IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 183 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 2, 2021 
Ms. NORTON (for herself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. YOUNG, and Ms. PORTER) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources 
RESOLUTION 
Recommitting the United States to the promotion of dis-
ability 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 pur-
poses. 
Whereas the Prologue Room of the Franklin Delano Roo-
sevelt Memorial (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Me-
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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 im-
portant addition to the Memorial because of its histori-
cally 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 cul-
mination of a 6-year campaign led by the disability com-
munity 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 para-
lyzed 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 monu-
ment 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 inte-
gral 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 con-
tinues as individuals throughout the United States strive 
to build ‘‘a more perfect Union’’; 
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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 Orga-
nization on Disability, and James Dickson, who directed 
the grassroots campaign for the addition of the wheel-
chair statue; 
Whereas former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and 
George H.W. Bush sent letters of support for the addi-
tion of the disability representation at the Memorial; 
Whereas 16 grandchildren of President Franklin Delano Roo-
sevelt 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 sin-
gle greatest example for democracy, freedom, and enter-
prise 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 Me-
morial must be to enable future generations to under-
stand 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 acces-
sibility 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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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 Me-
morial 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-vi-
sion 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 Roo-
sevelt’s disability and the community: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) calls on the United States to recommit itself 
to the promotion of disability rights and to the val-
ues enshrined in the Prologue Room at the Franklin 
Delano Roosevelt Memorial (referred to in this reso-
lution as the ‘‘Memorial’’), at home and abroad, on 
the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the dedica-
tion of the Prologue Room; 
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(2) recognizes the important work of the dis-
ability community, and the historic campaign cham-
pioned by that community, that led to the expansion 
of the Memorial to include a statue that clearly and 
visibly depicts President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 
in a wheelchair; and 
(3) calls on the National Park Service and the 
National Park Foundation, a congressionally char-
tered nonprofit organization— 
(A) to continue to increase access to the 
Memorial for individuals with disabilities, as re-
quired by law, including through the installa-
tion of tactile braille on signs and placards as 
specified in the document of the National Li-
brary Service for the Blind and Print Disabled 
of the Library of Congress entitled ‘‘Specifica-
tion 800:2014 Braille Book and Pamphlets’’ 
and dated October 2014; and 
(B) to support the development of acces-
sible educational materials to ensure awareness 
is raised about the history of the Memorial and 
disability rights. 
Æ 
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