The ADA could be known as the most sweeping piece of civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Others believe that because of the many structural and communications barriers the ADA will remove, it is the farthest-reaching civil rights law ever enacted. The ADA is the legislative culmination of the disability rights movement that began with the independent living movement of the 1970s. The desire to become active participants in society and enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness on a par with nondisabled citizens, has drawn together people with every kind of disability. The goal of full participation in society led to the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1974 (since renamed IDEA—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). The Rehabilitation Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability in federally funded programs and improved access to, among other services, health care, social services, recreation, housing, and transportation. Perhaps most importantly, the Rehabilitation Act gave people with disabilities educational opportunities that they had never enjoyed before. IDEA went further, requiring that schools mainstream students with disabilities into regular classrooms whenever appropriate. IDEA also established individualized educational programs for students with disabilities. Despite these initiatives, a 1985 Louis Harris Company survey of people with disabilities found that the common thread of discontent running through the disabled community was unemployment. The Harris poll indicated that 67% of Americans with disabilities between the ages of 16 and 64 were unemployed; only 25% were reported to be employed full-time. The Harris poll results confirmed one finding of the 1980 census: While nondisabled men participated in the labor force at a rate of 88% and nondisabled women at a rate of 64%, only 42% of men with disabilities and 24% of women with disabilities were employed. Several studies conducted during the 1980s indicated a steady growth from year to year in the numbers of persons with disabilities ready to enter the labor force. A 1994 Harris poll, however, showed that unemployment among people with disabilities remained constant: While 79% said they wanted to work, two thirds of respondents with disabilities between 16 and 64 reported being unemployed. During the past two decades, while educational and vocational training opportunities for individuals with disabilities have greatly improved, employment opportunities in the private sector and access to businesses, including public and privately operated transportation services, have not. The ADA was created to address and correct these inequities. Enforcement of the ADA in the years ahead should enable people with disabilities to realize the elusive goal of full participation in American society.