Joyce welcomes Neil Romano, former Assistant Secretary of the Office of Disability Employment Policy. He is a disability rights leader and board member of the National Council on Disability (NDC) and former chairman. First established as an advisory Council within the Department of Education in 1978, NCD became an independent federal agency in 1984. In 1986, NCD recommended enactment of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and drafted the first version of the bill, which was introduced in the House and Senate in 1988. Since enactment of the ADA in 1990, NCD has continued to play a leading role in crafting disability policy, and advising the President, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policies, programs, and practices. Mr. Romano will talk about his accomplishments as chairman, and how he sees the direction of the organization going under current chairman Andres J. Gallegos. .