U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) From The Washington Post July 8:
When Jim Langevin first rolled his wheelchair onto Capitol Hill in 1984 as a young Senate intern, barriers to the disabled in this city were even more common than the bollards that now circle its monuments.
Langevin, a quadriplegic since a gun accident when he was 16, could not get his chair through the doors of many meeting rooms or Capitol Hill offices. It was a challenge to find a restroom he could enter, much less a shower.
Now a congressman, Langevin soon will have access to a long-unattainable spot: the speaker's rostrum at the front of the House chamber. The House leadership announced last month that it will reconstruct the built-in wooden chair on the podium and build lifts to provide accessibility for wheelchairs.
Eighteen years after Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, the move will allow Langevin, the only permanently disabled member of the House, to preside over sessions for the first time. Though there are no records on the subject, that could make him the first person in a wheelchair ever to lead a session of the House.
"Yes, I'm the first quadriplegic to serve in House, but I certainly won't be the last," said the Rhode Island Democrat, who was elected in 2000. "I'm excited for the people after me. It shows once again that people with disabilities can lead and serve just like anybody else."
Andrew J. Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, cheered the symbolic importance of the change, saying it will demonstrate the limitless possibilities for people with disabilities.
"This is a sign that Congress is recognizing the diversity of the population," Imparato said. ". . . In some ways, it's sad we had to wait this long to make this happen, but we give the bipartisan leadership credit that it happened now."
