[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1504 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1504
Recognizing and honoring the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 1, 2010
Mr. Hoyer (for himself, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Upton, Mr.
Kennedy, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr.
Nadler of New York, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Waxman, Mr.
Oberstar, Mr. Towns, and Mr. Coble) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in
addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, the
Judiciary, 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
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing and honoring the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Whereas July 26, 2010, marks the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;
Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act has been one of the most significant
and effective civil rights laws passed by Congress;
Whereas, prior to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, people
with disabilities faced significantly lower employment rates, lower
graduation rates, and higher rates of poverty than people without
disabilities, and were too often denied the opportunity to fully
participate in society due to intolerance and unfair stereotypes;
Whereas the dedicated efforts of disability rights advocates, including Justin
Dart, Jr., and many others, served to awaken Congress and the American
people to the discrimination and prejudice faced by individuals with
disabilities;
Whereas Congress worked in a bipartisan manner to craft legislation making such
discrimination illegal;
Whereas Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act and President George
Herbert Walker Bush signed the Act into law on July 26, 1990;
Whereas the purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to fulfill the
Nation's goals of equality of opportunity, independent living, economic
self-sufficiency, and full participation for Americans with
disabilities;
Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from
discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities, requires
that State and local governmental entities accommodate qualified
individuals with disabilities, requires places of public accommodation
to take reasonable steps to make their goods and services accessible to
individuals with disabilities, and requires that new trains and buses be
accessible to individuals with disabilities;
Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act has played an historic role in
allowing over 50,000,000 Americans with disabilities to participate more
fully in national life by removing barriers to employment,
transportation, public services, telecommunications, and public
accommodations;
Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act has served as a model for disability
rights in other countries;
Whereas all Americans, not just those with disabilities, benefit from the
accommodations that have become commonplace since the passage of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, including curb cuts at street
intersections, ramps for access to buildings, and other accommodations
that provide access to public transportation, stadiums,
telecommunications, voting machines, and websites;
Whereas Congress acted with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2008 to restore
protections for people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, depression, and
a wide range of other disabilities by passing the ADA Amendments Act of
2008, which overturned judicial decisions that had inappropriately
narrowed the scope of the protected class under the Americans with
Disabilities Act;
Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
children and adults with disabilities continue to experience barriers
that interfere with their full participation in mainstream American
life;
Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
people with disabilities are twice as likely to live in poverty as their
fellow citizens and continue to experience high rates of unemployment
and underemployment;
Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
the largest income support and health care programs continue to operate
in a manner that expects people with significant disabilities to be
outside the economic mainstream and have limited income and assets;
Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act and
nearly 11 years after the Supreme Court's decision in Olmstead v. L.C.,
many people with disabilities still live in segregated institutional
settings because of a lack of support services that would allow them to
live in the community;
Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
new telecommunication, electronic, and information technologies continue
to be developed while not being accessible to all Americans;
Whereas, 20 years after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
many public and private covered entities are still not accessible to
people with disabilities; and
Whereas the United States has a responsibility to welcome back and create
opportunities for the tens of thousands of working-age veterans of the
Armed Forces who have been wounded in action or have received service-
connected injuries while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes and honors the 20th anniversary of the
enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;
(2) salutes all people whose efforts contributed to the
enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act;
(3) encourages all Americans to celebrate the advance of
freedom and the opening of opportunity made possible by the
enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and
(4) pledges to continue to work on a bipartisan basis to
identify and address the remaining barriers that undermine the
Nation's goals of equality of opportunity, independent living,
economic self-sufficiency, and full participation for Americans
with disabilities.
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