U.S. Attorney Matt Martin Celebrates 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

GREENSBORO, NC. - The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina is proud to play a key role in the Department of Justice’s enforcement efforts under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as this year marks 30 years since the signing of the landmark legislation. The ADA was signed into law on July 26, 1990, and is the nation’s preeminent civil rights law for providing access and equal opportunity for people with disabilities.

At the signing ceremony for the ADA in 1990, George H.W. Bush remarked: “Together, we must remove the physical barriers we have created and the social barriers that we have accepted. For ours will never be a truly prosperous nation until all within it prosper.” To reach this goal, the Middle District of North Carolina has participated in the Barrier Free Healthcare Initiative, which focuses on equal access to medical services and facilities for individuals with disabilities; Project Civic Access, a wide-ranging effort to eliminate physical and communication barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating fully in community life; and enforcement actions ensuring that individuals with service animals have equal access to public accommodations.

“We have heeded President Bush’s call to remove physical and social barriers for those with disabilities. And we will continue to do this work through cooperation when we can and through litigation when we must,” U.S. Attorney Martin said. “Our office and the Department of Justice are committed to enforcing the ADA and dismantling barriers to equal access. We want all Americans to be able to develop their talents and participate in community life.”

Over the past 30 years, our country has undertaken the hard work of changing attitudes about disability, tearing down barriers to equality, and dismantling the systems that have historically excluded people with disabilities. Today, we commemorate the many ways that the ADA has transformed our society—by replacing exclusion with access, segregation with integration, and limitations with self-determination. The ADA has advanced the promise of the American dream, ensuring that people with disabilities can write their own stories. And as a society, we are better and stronger because of the contributions that people with disabilities make.

For more information about the 30th Anniversary of the ADA, please visit www.ada.gov. To file a complaint with the Department, please visit the Civil Rights Division’s portal at https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/. For more information about the ADA, call the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY).

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

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