By Americans title the policymakers who worked tirelessly to pass it including of course our own president joe biden house majority leader steny hoyer and congressman tony cuello thank you all every day in every community lives of the american people are better because of the work you all did when people can ride a bus because it has a lift when they can enter a building because it has a ramp when they can watch a movie with closed captions when a student with a disability goes to school instead of discrimination gets support that is the ada in action the ada gives all americans the opportunity to fully participate in our democracy in our economy and in our society the ada gives all americans the opportunity to determine their own future self-determination which i believe the government must facilitate that is the impact of the ada and after all the promise of america at the same time truth must be told the ada was a very important beginning but there is still so much work to be done both on enforcement and future legislation and that is why i am so heartened to see the generations of leaders who are here and remain committed to doing this work in fact earlier this month i met with several leaders of the disability community who are fighting for voting rights and they told me about the obstacles voters with visible and invisible disabilities face when casting a ballot long lines rickety ramps broken elevators tables that are either too high or too low complications with voting assistance the list goes on and on one of the leaders in fact said to me she said vice president equity cannot be achieved without disability being part of the equation .
This is a fight that is a civil rights fight a human rights fight this is about equity and whether or not we are truly committed to the principles of equity in every way that we as government and as a society can enforce those important principles and as we all know that truth is not just about voting then it is also about employment it is about an education starting with pre-k it is about being able to live in your home and participate in your community which is also why we must invest in in-home and community-based services so folks here’s the bottom line the president and i will continue to fight with you to make america more accessible for all people this work is urgent and the reason we do it is obviously important because every person in our country deserves the opportunity to dream with ambition to have choices to shape their own future unencumbered by any barrier free from any obstacle because this as we know is the very definition of self-determination and this is the united states of america so thank you all for your courage and for your commitment and now it is my great honor to introduce a person a leader who exemplifies all of that tyree brown is an artist who lives in maryland and she is focused on building a future of her own design i am grateful to her for her extraordinary leadership and that she is here with us today please welcome tyree brown hello everyone it’s a pleasure to be here all right um as it was said my name is tyree brown and i’m a 26 year old christian artist living in maryland with faith in jesus christ i was in a car accident.
That rendered me quadriplegic art and faith has always been a prominent part of my life but everything changed after my injury i could no longer walk or use my dominant right hand i was sent to a rehabilitation center national rehab hospital then to a nursing home back to rehab only to go back to the nursing home where i stayed another 10 months i was away from my home for over a year while in the nursing home a program called money follows the person intervene which the president supports investing more funding in the home and community-based waiver program that helps those who choose to be home in their communities by supplying durable medical equipment home modifications and home health care services a program that is made possible by the ada this program made it possible for my mother terry cox hi mom to be my full-time aide where i receive the best care full of love and grace i want to thank president biden president harris and the biden administration for being advocates for the disability community with american jobs plan there’s a 400 billion dollar investment in caregiving economy okay and this will directly positively impact my mother as she is my aide moving forward my goal is to be able to access affordable accessible housing to live in on my own more independently i’ve been on the waiting list for three years but i hope to move my own place soon i’m now home with my family and working as a freelance visual artist i receive my associate’s degree at the corcoran college which is actually across the street from here i i exhibited my work at the corcoran’s next exhibition as well as a raw showcase exhibition i attend highway deliverance church where i volunteer in the reading of the bible for my pastor pastor hughes i am also a new volunteer with the disability partnerships a non-profit organization that aims to support individuals with disabilities like myself i’m also a newly board member of independence now also a nonprofit organization because of the ada i was provided with numerous services like the money follows the person program the f the ada excuse me pushed for a more inclusive environment for wheelchair users like making more public buildings and more public transportation wheelchair accessible the ada pushed for wheelchair ramps curb cutouts and public spaces which made it possible for me to get around throughout my community.
i was worried i would not be able to live independently and pursue my dreams of being an artist but now there are programs that are helping me achieve my goals it is thanks to the ada which paved the way for me with the full support of president biden thank you president biden and vice president harris for advocating for the disability community and celebrating the 31st anniversary of the ada i am honored to be here and especially to now introduce president joe biden madam vice president tyree you’re an inspiration thank you for sharing your story 31 years ago today on the south lawn of the white house president george h.w bush signed the americans disabilities act he’s surrounded he was surrounded by disability advocates and bipartisan members of the united states congress just as we are today speaker pelosi welcome by the way madam speaker chairman leahy leader mccarthy senator casey congressman scott congressman where is he there you are paul you understand this better than anybody does i want to thank you congressman for all your work and i want to thank you all for being here second uh by the way where’s mom mom is she here oh she’s watching okay i thought you looked i said mom is out there i was going to ask her to stand up but mom you can’t stand up and if you’re home but uh folks give you thank you for what you’ve done the second gentleman is here as well thank him for being with us as well and uh some of the same folks who fought so hard for this landmark legislation are with us today i just got off the phone with one of them a guy named tom harkin and yester two days ago i was on the phone with one who just had his 98th birthday bob dole but no one worked harder than tony cuello to get this done house majority leader steny hoyer others weren’t able to join us today but were instrumental in bringing this to life dear friends as i said like tom harkin and bob dole i also spoke as i said bob is uh is wanted to pass on his regards as did tom tom’s up in wisconsin working on he said on ada doing something up there.
