[background music]
On the day Bush signed the ADA
we convinced him that we should make it a
great big celebration because so many people directly affected by the passage of the ADA.
Well, it was a glorious day, July 26th 1990.
There was a clear blue sky, the sun was out, there were
three or four thousand people. Many with disabilities
and their families on the South Lawn of the White House. And the President was on a platform
with leaders of the disability community to sign the bill into law.
I don't know how you describe the signing ceremony. We had people
everywhere. They were on gurneys, white canes, wheelchairs,
walkers, and seeing eye dogs. I mean any device that helps people get around was represented that day.
We covered the White House lawn for sure.
The most people ever gathered on the White House lawn for a signing was July 26, 1990.
Never been that many people there for a signing of a bill before.
Biggest group ever in the history of this country.
I had the pleasure and the real privilege
to arrive to the ADA signing ceremony
with John McCAin.
So we drove right into the White House
and then we walked outside and became part of the masses
the
South Lawn was packed with people.
All of them there had worked and worked and worked
to see a law pass.
So it was a shining day and a shining moment
[smiling] And I mean history and the weather just cooperated in a way
you don't see very often.
I sat with Senator Kennedy
89th row back or something like that.
And you know all the pomp and circumstance again and we were
kibitzing with each other and kind of looking over the crowd and
and Kennedy leaned over to me and said,
"Uh, Pat..?" I said, "Yes, Senator?"
SENATOR KENNEDY, "Uh, I got a little problem here."
I said, "What's that Senator?" He goes, "Uh, what happens if he reads the bill before he signs it?"
[Pat laughs]
I said, "Don't worry." I mean the senator knew that
nobody really understand the impact of what this piece
of legislation was going to do.
PRESIDENT BUSH, "I now lift my pen to sign this American Disabilities Act.."
And then the President ended his brief remarks with a clarion call:
let the shameful wall. BUSH: "Let the Shameful Wall...
of exclusion, BUSH: "...of exclusion..."
finally come tumbling down. BUSH: "...finally come tumbling down."
That sent a tremor through the entire crowd.
[cheering]
Best moment was
President Bush was there, he was signing the ADA, Evan Kemp was on one side
Sandra Parrino was on the other side
and there was a priest
Reverend Wilkie
and he had no arms.
So the President signs the legislation and then he hands the pen
hands the pen to Evan,
hands the pen to Sandy
and then President Bush hands the pen to Reverend Wilkie with no arms.
So he picks up his foot
and grabs it with his toes
[smiling] That's the perfect moment right there.
There was a lot of pent-up emotion
and anticipation in that crowd. And when the President finally
put his signature on the bill a great roar of approval went up.
and it was extraordinarily special.
And then the rest of the day was given over to celebration. A lot of folks who had put in
years, decades trying to reach the point that was achieved that day.
Let their hair down and had a lot of fun. [smiling]
It was just this feeling of, we did it!
I mean here we were having been told for so long how powerless we were and here we were
with the President of the United States signing this
document that with our Emancipation Proclamation essentially.
It was just a fantastic feeling.
It was one of the most electric moments in time.
It was like we were transported to another place.
We were twenty feet off the ground. 3,000 people were twenty feet off the ground
It was like a tremendous party a very controlled
I mean love, respect, joy
accomplishment, satisfaction, our time had come
we finally, we finally were recognized as
citizens of the world.
I just thought of how much my brother had been discriminated against all his life
because of his disability
When you see something like this and you see the President signing it
and it goes through your head, you're thinking about this. You think, "Well, maybe this isn't
in time to help my brother, but you think about how many other people won't
have to go through that, you know?
Because of this.
I just thought, you know, gee, this is something that I think is going to unleash
a lot of people with disabilities in this country.
to do things that they never thought they could do before.
I have the sense that
the moment was one that I would never forget. That
there was a ceremony.
And the ceremony was very important, but the moment
was much more than that. The moment was
a recognition of the rights and abilities
of people with disabilities.
A recognition of respect for
people with disabilities. A recognition of the end
of discrimination against people with
disabilities and that...the spirit of that
the feeling of the whole crowd was that...
In American Sign Language there's a sign for that and the sign is
[sign, move two index fingers to head and and then points them back out]
It's called "PAW." Paw that's how you
you make a sound when you sign it, "PAW."
And that was a "PAH" day
that was the day that
you guys saw us as your peers.
And not as someone who needed your help
[fade to black screen, credits roll]