This week, Vice President Kamala Harris convened disability rights leaders to highlight the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to building a nation where people with disabilities are afforded the opportunities, independence, and respect they deserve, including through efforts to increase transportation accessibility. She was joined by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, and White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu.During the event – held during Disability Pride Month and in recognition of the 33rd Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – Vice President Harris and senior Biden-Harris officials discussed how the ADA has transformed our country. They outlined how the Administration is expanding accessibility through historic investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including $1.75 billion under the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) to make it easier for people with disabilities to access our nation’s oldest and busiest rail transit systems, and $5 billion through the Airport Terminals program to make airports across the country more accessible and equitable.Vice President Harris and senior officials also applauded disability advocates for their leadership and reiterated the Administration’s commitment to fulfilling the promise of the ADA and all of our disability civil rights laws.Participants included: Zainab Alkebsi, President, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network and representing the National Association of the DeafHeather Ansley, Associate Executive Director, Paralyzed Veterans of AmericaAlexandra Bennewith, Vice President, Government Relations, United Spinal AssociationTheo Braddy, Executive Director, National Council on Independent LivingBrandon Brown, Executive Director, Association of Programs for Rural Independent LivingDavid Capozzi, President Biden’s Nominee to AMTRAK Board of DirectorsKeely Cat-Wells, Founder & Producer, C-TalentTony Coelho, Author of the ADA and former House Majority WhipVirginia Dize, National Aging and Disability Transportation CenterStephanie Enyart, Chief Public Policy Officer, American Foundation for the BlindGregory S. Fehribach, Principal, Fehribach GroupColleen Flanagan, Outreach Specialist, Boston Mayor’s Commission on People with DisabilitiesDanica Gonsalves, Advocacy Attorney, Paralyzed Veterans of AmericaKimberly Knackstedt, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation Disability Economic Justice InitiativeMia Ives-Rublee, Director, Center for American Progress Disability Justice InitiativeJanni Lehrer-Stein, AdvocateSarah Malaier, Senior Advisor for Public Policy and Research, American Foundation for the BlindSophie Morgan, Founder, #RightsOnFlights UK campaignSwatha Nandhakumar, Advocacy and Outreach Specialist, American Council of the BlindTeresa Nguyen, Director, Brandeis University Community Living Policy CenterJose Ramos, Senior Vice President, The Wounded Warrior ProjectRylin Rodgers, Disability Policy Advisor, MicrosoftMarlene Sallo, Executive Director, National Disability Rights NetworkRachita Singh, Senior Policy Associate, American Association of People with DisabilitiesBill Sweeney, Senior Vice President, AARPKaren Tamley, President & CEO, Access LivingKimberly Tissot, President and CEO, Able-South CarolinaCarol Tyson, Government Affairs Liaison, Disability Rights Education & Defense FundEmily Voorde, Councilmember, National Council on DisabilityEmma Vrabel, Founder, Harvard University Disability Justice ClubDonald Wood, Ph.D., President, Muscular Dystrophy Association###The post Readout of Vice President Harris’s Convening on Transportation Accessibility and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) appeared first on The White House.
