News Release

NCD #06-521
August 23, 2006
Contact: Mark S. Quigley
202-272-2004
202-272-2074 TTY
mquigley@ncd.gov

WASHINGTON—Chad Colley, a resident of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the National Council on Disability (NCD) (www.ncd.gov). The U.S. Senate confirmed Mr. Colley's nomination on August 3, 2006.

Mr. Colley is a decorated Vietnam veteran who has been active in veteran and disability issues for over three decades. In 1984, he was selected the Handicapped American on behalf of President Ronald Reagan and is a past national commander of Disabled American Veterans. Mr. Colley's service includes positions as vice chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and chairman of the Veterans Administration Advisory Committee on Rehabilitation, among others.

NCD is an independent federal agency making recommendations to the President and Congress to enhance the quality of life for all Americans with disabilities and their families. NCD is composed of 15 members appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In its 1986 report Toward Independence, NCD first proposed that Congress should enact a civil rights law for people with disabilities. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law.

NCD's overall purpose is to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability; and to empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.

For more information, please contact Mark S. Quigley at 202-272-2004.