Major Owens Quotes

We're building on an international network with many others for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are so many things we can do to carry forward policies.

No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

The ADA gave more than 50 million Americans with disabilities, just like my son Cole, the chance to live the American Dream and be defined only by their potential - not their limitations.

I can't think of a greater privilege than to speak out with legislation for people that can't often speak for themselves. And I know the ABLE Act will bring justice and peace of mind to millions of American families who deal with disabilities every day.

Housing providers and building and design professionals have a responsibility under federal nondiscrimination laws to provide housing protections for individuals with disabilities.

I think a person who is disabled should be disabled by no act of their own. If you become disabled because of alcoholism, drugs, or things of that nature, I do not think those conditions qualify someone to be called disabled. I think those conditions result from personal decisions.

I'm not an advocate for disability issues. Human issues are what interest me.

The purpose of the ADA was to provide clear and comprehensive national standards to eliminate discrimination against individuals with disabilities. As a result, individuals with disabilities are now able to live in their homes and have access to new careers.

I really love filling out forms - quite fortuitous, really, given that as one of Australia's 4 million-ish disabled people, ticking boxes and recording my life for other people is what I've spent a fair chunk of my time doing.

Disabled veterans are not a bargaining chip.

I support making sure that there are legal protects for everyone.

It was the best route to get folks to understand segregation fast. Civil rights and women's rights had a clear history. Making the transition to rights for people with disabilities became easier because we had the history of the other two.

The Supreme Court ruled that disabled golfer Casey Martin has a legal right to ride in a golf cart between shots at PGA Tour events. Man, the next thing you know, they're going to have some guy carry his clubs around for him.

How a society treats its disabled is the true measure of a civilization.

Disabled people need more invested in their education, housing, job training, transportation, assistive technology, and independent-living facilities. Governments earn back this investment - and more - by making people with disabilities economically productive citizens.

I take advantage of every thing I can - age, hair, disability - because my cause is just.

Many of us, particularly those of us with disabilities who have faced persistent discrimination throughout our lives, not least when trying to find employment in the first place, take enormous pride in our hard-fought jobs and careers.

Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability

You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, “you are free to compete with all the others”, and still justly believe that you have been completely fair. Thus it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through the those gates.

Despite the fact that important measures such as the Americans with Disabilities Act passed only with crucial Republican support, the public - and the community of disability advocates - normally identifies this issue with the Democratic party.

The problems of the disabled are unpopular.

I think if you have a two-story office and you hire someone who's handicapped, it might be reasonable to let him have an office on the first floor rather than the government saying you have to have a $100,000 elevator.

Part of our history includes the long struggle to pass the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance.

While taking sign language in high school, one of our assignments was to go out and participate in the deaf community, so I really got to know a lot of the group from that. I felt like they needed a little bit more of a voice because people treat them different just because they're hearing impaired.

Inequality within the deaf and hard of hearing community is something I feel really passionate about and always will do.