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This week marks the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a landmark measure that has ushered in vast improvements in transportation, employment law, and civil rights for those with disabilities. Signed into law on July 26, 1990, the ADA has made the United States an example to the world and has helped reduce barriers so that anyone in our country can achieve their goals.

During this week’s Twitter town hall meeting, President Obama was asked about education in America. Just as the President’s response shows, access to affordable and quality schooling is an important issue not only for students and families, but for our county’s economy and our future.

On March 9, 1970, Senator Ted Kennedy spoke to the importance of lowering the voting age to 18 in testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments: "By lowering the voting age we will improve the overall quality of our electorate, and make it more truly representative of our society. By adding our youth to the electorate, we will gain a group of enthusiastic, sensitive, idealistic and vigorous new voters." In 2008, young people embodied the spirit of Kennedy's words, voting in historic records to elect President Barack Obama.

Just twenty-three years old, Tobin Van Ostern is a trail blazer in the political social media world. Back in 2006, at the age of 18, he partnered with Students for Barack Obama to help 80 online chapters grow to more than 1,000 online and offline chapters across the nation by 2008.

Like so many Americans, the three words that got Max O'Beirne motivated to become politically active were "Yes, we can." Yet O'Beirne was only 15 years old at the time—not old enough to drive, much less cast a vote.

Twenty-two year old Zaid Jilani was born and raised in Georgia and is first-generation American--his parents were born in Pakistan. Zaid is a voter, activist, blogger, and founding member of the University of Georgia’s first progressive newspaper, “Stand Up.” His on-campus activism around the Iraq War and use of online tools brought him to the attention of the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress (CAP). CAP awarded Zaid a grant to establish the campus newspaper and later hired him to write for the Think Progress blog.

Today, marks the 40th anniversary of the ratification of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. Though it only took 100 days to ratify the amendment, the battle to lower the voting age was years in the making.