On Capitol Hill, Dart worked closely with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress to advance the rights of disabled people, including U.S.

Congressman Major Owens of New York City, who served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Select Education in the U.S. House of Representatives during the late 1980s and early 1990s as well as during the early crafting of the legislative language and the fierce debates on the Americans' With Disability Act (ADA) before its eventual passage in the House of Representatives.

Dart's tenure at RSA ended when at a congressional hearing he characterized the agency as "a vast, inflexible federal system which, like the society it represents, still contains a significant portion of individuals who have not yet overcome obsolete, paternalistic attitudes about disability."

Again with the support of friends and disability advocates, they visited all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the District of Columbia to hold public forums that were attended by more than 30,000 people.

Subsequently, Dart founded Justice for All with other activists to defend against congressional attempts to weaken the ADA, including those pushed for by Clint Eastwood.

[3] On July 25, 1995, Justin Dart founded the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) with Paul Hearne, Senator Bob Dole, John Kemp, Tony Coelho, Pat Wright, Jim Weisman, Lex Frieden, Sylvia Walker, Paul Marchand, Fred Fay, I.

King Jordan, Denise Figueroa, Judi Chamberlin, Bill Demby, Deborah Kaplan, Nancy Bloch, Max Starkloff, Mike Auberger, Neil Jacobson, Ralph Neas, Ron Hartley and others.

He continued, however, to lobby for the rights of people with disabilities, and attended numerous events, rallies, demonstrations and public hearings.

At the ceremony, Clinton said Dart had "opened the doors of opportunities to millions of our citizens by securing passage of one of the nation's landmark civil rights laws.

"[3] He died in Washington, D.C., on 22 June 2002 at the age of 71 from congestive heart failure related to complications of post-polio syndrome.