Obama honors Americans with Disability Act

WASHINGTON, July 26 (UPI) -- President Obama marked the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act Thursday with a proclamation and praise for the landmark legislation.

Calling it "a historic piece of civil rights legislation that affirmed Americans with disabilities are Americans first," he noted "America became the first nation to comprehensively declare equality for its citizens with disabilities" in 1990.

The U.S. Census News Bureau reported Thursday 57 million people in America, comprising 19 percent of the population, are considered living with a disability, including 50 percent of adults age 65 and over.

Four million Americans use a wheelchair for mobility, and 41 percent of the population ages 21 to 64 with a disability are employed, the Census Bureau said.