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| Vol. 22, No. 3 |
| February 15, 2000 |
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Health Law and Policy Institute Hosts Event, Feb. 24 The 10-year anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will be marked by a symposium and luncheon hosted by the University of Houston Law Center's Health Law and Policy Institute on Feb. 24. The Institute's annual Gardere Wynne Sewell & Riggs Lecture will be given this year by former United States Attorney General Dick Thornburgh who was the U.S. Attorney General when the ADA was signed into law 10 years ago. His lecture, "The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Retrospective," will be followed by a panel discussion. On July 16, 1990, President George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, the world's first comprehensive civil rights law protecting the rights of people with disabilities. The lecture and panel is free and open to the public. It will be held at The Houstonian on Post Oak Lane. The program begins at 9 a.m. Advance registration is required. Mr. Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania, was Attorney General during both the Reagan and Bush administrations. He has taken a special interest in people with disabilities because one of his four sons is mentally retarded. Mr. Thornburgh is currently vice chairman of the World Committee on Disability and chairs the Legal Policy Advisory Board of the Washington Legal Foundation. At a luncheon following the lecture and panel, former President George Bush will present the Bush Medal to six individuals - two posthumously - who have distinguished themselves in the movement for equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities. The luncheon is co-sponsored by TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) and Continental Airlines. Advance registration is required. Gordon Bethune, chief executive officer of Continental, will be the luncheon speaker. President Bush will present the Bush Medal to Elizabeth Boggs (who died in 1996), founder of Arc (formerly ARC, the Association for Retarded Citizens) and member of the President's Panel on Mental Retardation in the Kennedy administration; Justin Dart, Jr., long-time civil rights advocate and recipient of the Presidential Medal of freedom; Evan J. Kemp, Jr. (who died in 1997), former chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); Joshua Teke Malinga, world chairman of Disabled Peoples' International; Gov. Dick Thornburgh; and Patrisha Wright, who has served as director of governmental affairs in Washington, D.C. for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund since 1979. The Bush Medal was established in 1993 to recognize people who have worked tirelessly to protect the rights of people with disabilities. For registration information about the Gardere Wynne Sewell & Riggs Lecture and the luncheon, call the Health Law and Policy Institute at 713-743-2102 or 713-743-2106, or contact them at healthlaw@uh.edu. The luncheon is $100 per person.
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