Harkin: Kennedy Shriver ‘an icon’ for disabled individuals

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called Eunice Kennedy Shriver “an icon for individuals with disabilities around the country” upon hearing news of her passing on Tuesday.

“Eunice Kennedy Shriver is an icon for individuals with disabilities around the country, someone who not only made inroads for individuals with intellectual disabilities, but someone who charted an entirely new course with the creation of the Special Olympics,” he said.

“In her, they had a friend, an advocate and hope for new opportunities. My thoughts are with her family in this time of great loss,” Harkin added.

Harkin was the original author of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.

Shriver, the sister of former President John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics, died early Tuesday in Cape Cod at the age of 88.