[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3195 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3195

      To restore the intent and protections of the Americans with 
                       Disabilities Act of 1990.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2007

Mr. Hoyer (for himself, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Allen, Mr. 
 Andrews, Mr. Bachus, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Berman, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. Bishop 
 of New York, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Boucher, 
    Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Calvert, Mr. 
Cardoza, Mr. Carney, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Clay, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Clyburn, 
    Mr. Coble, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Costa, Mr. Costello, Mr. 
    Courtney, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Tom Davis of 
  Virginia, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. 
Dingell, Mr. Dreier, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Emanuel, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Engel, 
Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Farr, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. 
    Filner, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. 
 Frelinghuysen, Mr. Gallegly, Ms. Giffords, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hall of 
New York, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Holden, Mr. Holt, 
Mr. Honda, Mr. Israel, Mr. Issa, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, 
     Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kildee, Ms. 
Kilpatrick, Mr. Kind, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Knollenberg, 
Mr. LaHood, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, 
 Mr. Lewis of California, Mr. Loebsack, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, 
  Mrs. Lowey, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Markey, Mr. Matheson, Ms. 
   Matsui, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota, Mr. 
 McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McHugh, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Miller of North 
 Carolina, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. 
      Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Neal of 
  Massachusetts, Ms. Norton, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Payne, Mr. 
    Perlmutter, Mr. Petri, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Ramstad, Mr. Rangel, Mr. 
      Rodriguez, Mr. Roskam, Mr. Rothman, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. 
     Ruppersberger, Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of 
 California, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. 
  Shays, Ms. Shea-Porter, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Ms. 
Solis, Mr. Souder, Mr. Space, Mr. Stark, Ms. Sutton, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. 
   Tiahrt, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Towns, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Van 
 Hollen, Mr. Visclosky, Mr. Walsh of New York, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, 
 Ms. Watson, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Welch of Vermont, Mr. Weldon of Florida, 
 Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. 
    Walz of Minnesota, Mr. McCotter, and Mr. Dicks) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
      Labor, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, 
   Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To restore the intent and protections of the Americans with 
                       Disabilities Act of 1990.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``ADA Restoration Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) in enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 
        (ADA), Congress intended that the Act ``establish a clear and 
        comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of 
        disability,'' and provide broad coverage and vigorous and 
        effective remedies without unnecessary and obstructive 
        defenses;
            (2) decisions and opinions of the Supreme Court have unduly 
        narrowed the broad scope of protection afforded in the ADA, 
        eliminating protection for a broad range of individuals who 
        Congress intended to protect;
            (3) in enacting the ADA, Congress recognized that physical 
        and mental impairments are natural parts of the human 
        experience that in no way diminish a person's right to fully 
        participate in all aspects of society, but Congress also 
        recognized that people with physical or mental impairments 
        having the talent, skills, abilities, and desire to participate 
        in society are frequently precluded from doing so because of 
        prejudice, antiquated attitudes, or the failure to remove 
        societal and institutional barriers;
            (4) Congress modeled the ADA definition of disability on 
        that of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which, 
        through the time of the ADA's enactment, had been construed 
        broadly to encompass both actual and perceived limitations, and 
        limitations imposed by society;
            (5) the broad conception of the definition had been 
        underscored by the Supreme Court's statement in its decision in 
        School Board of Nassau County v. Arline, 480 U.S. 273, 284 
        (1987), that the section 504 definition ``acknowledged that 
        society's accumulated myths and fears about disability and 
        disease are as handicapping as are the physical limitations 
        that flow from actual impairment'';
            (6) in adopting the section 504 concept of disability in 
        the ADA, Congress understood that adverse action based on a 
        person's physical or mental impairment is often unrelated to 
        the limitations caused by the impairment itself;
            (7) instead of following congressional expectations that 
        disability would be interpreted broadly in the ADA, the Supreme 
        Court has ruled, in Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. 
        v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184, 197 (2002), that the elements of the 
        definition ``need to be interpreted strictly to create a 
        demanding standard for qualifying as disabled,'' and, 
        consistent with that view, has narrowed the application of the 
        definition in various ways; and
            (8) contrary to explicit congressional intent expressed in 
        the ADA committee reports, the Supreme Court has eliminated 
        from the Act's coverage individuals who have mitigated the 
        effects of their impairments through the use of such measures 
        as medication and assistive devices.
    (b) Purpose.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to effect the ADA's objectives of providing ``a clear 
        and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of 
        discrimination'' and ``clear, strong, consistent, enforceable 
        standards addressing discrimination'' by restoring the broad 
        scope of protection available under the ADA;
            (2) to respond to certain decisions of the Supreme Court, 
        including Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999), 
        Murphy v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 527 U.S. 516 (1999), 
        Albertson's, Inc. v. Kirkingburg, 527 U.S. 555 (1999), and 
        Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 534 
        U.S. 184 (2002), that have narrowed the class of people who can 
        invoke the protection from discrimination the ADA provides; and
            (3) to reinstate original congressional intent regarding 
        the definition of disability by clarifying that ADA protection 
        is available for all individuals who are subjected to adverse 
        treatment based on actual or perceived impairment, or record of 
        impairment, or are adversely affected by prejudiced attitudes, 
        such as myths, fears, ignorance, or stereotypes concerning 
        disability or particular disabilities, or by the failure to 
        remove societal and institutional barriers, including 
        communication, transportation, and architectural barriers, and 
        the failure to provide reasonable modifications to policies, 
        practices, and procedures, reasonable accommodations, and 
        auxiliary aids and services.

