NEWS RELEASE Contact: Mariana V. Nork
(202) 457-0046, ext 24 (V/TTY)


AAPD to Hold ADA Celebration Event Today on Capitol Hill

Event with Senators Durbin and Grassley
to Celebrate 17th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

WASHINGTON, DC, July 26, 2007 — Today marks the 17th anniversary of the passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). To celebrate this important anniversary, AAPD will host an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, to publicly recognize congressional champions of the ADA.

The event on this ADA anniversary will feature disability champions Senators Richard Durbin and Charles Grassley, Darden Restaurants Chairman and CEO Clarence Otis, Jr., as well as disability rights leaders, government officials, business leaders, and AAPD’s summer interns who are working in Federal agencies and on Capitol Hill.

AAPD, which was founded on the fifth anniversary of the ADA, promotes public policies that advance the goals of the ADA: equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. AAPD organizes the disability community to be a powerful force for change – economically, politically and socially. Each year, AAPD sponsors an event to commemorate the ADA anniversary, at which it presents Justice for All Awards as a way of recognizing individuals who have proven to be extraordinary champions of political and economic power for people with disabilities.

At today's event, AAPD will present Justice for All Awards to Congressional champions of disability rights, Senators Richard Durbin and Charles Grassley; Clarence Otis, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Darden Restaurants; The Honorable Luis Gallegos, Ecuadorian Ambassador to the United States; and Nancy Ward, a self-advocate and co-founder of SABE (Self Advocates Becoming Empowered).

For additional information regarding the history of AAPD's ADA celebration events and photos of past events, please visit AAPD's Prior Events webpage.

American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
1629 K Street NW, Suite 503; Washington, DC 20006
VOICE: 202-457-0046 (V/TTY) • FAX: 202-457-0473 • www.aapd.com
(This fax number does not accept unsolicited advertisements.)