III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 86 

Recommitting the United States to the promotion of disability rights and 

to the values enshrined in the Prologue Room of the Franklin Delano 

Roosevelt Memorial in the District of Columbia, and recognizing the 

enduring contributions that individuals with disabilities have made 

throughout the history of the United States and the role of the disability 

community in the ongoing struggle for civil rights in the United States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2 (legislative day, MARCH 1), 2021 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Mr. CASEY, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Natural Resources 

RESOLUTION 

Recommitting the United States to the promotion of disability rights and to the values enshrined in the Prologue 

Room of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in 

the District of Columbia, and recognizing the enduring 

contributions that individuals with disabilities have made 

throughout the history of the United States and the 

role of the disability community in the ongoing struggle 

for civil rights in the United States, and for other purposes. 

Whereas the Prologue Room of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘MeVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR86.IS SR86

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•SRES 86 IS 

morial’’), which prominently displays a statue, sculpted 

by Robert Graham, of the 32nd President of the United 

States in a wheelchair, was dedicated on January 10, 

2001, by President Bill Clinton; 

Whereas the dedication of the Prologue Room, a critically important addition to the Memorial because of its historically accurate depiction of the disability of President 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, occurred 4 years after the 

initial dedication of the Memorial; 

Whereas the dedication of the Prologue Room was the culmination of a 6-year campaign led by the disability community to ensure that future generations knew that 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led the United 

States during the Great Depression and World War II 

while using a wheelchair; 

Whereas President Franklin Delano Roosevelt became paralyzed at the age of 39, became a wheelchair user, and 

never took another step unassisted after acquiring his 

disability; 

Whereas, at the dedication ceremony for the Prologue Room 

in 2001, President Bill Clinton said, ‘‘This is a monument to freedom . . . . The power of the statue is in its 

immediacy, and in its reminder to all who touch, all who 

see, all who walk or wheel around, that they, too, are 

free, but every person must claim freedom’’; 

Whereas individuals with disabilities have always been integral to the civil rights movement in the United States, 

and the ongoing fight of the disability community for 

equal rights and opportunities in the United States continues as individuals throughout the United States strive 

to build ‘‘a more perfect Union’’; 


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•SRES 86 IS 

Whereas the campaign to create the Prologue Room with a 

statue of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a 

wheelchair was led by Michael R. Deland, then-Chairman 

of the National Organization on Disability, Alan A. 

Reich, founder and then-President of the National Organization on Disability, and James Dickson, who directed 

the grassroots campaign for the addition of the wheelchair statue; 

Whereas former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and 

George H.W. Bush sent letters of support for the addition of the disability representation at the Memorial; 

Whereas 16 grandchildren of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a letter on April 8, 1997, stating, ‘‘The 

public’s interest is in learning about those dramatically 

challenging times and about the courage, strength and 

determination of the man who led the country and the 

world in overcoming great odds, and in becoming the single greatest example for democracy, freedom, and enterprise in the history of the world. It would be a disservice 

to history and the public’s interest if the impact of polio 

on the man were to be hidden. The goal of the FDR Memorial must be to enable future generations to understand the whole man and the events and experiences that 

helped to shape his character.’’; 

Whereas, as of the date of adoption of this resolution, the 

Memorial is impacted by deferred maintenance and accessibility issues; 

Whereas the Great American Outdoors Act (Public Law 116– 

152; 134 Stat. 682) was signed into law on August 4, 

2020, to address the deferred maintenance at National 

Park Service sites, including the Memorial; 


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•SRES 86 IS 

Whereas the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et 

seq.) states that no qualified individual with a disability 

shall, solely by reason of disability, ‘‘be excluded from the 

participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected 

to discrimination under any program or activity receiving 

Federal financial assistance’’; 

Whereas the primarily artistic braille renderings at the Memorial are inaccessible to blind and low-vision visitors, 

the very individuals that braille is intended to serve; 

Whereas accessible signs and placards for blind and low-vision visitors— 

(1) are not a permanent feature incorporated into 

the Memorial; and 

(2) do not sufficiently bridge the accessibility gap; 

and 

Whereas providing a library of expanded accessible materials 

to support the educational experience of all visitors, both 

physically at the Memorial site and virtually, would work 

to enhance the legacy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s disability and the community: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls on the United States to recommit itself 

3 to the promotion of disability rights and to the val4 ues enshrined in the Prologue Room at the Franklin 

5 Delano Roosevelt Memorial (referred to in this reso6 lution as the ‘‘Memorial’’), at home and abroad, on 

7 the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the dedica8 tion of the Prologue Room; 


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1 (2) recognizes the important work of the dis2 ability community, and the historic campaign cham3 pioned by that community, that led to the expansion 

4 of the Memorial to include a statue that clearly and 

5 visibly depicts President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 

6 in a wheelchair; and 

7 (3) calls on the National Park Service and the 

8 National Park Foundation, a congressionally char9 tered nonprofit organization— 

10 (A) to continue to increase access to the 

11 Memorial for individuals with disabilities, as re12 quired by law, including through the installa13 tion of tactile braille on signs and placards as 

14 specified in the document of the National Li15 brary Service for the Blind and Print Disabled 

16 of the Library of Congress entitled ‘‘Specifica17 tion 800:2014 Braille Book and Pamphlets’’ 

18 and dated October 2014; and 

19 (B) to support the development of acces20 sible educational materials to ensure awareness 

21 is raised about the history of the Memorial and 

22 disability rights. 

Æ 


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