Statement

The entire global Special Olympics movement is deeply saddened by the death of Senator Kennedy.   He was a staunch supporter of Special Olympics throughout his life – from our movement’s earliest days until his own final weeks – and a true champion of people with intellectual disabilities in this country and around the world. 

His extraordinary vision, compassion, leadership and ferocious energy made him an unparalleled advocate for civil rights, health and education for all people, especially people with disabilities. He made an indelible imprint on legislation, on families, on jobs, on schools, on healthcare and, most importantly, on individual lives. He was a very dear friend to Special Olympics athletes around the world and together with his sister Eunice created a world of hope and possibility for them and their families.

Senator Kennedy's legislative impact on the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, and for all disabilities, is unmistakable. Kennedy introduced the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990. The bill was designed to prohibit employers from discriminating in job hiring and in the workplace against people who had a disability.

"This is a promise of a new and better life for every disabled citizen, in which their disabilities would no longer put an end to their dreams," Kennedy said on the 17th anniversary of the act in 2007. In 1978, Kennedy co-sponsored Civil Rights Commission Act Amendments, which expanded the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Commission to protect people from discrimination on the basis of disability.

Kennedy sponsored the Family Opportunity Act of 2006, allowing states to expand Medicaid coverage to children with special needs. That same year, he voted for expanding the enrollment period for Medicare, and would later support a bill that required pharmaceutical companies to negotiate prescription drug prices covered under the same plan.

In addition to the years he spent advancing mental health parity, Senator Kennedy also sponsored and supported such successful initiatives as the community mental health program, the children’s system of care program, and many additional pieces of legislation that produced federal programs to treat and serve people with mental illnesses.

One of the most influential and historic pieces of legislation to support people with intellectual disabilities that Senator Kennedy endorsed was H.R. 5131, the 'Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act of 2004.' The act authorized appropriations through FY 2009 for grants, contracts or cooperative agreements with Special Olympics for certain education, international and health activities. Originally initiated and shepherded the through Congress by Representatives Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Harry Reid (D-NV), the law is up for vote on renewal in October of 2009.

Throughout his legislative career, Senator Kennedy has been the leading member of Congress in seeking improved health and health care for all Americans. When presented with the evidence of woeful unmet health needs among Special Olympics Athletes, Senator Kennedy joined with other leaders in the Senate and House of Representative to create funding to advance and extend the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes program. Nearly one million Special Olympics athletes have received free health services in all 50 United States and more than 100 countries as a result, and tens of thousands of volunteer health professionals around the world have been trained as providers of these services. This leadership has stimulated corporations, foundations, governments and professional organizations to step up with human and fiscal resources to greatly expand these efforts. The Special Olympics Healthy Athletes program has become the largest public health program for persons with intellectual disability in the world.

Senator Kennedy will be missed, by our movement and by all people whose lives have been changed by his work to create a better country and world for all.

Read more about Senator Kennedy’s impact on the lives of people with disabilities.