The New York Times NATIONAL
Wednesday, March 14, 1990

DISABLED PROTEST AND ARE ARRESTED
More than 100 Are Charged in Capitol Demonstration on Rights Legislation

by Steven A. Holmes, Special to the New York Times

WASHINGTON, March 13 -- More than 100 disabled protesters in wheelchairs were arrested today during a boisterous demonstration in the Capitol Rotunda, where they pressed for swift passage of a sweeping civil rights bill for the millions of Americans with physical and mental disabilities.

“We're taking the strategies of the 60's that helped get rights for black and brown people and women, and using them for people with disabilities," said Wade Blank of Denver, one of the leaders oi the protest.

The protesters, who had intended to be arrested, were part of a group of about 150 that met with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and other Congressional leaders at the Rotunda to demand quick action on the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The measure would require that all new buildings and services that serve the general public accommodate the disabled. When Mr. Foley declined to promise a specific date for passage, some in the group began to boo.

Arrests Take Two Hours

After the legislators departed, the group gathered in a tight circle and began chanting, "Access is a civil right" and “The people united will never be defeated!"

Demonstrating in the Capitol is against Federal law. Members of the Capitol police force, many dressed in riot gear, cleared the Rotunda of tourists, surrounded the protesters and used large chain-cutters and acetylene torches to break the links that bound several of the protesters‘ wheelchairs together. The police then wheeled them out. The process took about two hours.

Officer Greg Nevitt, a police spokesman, said 104 people had been arrested and would be charged with demonstrating in a Capitol building and unlawful entry.

Mr. Blank is one of the founders of Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, or ADAPT, a group that represents the militant wing of the disabled-rights movement. in the past, it has staged disruptive acts to publicize the plight of the disabled. in September, the group organized a demonstration in Atlanta where 25 people were arrested for blocking more than a dozen Greyhound-Trailways buses to protest the company's refusal to install wheelchair lifts.

The Americans With Disabilities Act, which would extend to the disabled the same protections against bias that are provided for women and members of minority .groups, has recently hit a snag in the Bush Administration's reluctance to go along with tough penalties that could be imposed against companies that failed to comply.

But it has already passed the Senate and cleared another hurdle today when the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved it by a vote of 40 to 3.

Two other House panels, the Committee on Public Works and Transportation and the Judiciary Committee, still must vote on the measure. House leaders say the bill will probably reach the House floor by mid-April.

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Monday 29 June 2015

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ADA, Greyhound, House Speaker Tom Foley, militant, Rotunda, Wade Blank

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