March 2, 2005 Law Library of Congress to Host International Disability Workshop on March 30

The Law Library of Congress and the Center for International Rehabilitation will sponsor an International Disability Rights Workshop from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30, in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is open to the public; a $50 registration fee is required.

Experts in disability law will provide an overview and comparative analysis of international and national initiatives to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The keynote address will be delivered Claudio Grossman, dean and professor of law at American University’s Washington College of Law.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), author and chief sponsor of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, will make a videotaped presentation titled “Persons with Disabilities: Reaching Their Full Potential.”

The workshop is presented by the Law Library of Congress and the Center for International Rehabilitation in cooperation with the Friends of the Law Library of Congress; the American Association of Law Libraries’ Foreign, Comparative and International Law Special Interest Section; the American Society of International Law and the Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C.

The Law Library of Congress is the largest law library in the world with more than 2.4 million items in its collection.

The Center for International Rehabilitation is a worldwide humanitarian network of individuals and organizations that promotes the full potential of people with disabilities through education, innovation and advocacy.

For additional information or to request a registration package, contact Walter Gary Sharp in the Law Library of Congress, (202) 707-9148, wsharp@loc.gov, or Emmet Regan at CIR, (202) 223-3559, ext. 25, eregan@cirnetwork.org.

INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS – WORKSHOP AGENDA

8:00 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:45 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Opening Remarks and Introductions

Walter Gary Sharp Sr., Law Library of Congress

William Kennedy Smith, Center for International Rehabilitation

Videotape Presentation:

Persons with Disabilities – Reaching Their Full Potential

The Honorable Tom Harkin, U.S. Senator, Iowa; author and chief sponsor of the

1990 Americans with Disabilities Act

9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Introduction to Disability Law

Moderator: Janet Lord, director, Summer Institute for Human Rights,

American University

Panelists: Peter David Blanck, Charles M. and Marion Kierscht Professor

of Law & professor of psychology and public health, the University of Iowa

Jeffery T. Rosen, general counsel and director of policy, National Council on Disability

Robert Dinerstein, professor of law, American University, Washington College of Law

10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 a.m. Disability in International Agreements

Moderator: James N. Bond, Law Library of Congress

Panelists: Javier Vasquez, World Health Organisation and the Pan American Health Organisation’s Mental Health Programme

Renzo M. Pomi, United Nations representative for Amnesty International

Maria Veronica Reina, president, Center for International Rehabilitation

Katherine Guernsey, Lord, Guernsey Associates & assistant director, Summer Institute for Human Rights, American University

12:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch in the Montpelier Room (Room LM 619)

1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Keynote Address, Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland

Keynote Introduction by Kersi B. Shroff, Law Library of Congress

2:00 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. Comparative Foreign Law Analyses by the Law Library of Congress

Moderator: Nicole Atwill, senior foreign law specialist, France

Panelists: Sayuri Umeda, foreign law specialist, Japan

Gustavo Guerra, foreign law specialist, Mexico

Clare Feikert, foreign law specialist, United Kingdom

3:05 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. Break

3:20 p.m. – 4:25 p.m. Disability Law in Practice

Moderator: Anne Hayes, International Disability Rights Monitor

Panelists: Michael Stein, professor and visiting fellow, Harvard Law School

Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, the World Bank

Katherine J. Dorsey, Center for International Rehabilitation

4:25 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Closing Remarks