Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, 2024, 61005-61007 [2024-16851]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[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 [www.gpo.gov]
[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.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2024-16851
Filed 7-29-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P