SEC. 3. CODIFIED FINDINGS.

    Section 2(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12101) is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
            ``(1) physical or mental disabilities are natural parts of 
        the human experience that in no way diminish a person's right 
        to fully participate in all aspects of society, yet people with 
        physical or mental disabilities having the talent, skills, 
        abilities, and desires to participate in society frequently are 
        precluded from doing so because of discrimination; others who 
        have a record of a disability or are regarded as having a 
        disability also have been subjected to discrimination;''.
            (2) by amending paragraph (7) to read as follows:
            ``(7) individuals with disabilities have been subject to a 
        history of purposeful unequal treatment, have had restrictions 
        and limitations imposed upon them because of their 
        disabilities, and have been relegated to positions of political 
        powerlessness in society; classifications and selection 
        criteria that exclude persons with disabilities should be 
        strongly disfavored, subjected to skeptical and meticulous 
        examination, and permitted only for highly compelling reasons, 
        and never on the basis of prejudice, ignorance, myths, 
        irrational fears, or stereotypes about disability;''.

SEC. 4. DISABILITY DEFINED.

    Section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12102) is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) Disability.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `disability' means, 
                with respect to an individual--
                            ``(i) a physical or mental impairment;
                            ``(ii) a record of a physical or mental 
                        impairment; or
                            ``(iii) being regarded as having a physical 
                        or mental impairment.
                    ``(B) Rule of construction.--
                            ``(i) The determination of whether an 
                        individual has a physical or mental impairment 
                        shall be made without considering the impact of 
                        any mitigating measures the individual may or 
                        may not be using or whether or not any 
                        manifestations of an impairment are episodic, 
                        in remission, or latent.
                            ``(ii) The term `mitigating measures' means 
                        any treatment, medication, device, or other 
                        measure used to eliminate, mitigate, or 
                        compensate for the effect of an impairment, and 
                        includes prescription and other medications, 
                        personal aids and devices (including assistive 
                        technology devices and services), reasonable 
                        accommodations, or auxiliary aids and services.
                            ``(iii) Actions taken by a covered entity 
                        with respect to an individual because of that 
                        individual's use of a mitigating measure or 
                        because of a side effect or other consequence 
                        of the use of such a measure shall be 
                        considered actions taken on the basis of a 
                        disability under this Act.''.
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (7) and 
        inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) Physical impairment.--The term `physical impairment' 
        means any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic 
        disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the 
        following body systems: neurological; musculoskeletal; special 
        sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; 
        cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genito-urinary; hemic 
        and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine.
            ``(4) Mental impairment.--The term `mental impairment' 
        means any mental or psychological disorder such as mental 
        retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental 
        illness, or specific learning disabilities.
            ``(5) Record of physical or mental impairment.--The term 
        `record of physical or mental impairment' means having a 
        history of, or having been misclassified as having, a physical 
        or mental impairment.
            ``(6) Regarded as having a physical or mental impairment.--
        The term `regarded as having a physical or mental impairment' 
        means being perceived or treated as having a physical or mental 
        impairment whether or not the individual has an impairment.''.

SEC. 5. DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY.

    Section 102 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12112) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``against a qualified 
        individual with a disability because of the disability of such 
        individual'' and inserting ``against an individual on the basis 
        of disability''; and
            (2) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1), by striking ``discriminate'' and inserting ``discriminate 
        against an individual on the basis of disability''.

SEC. 6. QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.

    Section 103(a) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12113(a)) is amended by striking ``that an alleged application'' 
and inserting ``that--
            ``(1) the individual alleging discrimination under this 
        title is not a qualified individual with a disability; or
            ``(2) an alleged application''.

SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Section 501 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12201) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Broad Construction.--In order to ensure that this Act 
achieves its purpose of providing a comprehensive prohibition of 
discrimination on the basis of disability, the provisions of this Act 
shall be broadly construed to advance their remedial purpose.
    ``(f) Regulations.--In order to provide for consistent and 
effective standards among the agencies responsible for enforcing this 
Act, the Attorney General shall promulgate regulations and guidance in 
alternate accessible formats implementing the provisions herein. The 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Secretary of Transportation 
shall then issue appropriate implementing directives, whether in the 
nature of regulations or policy guidance, consistent with the 
requirements prescribed by the Attorney General.
    ``(g) Deference to Regulations and Guidance.--Duly issued Federal 
regulations and guidance for the implementation of this Act, including 
provisions implementing and interpreting the definition of disability, 
shall be entitled to deference by administrative bodies or officers and 
courts hearing any action brought under this Act.''.
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