The picture is from the original signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. President George W. Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act while his father looked on today, but no broadcast media was allowed to cover it apparently, not even C-SPAN. It shows how out of touch the Bush administration is with the disability community. This is a major civil rights event, and disability rights activists who helped make it happen would have liked to see the signing! If you want to see the original ADA signing ceremony, there's a video at: http://www.ada.gov/videogallery.htm.Here's The AP story:
WASHINGTON — With his father looking on, President Bush on Sept. 24 signed legislation expanding the protections afforded by the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act to those who can use medication or other devices to treat impairments.
The original law was enacted in 1990, when former President George H.W. Bush, the current president's father, was in office. The act is widely regarded as one of the major features of civil rights legislation in the 20th century because it ensured that the disabled have access to public buildings and accommodations, thus giving them better access to the workforce.
But since its passage, the Supreme Court has generally exempted from the law's anti-discrimination protections those with partial physical disabilities or impairments that can be treated with medication or devices such as hearing aids.
The bill Bush signed on Thursday in the Oval Office directs the courts to a more generous application of the ADA's definition of disability, making it clear that Congress intended the law's coverage to be broad and to cover anyone facing discrimination because of a disability. It took months of difficult negotiations with the business community to arrive at a compromise.
Bush signed the bill without public comment or fanfare.
