President Obama honors 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

From USA Today: Here's C-SPAN video of the signing of the proclamation honoring the ADA.

President Obama ended a rough day by paying tribute to a popular law, the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"The ADA showed the entire world our commitment to people with disabilities," Obama said during a White House ceremony for "an historic piece of civil rights legislation."

The president said he often thought of his father-in-law, Frasier Robinson, who provided for his family despite multiple sclerosis. "He just wanted to be given the opportunity to do right by his family," Obama said.

Obama used the 19th anniversary of the ADA to endorse the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton extolled the U.N. treaty in introducing Obama. (He is pictured signing the UN treaty.)

"I'm proud of the progress we've made," Obama said. "But I'm not satisfied."

Obama spoke just a few hours after making a surprise appearance in the White House press briefing room. He expressed regret for saying police had acted "stupidly" when they arrested African-American scholar Henry Gates at his home near Harvard University. Police unions had hammered Obama over the comment.

Obama got a shout-out from the president who signed the disabilities law, George Herbert Walker Bush.

"There is no place in our society for prejudice of any kind, yet it was not that long ago when Americans with disabilities were often not given equal rights and opportunities," Bush said.