay and pledge campaign, and to see
which
elected officials have signed the pledge to date, visit AAPD's "Spirit
of
ADA" website, www.spiritofada.org.

Andy Imparato
[log in to unmask]


--
Fred Fay
Chair, Justice For All
[log in to unmask]
http://www.jfanow.org

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